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Reading

J

jb68

Member
Hi,
I just wondered how people get on with reading books, either fiction or non fiction. I have a couple of problems.

One is that after I start reading after a few paragraphs my attention goes a bit and I stop taking in what I am reading. When I do that I need to go back and read the paragraph or sentence again until it makes sense in my head. I can sometimes go over a particular page in a book 10 or more times and it takes me over 5 min to move on. Am not sure if this is more ADHD or OCD. I have OCD but the issue with reading isn't anxiety based, it's just that I like to read something fluidly and take sentences or paragraphs in in one go and if I don't then I'll go over them again and again until I feels right.

Secondly if I am reading books that are descriptive I need to be able to visualise what I am reading. Again if I read something but can't visualise it I can't move on and I need to go back until I have a clear picture in my head. Sometimes I read something and it just doesn't go into my head, but I don't get the meaning, it's like just a jumble of words and I'll go it again and again until I can visualise it and make sense of it.

I am currently reading Chris Packham's book, Finger's in the Sparkle Jar. It's very descriptive and wordy in places, particularly with descriptions of nature and it's taking me ages to read. Some parts I really just can't follow.

I do love reading and have read loads but just wondered if others have similar issues. I am fairly sure that most books I read I have probably read three or four times through by the time I get to the end!!
J
 
When my ASD kicked in bad at 14 I could not read at all. Hyper all the time. But I wanted to learn! I somehow started to read while walking and found it was like a miracle. Everything was crystal clear.

I have literally read thousands of books that way over decades. Try it! I would love to know if it works.
 
I have the problem you described with reading (where I stop taking stuff in and have to go back and re-read). I was told it was possibly down to my dyslexia, although I'm not 100% sure on that. I only have very mild dyslexia and also Irlen Syndrome.
 
jb68 said:
Sometimes I read something and it just doesn't go into my head, but I don't get the meaning, it's like just a jumble of words and I'll go it again and again until I can visualise it and make sense of it.
Click to expand...
I have had this happen but more often when I was younger. It doesn't happen so much anymore but I do occasionally get it which can lead to major anxiety and panic if I am at work and don't want to seem stupid for not being able to read a simple memo or something. More often it would happen when hearing words than with seeing them though, like if someone was talking to be I would hear all the words they said and know what each individual word meant but the overall meaning would be lost. Almost like the words came out of their mouth and fell to the ground before making it to me.

I looooove to read though in general. I don't usually have too many issues with focusing on reading unless it is a book I am not interested in. In which case it is unlikely I will make it past the first paragraph unless it is required for work or for school when I was younger. I also don't like books that are too overly descriptive that it gets weighed down with it instead of the story itself. It's nice to have a good balance of description to visualize and storyline itself to keep it interesting.
 
Sounds a lot like me. I did a little checking to figure out why and it seems people with PTSD often develop this specific issue with reading. I used to read like crazy as a kid before PTSD really took hold, now I have those problems with retention especially, having to re-read over and over.

What I didn't find were solutions. I've taken to just keep trying and trying and hoping that eventually it'll improve, which it has to a degree. Frustrating though.
 
I love reading, prefer factual books but OK with fiction too. Trouble is I have tons of books to read at home but often go back to those I have read before because I enjoyed them. I found Carlos Castaneda very interesting but not sure if its fact or fiction, I suspect the latter as some of it is a bit hard to believe although an enjoyable story. I sometimes have two or three on the go at once, plus magazines and it all gets a bit much. It's a bit frustrating but I am the same with DVDs watching things I have seen countless times like Columbo for example but have loads unwatched as yet. I guess I will eventually get around to them.
 
hi, I have a problem with reading and wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.
It goes like this: I find an article, I'm interested in it, but the act of reading is so boring so I bookmark it fooling myself that'll read it later only to forget about it.
I have lots of books, I want to know what's in them all but the act of reading is so boring and takes so much time and maybe because it gives little stimulation?
I just want to know the information instantly and don't want to do the boring task of reading.
Why is this happening?
Could this be related to ADHD or is this just laziness?
 
I like to read a lot too (history, science, SF, occasionally fantasy) & sometimes have the same issue the OP is talking about. So I can relate.
 
roy said:
hi, I have a problem with reading and wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.
It goes like this: I find an article, I'm interested in it, but the act of reading is so boring so I bookmark it fooling myself that'll read it later only to forget about it.
I have lots of books, I want to know what's in them all but the act of reading is so boring and takes so much time and maybe because it gives little stimulation?
I just want to know the information instantly and don't want to do the boring task of reading.
Why is this happening?
Could this be related to ADHD or is this just laziness?
Click to expand...

Roy, my wife is like that. She needs to read something that stimulates her, or else she proctastinates reading it, or needs her eyes to skim the material or jump over the boring parts. Sometimes thus she may read a book by looking at the ending of a book first, with her thinking that may capture her attention or motivate her to read other parts. She has a very hard time reading things thus in sequential order, or at a steady pace. She prefers only to read materials whose topics interest her. She even has difficulty reading the books I have written, as I often write in details, using logic or analysis. She thinks more generally, abstractly, or philosophically, but in an often disorganized way, with her mind sometimes hyperfocusing on, or jumping from one issue to a other, once that issue is resolved to her liking in her mind. In her case, she has ADHD, and also PTSD. She read a lot of books as a child these ways, to escape the chaos in her life and to avoid persons.
 
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jb68 said:
Hi,
I just wondered how people get on with reading books, either fiction or non fiction. I have a couple of problems.

One is that after I start reading after a few paragraphs my attention goes a bit and I stop taking in what I am reading. When I do that I need to go back and read the paragraph or sentence again until it makes sense in my head. I can sometimes go over a particular page in a book 10 or more times and it takes me over 5 min to move on. Am not sure if this is more ADHD or OCD. I have OCD but the issue with reading isn't anxiety based, it's just that I like to read something fluidly and take sentences or paragraphs in in one go and if I don't then I'll go over them again and again until I feels right.

Secondly if I am reading books that are descriptive I need to be able to visualise what I am reading. Again if I read something but can't visualise it I can't move on and I need to go back until I have a clear picture in my head. Sometimes I read something and it just doesn't go into my head, but I don't get the meaning, it's like just a jumble of words and I'll go it again and again until I can visualise it and make sense of it.

I am currently reading Chris Packham's book, Finger's in the Sparkle Jar. It's very descriptive and wordy in places, particularly with descriptions of nature and it's taking me ages to read. Some parts I really just can't follow.

I do love reading and have read loads but just wondered if others have similar issues. I am fairly sure that most books I read I have probably read three or four times through by the time I get to the end!!
J
Click to expand...

I do exactly the same. I need to reread words or sentences over and over again until I either remember it, or until it makes sense or some mental image for me. For me, it is because I not only have a need for details, and to remember such, but because I have a need to be perfect in remembering what the writing piece had to say, and what they were trying to convey. Thus, in one way my mind is saying it is comforting for me, or needed by me, to learn everything precisely to my liking, but in another way it at times creates extra effort, stress, and time for me, to re-read, process and remember things that way, so I do not read many books or long pieces because of that, as it can drain me. In college/university it was hard thus for me to take subjects that required lots of reading, so I ended up majoring in Math instead. Besides my severe social anxiety condition I was diagnosed with, I was also diagnosed with OCD. But, I had a traumatic life growing up where I was abused and thus trained to have poor concentration but with a need to be perfect, so @Gritches may be right too, that this also in some cases could be a ptsd issue, too.
 
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I have a problem with reading if I let my mind wander. I need to either be in a place with few external stimuli, or focus on staying focused. Or really be into the material. Then I can keep reading for hours.
 
roy said:
hi, I have a problem with reading and wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.
It goes like this: I find an article, I'm interested in it, but the act of reading is so boring so I bookmark it fooling myself that'll read it later only to forget about it.
I have lots of books, I want to know what's in them all but the act of reading is so boring and takes so much time and maybe because it gives little stimulation?
I just want to know the information instantly and don't want to do the boring task of reading.
Why is this happening?
Could this be related to ADHD or is this just laziness?
Click to expand...

You may find this thread of interest.

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/reading-comprehension.20167/
 
I relate a bit in that I sometimes can't focus. (I love audiobooks for those occasions.) But if I just can't get into a book I decide it's not the book for me and pick up something else.
 
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