Trouble Reading Books?

[PoeWroteOnBoth]

I'm 28, I just got diagnosedwith inattentive AD/HD, one of the things I told him I've noticed about myself is that whenever I try to read a book, I give up after one or two pages. Or if I continue reading, I'll daydream and will have to go back and re-read. When I was in 5th grade, I sat down to take a test on a book that I had read alloud with a group of students and followed along word for word, but had no idea what it was about. Unfortunately I was sneaky, I figured out how to pass those tests by reading the other questions. As I got older, I figured out how to actively participate in class discussions about reading assignments without having any idea what the book was about. So I went undiagnosed until recently the symptoms were just screaming at me, and I finally saw someone about it.

Now that I know this is an AD/HD issue and not just me being stubborn, I decided to start reading something fun and simple. So I got the first book that came to mind--just finished reading the first Harry Potter book on my ereader. Took me 3 days. For me, that's speed reading. I also read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which took me two days.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem with reading? And if you can recommend any other books I can start out with to start working my reading level up to what it should be? I don't really want to continue the Harry Potter series, maybe at some point, but not now.

The books I was able to read before despite ADD are "The Rescuers" by Margery Sharp, "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells, "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, and I've read Gatsby several times.

[keyser]

Yes, this is a common problem with adhd. Its not impossible to read a book, but you tend to read the same line several times over or read a whole bunch of pages without taking anything in.

[CheekyMonkey]

I had a very difficult following a plot because I never learned to visualize while reading. I would collect facts and read dialogue and figure out most of it, but I missed out on a lot until I learned to visualize.


What kinds of stories do you find interesting?

[fracturedstory]

It's always been a comprehension problem with me. Sometimes my mind does drift and I'll not be able to process the line I just read, so I'll go back and read it and make sure I made sense of it.
I usually blink everytime I come to a pause and it does help with comprehension.

I pretty much know now that if I can't read the first few words then it's pointless to keep going. I just have to wait until I get that focus back.

My mum even told me I was bad with comprehension and got me to study it. She was my teacher. But once I was told I wanted to get better so I practised it on my own.

[TurquoiseWind]

i have this problem too, although recently (last few days) i have been wondering if i even have adhd, but thats a different topic.

anyways i used to love to read, i could get lost in a book so much so that i become unaware of reality almost completely, i guess if i have adhd that would be considered hyperfocusing?

however then i got a laptop, that was the end. well actually i stopped reading a bit before that, people in school were always teasing me how i loved to read and always brought my book everywhere like lunch. however one day i just forgot to bring my book to school, and i had been noticing i never could finish it anyways so i slowly but surely quit. i tried but failed to finish several books but my reading which was already slow to begin with slowed almost to a stop. then i got a laptop and stopped reading altogether. i have only recently been trying to start reading again, but i never could keep consistent with it.

and even online i have a hard time reading people's posts or articles without skipping and skimming. i hate skimming though so i always go back and try to read it unless i am skimming too much then i just go to something else.

for books it has to be extremely interesting within the first few pages or else i most likely wont finish. the problem is if it is part of a series i will finish the first book with much enthusiasm, but when i try reading the second book i just cant finish it, i procrastinate until i have to return it to the library. i read The Hobbit and really enjoyed it, but when i tried reading The Fellowship of the Ring i couldn't finish it. same happened with The Merchant of Death of the Pendragon series, i LOVED that book so much i didn't want to do anything but read it for two days and finished it. i get the second book which seems just as interesting and...i cant finish it. i want to go back and get it and try again, maybe i will sometime cause i really liked the first book, i don't understand why i can't get into the second which shows much promise

so maybe i do have adhd as i seem to be able to relate to other people's reading problems here. i don't know i just though i would share my own experience

[Slapstick]

I get very anxious when I read, aka a news piece or something -- even when the topic interest me. I want the instant gratification so fast, and when I'm reading "details," I get so antsy and I never have the will to finish.

I can read fiction, as long as the plot is interesting. Those are about the only books I typically finish.

[Drewbacca]

Sometimes I can read the driest academic literature without a problem while other times I have the inability to get past page five after trying several times for a week. I'm either interested, or I'm not. I think anxiety has just as much to do with it as ADHD.

[Silvermoonstone]

For me, it depends what exactly I'm reading. If it looks extremely boring, I'll try to read it, but end up rereading it without really grasping it. I have to force myself.

On the other hand, if it's a good novel or on a subject I adore, I'll just drink it up.

[robonon]

It has always been impossible for me to read a book. Like a few others said - I'll get one or two pages in, then just completely lose focus, or I'll continue reading the words and flipping pages, but couldn't tell you a single fact, line, or idea that was in any of the reading. Nothing was ever absorbed.

I always did very well in English classes, until, high school, when there's no way around (for me, at least) reading the assigned book to do the work.

I'm now 25 and can proudly say that I've just recently read my first "real" book cover to cover. It's embarrassing, but I'm proud to have actually done it... It was Neil DeGrasse Tyson's "Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries." If you're into Astronomy or Astrophysics at all, this is an awesome book.

The pinnacle factor to my success, the structure of the book. It's based off of a long running series of essays Dr. Tyson published in Natural History magazine. That means that the length between topics was short. A sweet 5-7 pages. I could tell that a lot of the time I was not retaining the information for long after finishing each section. But being an enjoyable topic, written by a very intelligent (and humorous) author, of whom I'm a huge fan of anyway, I was able to keep with it until the very last page.

[Assumption]

Originally Posted by TurquoiseWind

i read The Hobbit and really enjoyed it, but when i tried reading The Fellowship of the Ring i couldn't finish it.

Can't blame you for that one. I thought the fellowship of the ring was a snore-fest, only got about 10% of the way through it, then gave up (I'd read the hobbit). I do like fantasy, but Tolkien is my least favourite fantasy author.

[ONLY DESTROYER]

Originally Posted by PoeWroteOnBoth

I'm 28, I just got diagnosedwith inattentive AD/HD, one of the things I told him I've noticed about myself is that whenever I try to read a book, I give up after one or two pages. Or if I continue reading, I'll daydream and will have to go back and re-read. When I was in 5th grade, I sat down to take a test on a book that I had read alloud with a group of students and followed along word for word, but had no idea what it was about. Unfortunately I was sneaky, I figured out how to pass those tests by reading the other questions. As I got older, I figured out how to actively participate in class discussions about reading assignments without having any idea what the book was about. So I went undiagnosed until recently the symptoms were just screaming at me, and I finally saw someone about it.

Now that I know this is an AD/HD issue and not just me being stubborn, I decided to start reading something fun and simple. So I got the first book that came to mind--just finished reading the first Harry Potter book on my ereader. Took me 3 days. For me, that's speed reading. I also read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which took me two days.

So I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem with reading? And if you can recommend any other books I can start out with to start working my reading level up to what it should be? I don't really want to continue the Harry Potter series, maybe at some point, but not now.

The books I was able to read before despite ADD are "The Rescuers" by Margery Sharp, "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells, "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card, and I've read Gatsby several times.

I had the same issue. I started using this software that increases your reading speed which is really fun for people with add because we like to consume information faster and faster. (Says my psychologist.could be a reason I enjoyed video games so much)
AceReader Pro
I went from 250 words a minute to like 320 words a minute in a full week. Pretty impressive. But then I went on vacation...so now I will have to see if my reading speed stayed.

[fracturedstory]

Originally Posted by Assumption

Can't blame you for that one. I thought the fellowship of the ring was a snore-fest, only got about 10% of the way through it, then gave up (I'd read the hobbit). I do like fantasy, but Tolkien is my least favourite fantasy author.

I read all three LOTR books. It was hard. I think Two Towers was more livelier and ROTK had more action, but even the action could be boring.

At least you didn't read The Silmarillion. Written just like the Bible in some parts. I liked it when I was younger though.

Now I need space battles to keep me interested.

[clovislorax]

I'm so with you on this.
Reading is SO hard. Mind is always wandering from here to there. Can't remember what I read. Have to read again and again. If my meds have worn off for the day there is no way I'm going to get any reading done.

[hanikamiya]

I also get those attention problems and the bit about having to re-read bits. I don't fully visualize, either.

But I have several talents: I have good implicit memory. I don't fully remember everything what went on in a story, but when you let me read a passage, I will remember what happened before and afterwards.

And I'm good at 'browsing' text. So I can find the bit where I stopped reading last time, and I can skip passages I don't want to read (gory, usually).

I actually can start reading a book and half a year later return to where I stopped reading before. And I can switch between reading different books.
So, I read for a couple of minutes, or when I actually got into it for an hour or so, and then my minds starts to wander and I just leave it be and do something else. That way, books get finished ... eventually. =D

[Tristan Jay]

I don't have trouble reading, just trouble with reading speed. My mind is very busy with all the details of the text; if we're talking about fiction I'm basically directing a movie in my mind, with specific imagery style, camera angles, over the top sound effects and even soundtrack music emerges as a scene plays out. I've been branching out a bit with non-fiction reading, history and some spiritual/self-help stuff, but that's also very slow going. I've always been something of a bookworm, but a painfully slow and deliberate one.

I can totally understand some of the reactions to reading Tolkien. The Hobbit's a real breeze to shoot through, isn't it? Great fun, it reminded me of seeing Star Wars (1977) when I was really little. The Fellowship and on is really tricky to get into, by comparison. Despite what I said above about crafting images in my head, the worst parts about LotR was the geography that the characters travelled through, too much geographical emphasis is anathema to my brain. The poetry and songs slowed me down, too. I actually read The Silmarillion, made it all the way through, and followed it up by reading The Hobbit and LotR; it was a very rewarding experience for perspective on the whole fictional construct of Middle Earth, but definitely not for everybody.