Reading Comprehension

[dobberjean]

Greetings from Charleston, SC!

Great website!!

Any advise on staying focused enough to remember what I read? I end up reading a paragraph 5 times and have no idea what it says. Thanks!!

–Amanda

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[Anonymous]

Hi DJ………no not really. I find reading, especially instructions very difficult. Slow “baby steps”……and I can get through them….4 and 5 page instructions kill me. Fiction ….hmmmmm….not the same….I seem to be able to pick up the mental movie fiction provides, just fine.

Maybe if I stopped coloring-in all the “O’s”….in instruction the sheets I would be better off…..hahahahahhahahaha.

toofat

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[Tiddler]

LOL about colouring in the os. I do that too!

Some things I find helpful:

Keep a pen/pencil in your hand to jot down ideas, underline things etc as you’re reading. Making it more interactive really helps me.

If it’s something I need to remember, I have some blank card that I write salient points on, with page numbers so I can go back to them.

I don’t listen to music that I find myself singing along to and I don’t do well in complete silence. Music that I like but not that much seems to be a good compromise, as is having a tv show I’ve watched lots of times before on in the background – I am comforted by the chatter but not distracted by it.

There are some things I just have to read over and over – mainly novels. If I’m doing it too much I put the book away and do something else for a while.

I seldom sit with one book. At least 2, often 3 or 4 in front of me helps me dip in and out.

The last one is obvious, but difficult to find. In 2 years I’ve only found 2 books that have done this for me and I read a LOT. If I’m REALLY into it, I lose myself in it and I don’t have to keep rereading. The first was The Poisonwood Bible and the second was Pompeii. With both, the story shifts perspective as different characters have different stories going on. That doesn’t always work for me as the same applies to Small Island. I enjoyed it but it did take a lot of reading and rereading and going back a few pages because I’d forgotten what had happened etc.

For me, the more challenging the book is, the more able I am to focus on it.

Finally, non-fiction is much easier than fiction. Maybe because I can jump back and forth in it and I’m not desperate to know ‘the end’. (I ALWAYS look!)

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[Wgreen]

This is common. I saw it in my ADD kids. And new trends could make things even worse:

A friend of mine—a college professor—told me two years ago he had seen research that indicated people retain more from printed pages than digital ones. Then, just a few days ago, on Mashable. com, I saw this:

“A study by three doctoral candidates at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication found that print news readers remember “significantly more” than those who read news stories online. Print readers also remember “significantly more” topics than online readers, the report found. Print readers and online readers recall headlines equally well.”

So as the printed page gives way to the digital page, we face greater challenges.

See if you can find audiobooks or podcasts of material you’re interested in. It helps to listen while you read—or instead of reading. Otherwise, try reading the text to yourself out loud.

Good luck.

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[dobberjean]

thanks all!!

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[Anonymous]

I read what’s interesting and then get someone else to read it and explain it to me.

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[laddybug3]

My problem is when I get into the story and then there is a random object. I can only think of the object. Like a cup and then I keep thinking about what kind of cup. It happens with characters too. Their histories, places they visited, and relationships too.

Sometimes I jump from paragraph to paragraph. Sentences merge together in one line. It is because my other disability, or maybe it was ADD too.

If I am not interested in what I am reading then I have a hard time reading understanding it. When that happens I have a notebook or I create a character too.

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[Anonymous]

sometimes I read with a bookmark so I don’t keep reading the same sentence or skip them. on digital documents, i highlight the words as I am reading. tiddler is straight on about periodically taking notes and highlighting. I also try and ask myself the question “what did I learn here?” after each section. helps to cement the ideas.

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[Anonymous]

If I make notes on the side, it helps. But unless there’s a real reason for bringing what I’ve learned into my daily life (and not just as a one-time thing), then I forget it quite easily. Tiddler posted on another thread that she researches stuff online constantly, but forgets it the very next day – that would be me!

If I put a book down for a week or so, I almost have to start again from the beginning.

My husband once told me that having ADD meant that he constantly had to relearn how to do things, for example, we would have to build a frame for the boat each year to put the tarp on, and every year it would be different, he would have to go through the entire process of building it in his mind and then in reality every year. Of course, it wouldn’t work to write it down because every year it would presumably get better 😉

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[Anonymous]

What I did learn when finally realizing some tips on how to study was to scan paragraphs – you can usually pick up the gist of it by reading the first and last sentences of a paragraph, and the first and last paragraphs of a chapter. Also looking at the chapter outline before starting, to see how the content is organized. And making your own outline as you go along. So one way is to start with a very broad outline, chapter headings, then skimming paragraphs for an overview, then “zooming in” for the detail. That way, the “zooming in” is actually a kind of a review of what you’ve read.

But don’t ask me about anything I learned when I used this technique – I have forgotten it all because I no longer work in that profession.

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[Anonymous]

Give me a few months to a few years and nearly any book or movie gets to be brand new to me!!!!!!! is that what you are talking about no dopamine? I used to make fun of my mom for this…then…gulp… realized I had it too .

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[Tiddler]

There is an advantage to the forgetting I think. As well as being able to watch/read stuff anew, it would be impossible for me to hold a grudge as i couldn’t possibly remember it long enough!

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[Anonymous]

makes you feel ridiculously stupid when you miss pop culture references of things you “should” be familiar with……. at least it is a rather trivial detail of life.

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[Anonymous]

Yes, sugargremlin. My husband likes to watch movies over and over again, and I can watch them with him because I can never remember them! I usually fall asleep in the middle, but even if I don’t, I still forget them.

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[billd]

I’ve watched the latest Star Trek movie over 12 times now in about 18 months. LOTS of non-stop action, keeps your attention. I crank it up on the amp and all speakers.

Have watched Terminator 3 nearly as many times in the last year for same reason. Start to finish, always some huge action.

Can’t stand the love stories and such – too much dialog and SLOOOOOOOWWWW people stuff going on, standing around, etc.

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