Aspies For Freedom

Does anyone else have difficulty reading?
I am an incrediblely slow reader. It takes me 6 months to finish a single short-ish book--mostly because I can't read for any longer than 15 minutes without feeling overwhelmed, tired and distracted.
Are there any other poor readers out there?

I am incredibly slow if I have to read fiction. My brain doesn't perceive that type of literature as information and therefore doesn't "absorb" it, so no matter how many times I read it I never fully understand what is going on. Eventually I can remember simple facts like "John went to the store" and stuff like that, but any emotional connotations that may be attached to that fact are completely lost on me.

I have always considered fiction books to be rubbish, for as long as I can remember... In grade school I hated having those reading sessions in class where everyone would read the same fiction book we were studying, because when everyone was finishing the first chapter I would still be on the second or third page, and with only a rudimentary understanding of what was important on those pages.

When it comes to nonfiction texts, though, it's a completely different story. When I was a little kid I would only read things like field guides and reference books, because my brain is a sort of "information sponge" that can remember most of the data in the book. When I am reading something that is scientific and interesting (like National Geographic Magazine, books on animal cognition, or what have you), both my reading speed and reading comprehension are above average. Not savant like by any means, but I generally finish reading scientific texts before others around me and have a greater understanding of the information.

So yeah, I am a poor reader and an excellent reader.

It does seem there's a greater number of hyperlexic people on AFF than slow readers like myself.
I use to prefer non-fiction, books about science and nature...then I moved into philosophy...not I read literature.
Factual books are easier to understand...but literature--poetry, stories etc can speak to the soul.
I keep meaning to get some books on tape from the library...I use to listen to 'Treasure Island' every night before going to bed when I was a child.

It's the same deal here.  Especially with fiction, because I have to think about what the author is trying to say, on top of the dry literal information.  Even the literal information is tough for me sometimes, if there's some vocabulary words I don't know.

It's 6 months or MORE for me, with let's say a 300 page novel...  I get distracted incredibly easy by noise in the background, anything that moves... and then I'm just exhausted after 20 minutes or so.

I seriously hate it.  I wonder if there's anything I can do to fix this problem, because it's a killer for me.

I do like some fiction books...  I have a vivid imagination and I like getting "absorbed" into a fictional world...  but the thing is, it just takes me forever.  Figuring out what's going on is one thing, figuring out what's important is the next, and figuring out the author's meaning/use of symbolism is another.  I have great difficulty with those three things.

Finding the meaning in poetry--I do hate poetry, actually--is impossible for me.  I mean, actually impossible without someone telling me--specifically--what it means, etc.

I usually read nonfiction a lot faster than fiction, but even then, it has to be something I'm interested in or else I'll drift off and get bored or exhausted.

In 9th grade, we read "Animal Farm". I thought it was a pretty cool story, what with the talking animals running their own farm and all. Then we were given a test on how the book corresponded to Communism, and which animals represented real-world Communist leaders. I had absolutely no clue whatsoever as to what they were talking about, and got a 10% or something on it. Even when things were explained in detail, the metaphors and keeping straight who corresponded to who was near impossible.

I'm usually hyperlexic - learned to read when I was 4. If the story is engaging, I can hyperfocus and finish a novel in a few hours. Some things take forever, though. "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson was a very difficult and slow read - it's a short novel, but I took a month and a half to get through it. Several others, both fiction and non-, have been absolute drudgery as well. Has to do with the writing style, I think. I do best when there is a smooth "flow" - when one idea leads into the next without having to hold much in mind. "Dr. Jekyll" was very choppy and convoluted, and I have to re-word the sentences in my head before they make sense, and mental manipulations like that are my weakest skill.

I think I'm rambling. Yes, I often read slow, in spite of being hyperlexic.

I'll shut up now.

Based on that, it looks like James Joyce's "Ulysses" is not something you can realistically aspire to...  Nor can I, of course.

I'm Hyperlexic.

I  consume books whole, like little packets of cake.

Ummm, are you being sarcastic? Would you be pleased if I had trouble with it?

I identify with that (most of the time).

My significant other says I "inhale" books.

Perhaps better asked: How do you mean that?

You'd have to be me to really understand what Executive Dysfunction is all about...  trust me, what you have is paltry compared to mine.

In other words, feel glad you're not me.  I haven't achieved a single thing in my life.

Less Executive Dysfunction = greater possibility of achievement

I have very fast reading skills, at least a page a minute for dense text, and could read well before I was two. My father said I would get annoyed with him if he gave me a piece of text upside-down when I was six months old! But, like outsideL00kinN and Animal Farm, I fail totally to read anything other than the obvious story. Motivation? Allegory? What on Earth are they, then?

Very few books have defeated me. Catch 22 and Ulysses were the two most notable, along with War and Peace.

When the allegory gets in the way of the story, the reading becomes pointless.

These days I seem to have concentrating problems and I forget what I'm reading and often end up reading the same sentence a few times in books... so I guess I would be a slow reader these days.  When I was young though I used to read a book in a day... just find a spot, sometimes under the dining room table and read all day, having to be forced to eat.

Catch 22 is one of the books that I'll always remember bits from. I don't remember finding it hard though, but I did read it a few years back.  Another one that I remember for it's moments is Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.  Those two books are related in my mind for the thought that they provoked.

Actually I'm prone to giving up fairly quickly if a book is too hard to read or doesn't interest me after a few chapters. I just put the book down and never go back to it.

Could you lend me the brain wiring you were born with, that gave you your reading skills, and the ability to do something with your life?