ADHD And Reading | ADHD Information

So I've been sort of dealing with reading issues all of my life, and it's become very difficult to determine if they're issues stemming from ADHD or from a reading disability (tentatively been told dyslexia, but we haven't finished the testing to be sure).

So I'd love to hear about some of the problems people here have with reading (if any).  Particularly people who have just ADHD but noticable reading difficulties and those who have co-morbid dyslexia.

My ranty description of my reading difficulties can be crudely summed up with, "I often just can't seem to get it all together".  I read the same thing several times with absolutely no comprehension of what I was reading- that part seems more ADD to me. 

But it often feels like more than just the invisible ADD field that keeps things from coming into my brain properly.  There's a noticable gap between my oral reading and my silent reading.  I usually feel like I'm reading all of the words correctly, but then I'll have to read something I have just read out loud, and I'm often surprised at what the words actually are.  So I think a lot of the time I'm misreading the text, but I'm not noticing the fact.  I tend to mistake words a lot, and when I run into any kind of new word I'm usually okay sounding it out, but I have problems recognizing the word again later.  I simply don't bother to sound it out most of the time (because it's sort of a slow process), and if I do learn to recognize the word it's always purely recognition with zero recall.  I have to work really hard to get a word into my brain, and I'll continue to misread words long after I've learned it.

sometimes I get all of the words, but I can't seem to put them together to make any meaning out of them.  it's as though the process of figuring out exactly what the word is (the meanings of words and the 'look' of words seem to be completely disconnected in my brain) and then figuring out what the words mean together just overload my brain, and the entire sentence falls to pieces on me.

The flip side of all of this is that I've got a really high IQ, and my strongest scores are all verbal scores.  Several of my verbal scores are ceiling level (except verbal short-term memory, which is sitting down far below average) including vocabulary and verbal fluency.  At the same time, word-recognition and reading comprehension are hovering around average to high average.  so there's a noticable gap between my speaking and my reading.

Does this story sound familiar to anyone? Is everyone with ADHD out there thinking, 'Oh god, that sounds like me!', or are people scratching their heads and thinking, "Um, nope, can't relate"?

Sounds like me a lot, sometimes when I'm reading, I'm actually looking at the words, nothing sinks in so I have to read it time and time again until it sinks in. My worst habbit is reading the paper and getting excited about an artical so I skip to the end - which makes no sense at all!!

IQ doesn't have much to do with it. I scored High average in my AD test, but I can't read a novel to save my life!!

eatmytry39420.0685300926I had this same problem in grade school and then in high school too. The stuff was so boring and stale to my mind. As a child though I had the benifit that my mother read to us a lot, good stuff, you know with dragons and things :) Now, I only read what interests me, but like eatmytry I some times skip ahead through the boring parts or read the end right away... the thing is when I read the end, I don't want to read the book anymore, so I try to avoid that...

See, that's just the thing...I'm not at all bored by what I'm reading.  In fact it's stuff I'm REALLY interested in, and it's still difficult.  When I was a kid I really loved to read actually, but I stopped reading for fun when it started to become a problem in school. 

Now it's a painful process, but I still want to read the books badly, and I love the information in them.  So what's the deal?  Do others have that problem?  Or are you able to get through books that interest you?

I have some of the same problems with reading that have been mentioned.  I have always had difficulty with reading things that I am not interested in.  In school, I would mentally "check out", and read the same paragraph over and over without any of it sinking in.  However, in college, I discovered that if I would read my assignments aloud, I could not only read faster, but my retention was much better.  I would often tape record my textbook assignments, and play them over to myself when I was in the car.  This made it much easier to study!

I am now 48 years old, and I have discovered that it has become much more difficult with age for me to read books, even when it concerns something that I am interested in.  This occurs even when I am taking medications.  It irritates me, because I do enjoy reading in my spare time.  I have found that it is much easier for me to read short magazine articles or articles over the internet than what it is for me to read books.  So, I have setteled for this.

I like to read.

I've not been d'xd w/ dislexia, but I do link words differently at times.

I do hear dislexically more than I read dis'ly.

I like to read books.

SF & Battle Books.

Once I read all of Tom Clancy's books in order between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

Over 15,000 pages...

My eX said my personality changed...

For a while.

I've definitely found programs that read the works aloud for me to be very helpful.  It's hard because it takes a lot longer, but it *should* take a log longer.  I have a tendency to speed through reading (relative term- I read more slowly than most people) at the expense of accuracy and comprehension.  I don't have the patience for how long it takes me to plod through things.

Reading aloud is less helpful personally.  I can read aloud with solid accuracy (though it's slow and halting at times), but I can't comprehend a single thing I've read.  I have no recollection of even the word I just read aloud once I've moved on, and there's definitely no 'putting the text together' to make meaning.  In school I always hated reading aloud.  I'd have to practice the passage over and over frantically if I knew I'd be asked to read something aloud so I didn't sound like an idiot.  I still get touchy about doing it in front of people to this day.

ommas39764.7042476852

If you would like to read it, I have written an artilce about the subject of reading with ADD ADHD and given some solutions which have helped me:

http://www.adderworld.com/blog1/2007/12/24/add-adhd-reading- problems-and-solutions-with-tips/

KDLMaj--I can easily relate to your situation!  I loved reading books as a young kid, then slowly but surely gave it up.  Trying to remember who was who in a novel, or reading the same paragraph 3 times and still not being able to remember its contents was too much!! Oh, I kept reading, but until I started taking meds for ADHD, I had maybe read completely 3 books in the last 20 years!   My occupation requires I read stuff, and write letters and short reports, so I use words and I love words.  But you could've knocked me over with a feather when I saw my IQ test scores which, like yours, topped me out in areas like vocabulary (counterbalanced, of course, by other scores that tanked!).  How can a person like me stumble to remember some completely common word when writing or conversing and score so high!? beats me. 

Ditto here.  I read passages over and over again.  Once I get it...I get...especially if I am interested.  I cannot read fiction.....a waste of time!  But I do enjoy "skimming" non fiction.  I have this habit of starting at the end of the book skimming and working my way to the front.

Reading things on the Internet is good for me because it is quick.

And they call me an "historian".........

twirly1

http://paramountshome.org

 

 

I love to read, and will stay up all night to finish a book I'm really enjoying the heck out of.  BUT...ask me about that book a week later and I'll be stumped.  I've had trouble with reading comprehension and recall all my life.  I was reading at age 3 but by third grade had trouble with comprehension tests.  I dread being asked what books I've read lately, then struggling to describe what they were about.  Try being like that in a family of literary geeks.  No wonder I drink like a fish at Thanksgiving!

After reading your posts above, I think I'll try books on tape and reading aloud, just to see what happens.  This is just one big ongoing scientific experiment for all of us, isn't it?  As maddening as it is, it's just so darn fascinating too.

Tape books are great, I can get them to sink in and rewind them when I fog out. Brilliant! Who needs books?!

The only problem is remembering to finish them. Ha!

I have always loved to read from a very young age. I really had no problem comprehending what I was reading until I was in the middle of elementary school. High school was the worst - I did get very good grades, but it took me three times as much time to study than it did for my friends without ADD/ADHD. I would have to read a book 2-3 times before it would sink in.
I still love reading, but I read books and magazines out loud and that seems to help with the comprehension more.
Reading, can be a nightmare...I love to read but like everyone else its either such a challenge, I can get really into a book and can't put it down but a week later I don't have a clue to what its about. I joined a book club, that takes reading seriously, and I have found that has been a big help --I can actually look at a book on my shelf a little ways later and have a decent recollection of what the story was about. I read files for a living and there are days I just want to scream --sadly I get excited when I find errors because it means I can stop reading and try and get the corrections made --but often they don't get made till days later. We get this daily free newspaper where I live and its perfect, its 10-15 pages of reduced sized articles that cover the basics and that is really helpful. Sometimes when I want to learn about a topic I start off by finding childrens books/articles because they are easy reads and straight to the point....

[quote] Reading aloud is less helpful personally.  I can read aloud with solid accuracy (though it's slow and halting at times), but I can't comprehend a single thing I've read.  I have no recollection of even the word I just read aloud once I've moved on, and there's definitely no 'putting the text together' to make meaning.[/quote]