Reading problems, tips needed URGENTLY

Cassie,

I suggest you ask one of your parents to write a letter, right now, to
your counselor concerning your reading speed.
The request must be made in writing and in our state the school must
respond within 30 days.

If you have a diagnosed reading disability you will be allowed extra
time in tests.

If your test is within 30 days you might be able to get a waiver
and take the test after the reading disability is diagnosed.

Very smart individuals, like yourself, are able to mask a reading
disability for years and years.
A reading disability has *nothing* to do with IQ.
My own son, who has a reading disability, has an above average
IQ and is in advanced math.

The more you work with the school, talk to the school, borderline
bug the school, the more help you will get. The relationship doesn’t
have to be adversarial but you, and your parents, do have to be
vigilant about getting the help you need.

Print out this response and show it to your parents or guardians.
And get started today.

Very best,
Anne

You might consider having some testing done and working with a reading specialist. That having been said, you are clearly so wonderfully results oriented that it deserves to be said that even without “professional help”, people get improve their reading skills.

I would choose books about two years below your reading level. Pick up a book where every word on the page is familiar to you. Read it. Devote 20 -30 minutes a day reading in books where the reading is fairly easy for you. That approach can never hurt and it can increase your speed and comprehension.

I’d also get/borrow/rent books on tape and listen to them. Go to www.recordedbooksontape.com or thelisteninglibrary.com. or to your local library. Try to actively listen to short stories and short books. The more you listen, the more you’ll find you understand. It can help a great deal to read a synopsis of the short story or the book so you know what you’re listening to. Find books and or short stories that are interesting to you - that work to “grab”your interest.

As to your GSCEs, I’m not familiar with them but most tests have sample copies. Get a sample copy or two and read them. Get yourself familiar with the test format and pracice taking them. That will increase your speed when you take the actual test.

Good luck.

You say you read at about one minute per page. Of course, that depends a lot on what is on the page. In the books I like, I also read at about one minute per page — and I am a FAST reader, faster than 95% of adults.

So a couple of things that could be going on here:
(1) Are you talking about books with a lot of illustrations and other things (like many modern American textbooks), so there is very little text? Or very large type? If not, for a standard paperback, one minute per page is FASTER than almost all adults.
(2) There is a difference between reading and skimming. I can skim a page in ten to twenty seconds, but that doesn’t mean I have read it. Skimming means searching for key words or dates or numbers or some such. Skimming is a very useful skill for tests, but it is no good for actually comprehending or enjoying or learning. If what you need is test-taking skills, get someone who is good at it (for example a good English teacher whom you like) to teach you how to skim effectively. But don’t confuse this with real reading.
Skimming is also useful in the real world, for finding information quickly on the job, for sifting through junk on the internet, and so on. But it isn’t reading.
(3) Don’t be impressed by claims of “speed reading” There was a very interesting study published around 1985 - 1990 titled “How Fast Are the World’s Best Readers”? The authors demonstrated that “speed readers” are actually just skimming, the same as all good readers do.
In fact, the BEST reading speeds in the world are:

(I am going from memory so this may not be absolutely exact)

around 800 words per minute for LIGHT reading, for enjoyment.

The SAME top-level readers slow down to about 250 words per minute for serious reading, to study or learn.

The SAME top-level readers slow down to 125 words per minute or less for very difficult work such as new, unfamiliar science or mathematics.

Anything faster is skimming, and that goes at a maximum of around 2000 words per minute, again to get only the main idea or to pick out specific topics, not to follow the story.

Test yourself on words per minute. Read for real, to follow and understand. If you are over 100, you are up there with many adults. If over 200 or 250, you are average. If over 400, you are up with most college/university students or even above.

Again, do learn to skim for tests and finding information, but realize that this is what you are doing.

In your situation, I would probably try a cognitive training program. PACE (Processing and Cognitive Enhancement, http://www.learninginfo.com) is excellent but expensive. Ideally, you would want to do their Master the Code program also, which specifically works on developing the skills necessary for fluent reading. If you can’t afford PACE and MTC, you might want to try Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com) or Interactive Metronome (http://www.interactivemetronome.com). The latter is especially appropriate for the attention/distraction issue you mention, although the other programs also address this and more.

Do you have a family willing to help? Both PACE and Audiblox require one-on-one work daily with an adult coach for the exercises. PACE is usually a 12-week program, and Audiblox usually takes about 6 weeks for improvements to begin and requires 6 months or more for maximum gains.

Mary

Thanks for the info. The book was aimed at 12 year olds, and being 15, thats a relatively light read, as was claimed. I actually found it a little difficult, that particular book took me 2 minutes per page. But the one aimed at 8-11 year olds was about 1 minute per page though, it had about 150 or so words in it… so I’m not sure is that is a good or bad speed… I was reading this book just today, when my mind was clear, when I read though under pressure, being timed, and reading for information, I took 6 minutes to read through a passage and I had 10 minutes to read through and annotate. Of course I forgot almost everything I read, and so had to start again, using up all the time I had. I guess thats why I usually never bother annotate in exams, I just jump straight out and wriet, and go through the text at the same time… I know it isn’t the best approach but it works for me.

Sorry not to get back to you sooner — I’m avoiding long computer sessions since aol is overcharging me and cutting me off.
It looks to me that in the stress to read fast, you’re losing concentration and comprehension. It has always struck me as totally weird that teachers claim to want children to enjoy reading, and then turn it into an exhausting race for speed without reference to the content; seems to me that they are shooting themselves in the foot.
Try to find an old science fiction story “Prtimary Education of the Camiroi” (an internet search may work, or ask a good librarian — can’t find my copy before aol cuts me off, so I can’t give you the author right now); read it and note the part about learning to read *slowly* enough, for your own amusement, and if your teacher has any sense of humour at all, pass a copy on to him or her.
Try for a while forgetting all about rushing and just do as much as possible of your assignment as well as possible. If you know you won’t finish all the reading in time to write anything, try reading a paragraph, see if you can do any questions, read another paragraph, and so on.

I always have to fight with my math students on these points:

(1) THERE IS|ABSOLUTELY NO VALUE IN A FAST MISTAKE.

(2) IF YOU’RE GOING 100 MILES PER HOUR HEADING NORTH, AND THE PLACE YOU WANT TO GO IS SOUTH, YOU ARE RUSHING *AWAY* FROM YOUR GOAL

(3) IT TAKES A LOT LONGER TO DO A JOB WRONG THREE TIMES AND TO UNDO IT THAN IT WOULD TAKE TO DO IT RIGHT AND CAREFULLY ONCE.

When someone tries to rush you, try telling them this. You could print these out and put them on your desk, if it helps.

**Often, when you take the speed stress off and concentrate on just doing the job, you will find that you work faster! Stress is the worst thing for getting a job done.**

Good luck, and tell us how things are going.