<p>As part of their effort to curtail my mischief, my primary school prinicipals threw me into speed reading sessions during recess.</p>
<p>I read like a demon but I must say, my retention isn't what it should be. In my experience, true scholars are slow readers--often reading the same books again and again--sometimes line by line.</p>
<p>While it is important to learn how to digest college reading--it is equally important to develop your strengths. Slow reading can be a real strength. In my opinion.</p>
<p>I am a very fast reader - took a speed reading course in HS many moons ago, and it has served me well. My middle S was a very slow reader. He read for detail. Prior to his Junior year, knowing that he was going to face a lot of reading, I made him take a summer speed reading course. He wasn't thrilled about it; many of the kids were there more for remedial purposes (despite advertising to the contrary.) However, my kid was a welcome relief for the teacher, I think. And he did learn the basics. I could have taught him myself, except he has never learned well from me.</p>
<p>Have your S use an index card when he reads, to underline a line at a time. Make him learn to force his eyes left to right. Slow readers sometimes focus on each individual word, and that slows you down. Do NOT lip read - Lip reading (or reading out loud) is focusing on one word at a time. As he pulls the index card slowly down the page, it helps to keep the place from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, and it helps train the eye. Read at a table or desk. The book needs to be still to keep your place. Speed reading is not relaxing reading.</p>
<p>In the class, they read a passage, timed. Then take a content test. The goal is to increase the time without losing the content.</p>
<p>I was a slow reader because of the engineer in me and the desire to read every single word on the page. I learned early in college that I had two choices, to speed up my reading or skip some readings. I chose the former and increased my reading speed by more quickly scanning each line on the page, first using a pencil to rapidly guide me along and later depending on merely eye movement.</p>
<p>I think this increased my reading speed by 50-100%. I can now recreationally read about 100 pages/hr, not super fast but adequate to get through the reading queue in the den.</p>
<p>I had an interesting discussion with a college English professor about this after my daughter tested as having a very high reading speed while I am a slow reader. He said that conversational speed, about 250-300 words per minute, is similar to the sound barrier in flying. Once it is broken very fast rates are possible. He said he could do it himself but chose to read at conversational speed because he liked to hear the words in his head. I hope he wasn't just trying to make me feel better. I have noticed that conversational speed readers tend, in medicine at least, to go into areas that are very visual. There are a lot in engineering as well.
ISPF, your son may find these reading courses helpful, but he may come up against a speed barrier. He shouldn't be discouraged as long as his comprehension is good.</p>
<p>Lspf72, as a reading specialist, I'd like to throw in my .02.</p>
<p>You say your son is a "slow reader," but it's hard to know exactly what that means. I'm a highly skilled and effective reader in most contexts and with most reading material; but hand me a quantum physics textbook, and I would turn into a "slow reader." I would probably be able to read the text rapidly and with prosody (expressed rhythm and feeling), but I most certainly would not have deep comprehension. :) I can think of some poetry which should be savored, like fine cuisine for the mind, rather than rushed.</p>
<p>Which is to say that reading speed alone cannot be divorced from comprehension, as many posters here have noted.</p>
<p>I was most impressed by corranged's post above, which is full of insight. What s/he describes is exactly what an effective reader does, vis a vis "chunking." Most of us (skilled readers) don't "read aloud" in our heads. Our silent reading rate is much, much higher than our "read aloud" rate. I know I get very frustrated reading aloud because I have to slow down my rate of comprehension to match my oral reading speed. That's one of the reasons "read aloud" exercises are ineffective for older readers. Without going into a lot of detail, I'm also going to assume your son doesn't need the finger-to-word exercise.</p>
<p>This is a primer in reading skills for college students. Start on page 70. The PBID is especially important. One of the main reasons we turn into slow readers with difficult material is a tendency for our minds to wander or get off-track while reading. One of the best ways to combat that tendency is to try to retain interest in the material. The SQ3R method is time-honored and effective--in large part because it supports the reader in staying actively engaged with the material. There are variants on this, some described in the link, as well as other methods. Try googling "graphic organizers."</p>
<p>Anyway... that's a little bit to get your son started. There's a wealth of info on the net to help people develop strong advanced reading skills. Good luck!</p>
<p>Our impression is that his reading comprehension is OK, but he's just slow covering the material, whether it be schoolwork or pleasure reading.</p>
<p>He had many speech and 'processing' issues when he was young. Almost no comprehensible speech until past age two, and a lot of trouble in school until 2nd-3rd grade. I sometimes wonder if the two things might have been related, though sort of doubt it. I think it's frustrating for him because it's one of the few things he's not been able to improve or fix by studying or working harder. Also, there's the fear of the unknown (all that college reading). Thank you for that link though - there's a lot of information there!</p>
<p>I learned to talk shortly before I turned three and went to speech therapy all through preschool and elementary school until I was ten. By not 'reading out loud in your head' or reading word-by-word, any speech/word/whatever issues are bypassed, at least that's how it is for me. </p>
<p>Though he may want to learn how to read faster, I don't think it should be an issue for most college reading. Though I can read fast, I read college books and textbooks slowly out of necessity for taking notes and understanding the material fully.</p>
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Almost no comprehensible speech until past age two, and a lot of trouble in school until 2nd-3rd grade. I sometimes wonder if the two things might have been related, though sort of doubt it.
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<p>I would expect those to be related issues. </p>
<p>Most readers improve by reading more. Read more, and you gain reading vocabulary. Gain reading vocabulary, and you read faster. When I was in college, I was dissatisfied with my reading speed (already quite fast), so I did a lot of looking at my university library for books about reading skill improvement. One of my favorites is Reading for Power and Flexibility, which is still available through Amazon as a used book and might be in some library near you.</p>
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Almost no comprehensible speech until past age two, and a lot of trouble in school until 2nd-3rd grade. I sometimes wonder if the two things might have been related, though sort of doubt it.
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<p>I would expect those to be related issues.
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I would, too. You've just described the ages at which most readers pass from emerging to beginning into intermediate reading developmental stages. </p>
<p>I also agree with tokenadult's point about reading practice adding to vocabulary and would add another element practice helps: building background knowledge (the "B" in "PBID" from my link above). Unfortunately, a reader struggling with the mechanics is more likely to want to avoid practicing a difficult and unpleasant task.</p>
<p>Your son sounds like a great kid with a lot of "heart." If you can get someone in your school district to do a one-on-one reading assessment, it might help him discover a specific weakness he should be aware of... and help him build the confidence to break that looming mountain of college reading into manageable molehills.</p>
<p>There is an excellent software package called EyeQ that I bought for my son a few years ago. It allows for multiple users, so I used it too for awhile and got great results.</p>
<p>Thanks, Mudder and others-
I bet there are plenty of other students out there who would benefit from this thread as well. Originally S. WAS interested in finding a speed reading-type program. There is a lot of good information here for him to go through.</p>
<p>EyeQ is not really a speed-reading program. It is different from most other speed-reading programs - drastically different. It works on a completely different principle. From what I understand (since my hubby took a speed reading course many years ago), speed reading trains the person to read only the 'most important' passages. EyeQ, otoh, actually trains the brain, coordinated with the eyes, to process information faster. So they don't miss anything, not a single word. They just really get their brains better connected and can process massive amounts of text much more quickly. </p>
<p>lspf, if you don't have any reason to want him to remain unidentified, you might want to have him tested by a psychologist who specializes in testing adults with learning disabilities. Just because he wasn't identified as a child, doesn't mean they are not present. Testing in elementary school is designed to rule out eligibility and is the most rudimentary. Children who have mild disabilities may not qualify but could benefit from the accommodations offered. If he is dyslexic he qualifies to have all books on tape and he should have that.</p>
<p>OK - found it. Merrill Ream, PhD is the "instructor". Asked D last night and she says its had some lasting effect. She feels she reads faster with more comprehension. I don't think she's ready for Daytona, but she found it worthwhile.</p>
<p>If a person is reading silently at less than 220 words a minute then they are subvocalising. It is likely that they will be forgetting the beginning of a paragraph by the time they get to the end. It will not be fluent… not enjoyable… They are having to subvocalise.
if they are at less than 160 words per minute. then they are battling with the individual words and will probably sound like a machine gun if they are reading aloud. Making them read more is just a punishment. The conditions probabky need changing.</p>