Dianne-TX Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My dh struggles with reading. He CAN read, he just has trouble focusing and being able to understand what he reads. He is distracted easily and usually falls asleep when he reads anyway. I know this sounds ADD and it could very well be, but we also want to see what other reasons there could be. We've been talking about the importance of habit and, like most adults from our generation, we were public schooled and found entertainment in other things than reading. (I think of the book Endangered Minds) My dh has never been a reader for enjoyment or had an interest in seeking out knowledge, until now, but there is a lot that has been over the years that he feels he's at a lost cause. He didn't even come from a family that encouraged knowledge or talked much of anything. In a lot of ways, we are thinking he has to re-train himself from the beginning. It is quite discouraging and daunting and overwhelming to him, I think. He wants to be a reader, he wants to seek knowledge, but it doesn't come naturally to him. So, to resist writing a book, I hope someone gets what I am saying and can shed some light on the subject for us and hopefully help us out for his sake. He can perform his job well and it is not a physical labor job, but a managerial desk job where he has to to perform presentations and things that require thinking and focus and attention and he can do that well. He just has trouble reading and being interested it and internalizing what he reads. Any ideas of how to help him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 plus 2 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 :bigear: This sounds just like my husband! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 What are his interests? Maybe find books/magazines on things he's interested in and start there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Some of it just may his learning style. It could be a learning disabillity. It could be a vision problem previously undiagnosed. www.covd.org for signs and symptoms. It could be that he just needs to work on his vocabulary and comprehension skills. There are many ways he can do that including word games, crossword puzzles, specific textbooks and classes... Those skills may not have been well taught in his school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My dh doesn't read for enjoyment. He'll read to learn, but never literature, it's generally non-fiction self help type books. Or anything online about technology. Can he look into some audiobooks or teaching company lectures about his interests? I've found my ds sometimes retains better if he paces while reading, he's wired similarly to my dh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiseOwlKnits Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have no advice, but my DH is the same way. He's a college graduate and quite successful professionally, which requires reading...but he doesn't read EVER for fun. He grew up in a house that doesn't value education....without 1 single book in the entire house...and never going to the library. I'd love to find something that would inspire him since DD is beginning to notice that DH never reads and is asking questions why he doesn't. So I'm listening here too for suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSurprise Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My husband is similar. What helps him: *being read to (especially while driving) *audio books *lighter choices (YA lit) *non-fiction *magazines *project-based reading (read and then go make something) *knowing that if something doesn't work it's okay to just drop it and move on He reads a whole lot more now then when I met him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntieM Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have no advice, but my DH is the same way. He's a college graduate and quite successful professionally, which requires reading...but he doesn't read EVER for fun. This is my dh (though he did grow up in a house with many books where education was valued... just left to the "professionals.") Recently my ds was diagnosed with vision issues. 20/20 acuity, but poor speed and comprehension. A battery of tests and an evaluation with a developmental optometrist revealed that he has issues with tracking during reading, visual memory, visual discrimination and has some basic reflexes which are not fully integrated. We are told this is genetic, in large part. So now dh wants to schedule a consultation with the optometrist. We're all curious! But he remembers having some of the same struggles. Both my husband and son are pretty smart and managed to compensate for their difficulties to date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 So many of us are married to the same man! I've gotten my DH hooked on audio books. He listens while he drives to work and while working out. I wish he read books. He also grew up in a home where education was not highly valued and he was never read to or encouraged to read. So different from my childhood. We found out that my oldest is dyslexic and now we are both convinced that DH is and was never diagnosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have no problem reading fiction but non-fiction is really hard for me. My symptoms sound like your DH's. I get easily distracted. My mind wanders and I've found that I've read a paragraph or even a page without "hearing" what I've read and I have to back up and read again. When I really need to pick out information, I have to take notes while I read. This is quite a struggle for me while I'm in college right now! I'm reading a book that has 40 page chapters and it takes me an easy 3 hours to really read those pages and understand them because I have to reread so much and take notes. If I don't take notes, I don't always retain what I've read. But fwiw, I'm ADD and am on medication. I cannot read at all if I'm not on my medication. It's an exercise in futility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 I have no problem reading fiction but non-fiction is really hard for me. My symptoms sound like your DH's. I get easily distracted. My mind wanders and I've found that I've read a paragraph or even a page without "hearing" what I've read and I have to back up and read again. When I really need to pick out information, I have to take notes while I read. This is quite a struggle for me while I'm in college right now! I'm reading a book that has 40 page chapters and it takes me an easy 3 hours to really read those pages and understand them because I have to reread so much and take notes. If I don't take notes, I don't always retain what I've read. But fwiw, I'm ADD and am on medication. I cannot read at all if I'm not on my medication. It's an exercise in futility. I am that way, too, but I can alleviate it by taking notes on what I read. I'm ADD, too. So his my oldest and he has the same problem, except he hates taking notes.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Was he taught to read with sight words? My article called "Why Johnny Doesn't Like to Read" explains why people taught with sight words experience what you describe. I would give him the MWIA level II and if he reads the sight words more than 10 percent slower than the holistic words, retrain his brain with nonsense words and some phonetic spelling, he could work through my phonics and spelling lessons. Also, "We All Can Read, 3rd grade and Above" uses a ton of nonsense words, so it is a great program for an adult taught with sight words. Here is the link: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/aliterate.html Another common sign of people taught to read with sight words is that they have a harder time reading at night when they are tired, and reading makes them tired. I find the opposite, a good book makes me stay up too late!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhsmom Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) When I was in library school, we talked a lot about how female teachers try to get little boys interested in fiction(chapter books etc), and then wonder why boys don't read. It isn't that men or boys don't like to read, it is just they many of them are interested in nonfiction. The website www.guysread.com is a neat website with the goal of encouraging boys to develop a love for reading. It has a great list of books that boys enjoy reading. Here is a great quote from that site, "Research shows that boys are having trouble reading, and that boys are getting worse at reading. No one is quite sure why. Some of the reasons are biological. Some of the reasons are sociological. But the good news is that research also shows that boys will read — if they are given reading that interests them." If this is true for boys, then I bet the same holds true for men. Edited February 28, 2011 by newhsmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamamaloca Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 My SIL's husband had a very difficult time reading, but it has improved dramatically since he began meds for ADHD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 Some of it just may his learning style. It could be a learning disabillity. It could be a vision problem previously undiagnosed. www.covd.org for signs and symptoms. It could be that he just needs to work on his vocabulary and comprehension skills. There are many ways he can do that including word games, crossword puzzles, specific textbooks and classes... Those skills may not have been well taught in his school. :iagree::iagree: Recently my ds was diagnosed with vision issues. 20/20 acuity, but poor speed and comprehension. A battery of tests and an evaluation with a developmental optometrist revealed that he has issues with tracking during reading, visual memory, visual discrimination and has some basic reflexes which are not fully integrated. We are told this is genetic, in large part. :iagree: I didn't realize that I even had vision issues until dd was going through VT. I tend to read with mostly one eye, especially when I get too tired to focus both of them properly on the same location. Sometimes I may be kinda reading two different areas of the same newspaper column at once :glare:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thank you everyone! We are reading all the responses now and it is all very interesting. Does anyone know of any natural supplements for ADD? What kind of visual testing would he ask for and where? I'll look at that website, too. Very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thank you everyone! We are reading all the responses now and it is all very interesting. Does anyone know of any natural supplements for ADD? What kind of visual testing would he ask for and where? I'll look at that website, too. Very interesting. Fish oil works great for my DS with ADD. Cod liver oil, fish oil, anything with Omega 3's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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