How to Read Books When You Have ADHD • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#101

Post by kerbobotat » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 12:55 PM UTC

JoeCianflone wrote: post #97

No. ADHD does not work this way for me, or people like me who are inattentive . This article is the equivalent of the time my primary care physician said, “just use a calendar”. You want me to maintain a set of documents? Buddy, without meds I can’t remember to brush my fucking teeth. I’m not exaggerating. ADHD is a spectrum, articles like this paint everyone with the same brush, which furthers many people to feel li…

Exactly right, and also, thank you for reminding me I forgot to brush my teeth.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#102

Post by alexellisuk » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:04 PM UTC

In general, I think that the “one thing” approach is how I read any kind of reference or self-help/business book. I rarely go cover to cover, but know people who do. I’m more likely to take something way 1-2 things and apply it, then move onto another book.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#103

Post by pharke » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

Riesling wrote: post #57

Ironically I could not finish this article. Here is the one thing, that works for me, if I must read a text: While reading I use a Text-To-Speech-Engine to read out the text at the same time. TTS-reading speed should be at least 1.5x. It should not be too easy to keep up. I have no explanation why this works, but it does. Maybe someone else with ADHD finds it useful.

You may also want to try reading with earplugs in or over ear hearing protection if you find plugs uncomfortable. I didn't realize how distracting normal background noise is until it wasn't there.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#104

Post by Leparamour » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

JackMorgan wrote: post #76

RaceWon wrote: post #65

Pictograph instructions: that's the real SOB of ADHD. Reading novels is not a chore for me, depending. I typically find an author I like and then read the the hell out of his writing. Stephen King short stories are a pretty good place to start imo if you want to get into reading (again), though I started with Vonnegut myself. I am a famous re-reader of books btw. Its like slipping into a comfortable "another world" f…

I believe ADHD people are fully capable of training their minds to become extremely productive. Granted, most people don't want to train anything, much less their minds, so it doesn't manifest much in the wild. But in those that do, it's like a superpower. I spent several years training my hyperfocus to the point where, barring externalities like lack of sleep or food, I can engage it at will. For challenging or crea…

>I spent several years training my hyperfocus to the point where, barring externalities like lack of sleep or food, I can engage it at will.

Please do share your suggestions. Hyperfocus isn't the problem for people suffering ADHD. It's applying hyperfocus selectively on worthwhile tasks. "Neurotypicals'" best advice is usually "you just have to will it".

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#105

Post by nicbou » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:16 PM UTC

retSava wrote: post #62

shoto_io wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if all this clutter can be avoided somehow. I mean basically all other text is there for search engines only.

Don't forget that you also need to add filler so you can shove a couple of ads in the middle of the stream. Add a side-story about your uncle that is completely irrelevant so you have room for one ad more! Then paginate the thing so the ads on the sides + top and bottom can reload for more impressions. And we feel it's important to offer our readers a nice flow, so add some history events so the back-button doesn't w…

I created a website that does the opposite of that, and it works so well that I wonder why they bother doing this. I click away from so many websites because of all the friction they cause.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#106

Post by yigitcakar » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:16 PM UTC

tudorw wrote: post #66

yigitcakar wrote: post #48

The article lacked substance but I am glad that we are talking about reading with ADHD here. I don't feel guilty about not finishing books because most of the times if I force myself to finish a book that I don't find interesting enough, I don't remember the information in the book anyway. Over time I have learned to trust my brain, and figured that it will remember the important parts I read. If the book bores me th…

Great comment, I nearly read all of it, go me ;)

Thank you! Good job! I am so proud of you :)

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#107

Post by Twinklebreeze » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:20 PM UTC

JoeCianflone wrote: post #97

No. ADHD does not work this way for me, or people like me who are inattentive . This article is the equivalent of the time my primary care physician said, “just use a calendar”. You want me to maintain a set of documents? Buddy, without meds I can’t remember to brush my fucking teeth. I’m not exaggerating. ADHD is a spectrum, articles like this paint everyone with the same brush, which furthers many people to feel li…

I can relate to this. Without medication I don't have any motivation to do ANYTHING, and that quickly leads to depression. My doctor recommended that I don't medicate on weekends, but what about my personal life? I have things I need to get done at home. My wife likes to with me and my executive functions, too.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#108

Post by jplr8922 » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:24 PM UTC

I've been diagnosed with ADHD as an early adult, and oh boy do I hate this kind of article. They describe a human who not only have an attention deficit, but is also completly unable to cope with himself, objectives or life.

Is it aimed for a teenager with low self esteem, or a functionning adult?

Different books needs different levels of attention. An academic article needs several readings, while most articles (this one being a good example) are so crapy that you can decide after 3 paragraphs that the rest is very likely to be crap.

Also we should alway remember that ADHD is a differential diagnostic, which means that you need to deal with all the other possible problems. The comorbidity rate for attention deficit makes one size fits all solutions near impossible. Do you have supportive relationships? Are you in a field which interests you? How is your self esteem and global mental health? Physical health?

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#109

Post by gnicholas » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:28 PM UTC

tpaulin wrote: post #74

gnicholas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. It wasn't so much 'how to read books' as 'how to get something out of books (without actually reading most of them)'. For people who want to actually get through books, I'd recommend this tool [1], which I created several years back. It has become fairly popular in the ADHD world and is recommended at top universities (Stanford/Yale/Dartmouth) to students with ADHD and dyslexia. It works with Kindle books as…

This looks like a neat idea! A couple of questions if you don't mind: 1. Does the pass apply to the Firefox version too? 2. When you say "It works with Kindle books..." what do you mean? On desktop only? (My) Kindle doesn't have colour.

Yes for Firefox and yes via the kindle cloud reader (on desktop or our iPad app).

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#110

Post by Twinklebreeze » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 1:29 PM UTC

There is no quicker way to get me disinterested in a book than the words non-fiction. And there is no shot that I am reading a book if I'm not interested in it. I've noticed lately that when I hear or read someone talking about reading (it has come up in a few podcasts I listen to) it often comes up that they are talking about non-fiction. I've read one non-fiction book outside of school[1].

I read for escapism, or to explore other worlds in my imagination. Reading gives me something fantastical to think about. If I want something real to think about I use the internet. Books have never filled that role, and I've never really considered them for it. Am I missing out? Should I try and shake my prejudice against non-fiction?

[1]: Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software