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

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#141

Post by joshmn » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

Like others in this thread with ADHD, I find this post to be rather minimizing to those with ADHD.

My problem isn't the actual reading of words or the investment of time. There are stimulants that work wonders for me and allow me to do it.

It's the parsing of all the unnecessary information to get to the point of the material. Part of that might be because I'm on the spectrum and struggle with understanding context, though.

Fun anecdote: 30% of people with ADHD/ADD are somewhere on the spectrum; 70% of those on the spectrum are ADHD/ADD.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#142

Post by joshmn » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

Fellow ADHD/ADD HNers: If you do read, what do you find to be your medium of choice?

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#143

Post by nicbou » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:51 PM UTC

shoto_io wrote: post #126

nicbou wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sounds interesting. Do you mind sharing your website?

You will find it in my post history. I'd rather not spam it too much here.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#144

Post by teekert » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:51 PM UTC

yigitcakar wrote: post #117

teekert wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have the diagnosis but certainly recognize add elements in how I navigate the world. My conclusion was that there are actually quite a lot of books that just start out great and objectively become worse as the page count goes up (like The subtle art of not giving a F. You really start feeling "yeah, ok, I get it." There are also books that are the other way around (like Atlas shrugged) where you struggle thro…

Sadly, publishing world is guilty of turning popular blog post series into books because the bloggers have a platform to promote. Then the bloggers turn each paragraph in their famous blog post into chapters in their book. You can understand that kind of books by reading the first few paragraphs of each chapter. As an example, Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life comes to my mind. I think he turned a Quora answer to a…

Studied is a big word but (on the fiction side) most things by Greg Egan keep me reading with ease. Also Harry Potter :). But also the Commonwealth Saga 1 and 2 by Peter F. Hamilton, the 3 books after that I never finished. Dune kept me going for 5 books until I stopped. On the non-fiction side, Richard Dawkins is a good writer.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#145

Post by SkyPuncher » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:55 PM UTC

Twinklebreeze wrote: post #107

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.

My guess is that recommendation is meant to combat building a tolerance.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#146

Post by Tarq0n » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 2:55 PM UTC

CubsFan1060 wrote: post #135

etrevino wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(US specific advice) I felt like my GP was really only good for getting the ball rolling: I asked her to refer me to a psychologist for testing and she did. To be honest, I think you could skip the GP step and just meet with any clinical psychologist to discuss with that person your concerns about ADHD. Their office should be able to tell you if they can do ADHD testing before you go in. Some psychiatrists may test a…

Here's where my misconceptions may start: it seem to me like meds are the only real treatment. This could be wrong. IIRC, psychiatrists don't have that tool in their toolbox, so would a psychologist or neurologist be better? And to be clear, I'm not just looking to get meds. But I'd like to avoid pinging in between different doctors. So if I can go to one that has all available tools at their disposal, that would see…

On the contrary, a psychiatrists primary role is to prescribe psychoactive medication.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#147

Post by cratermoon » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 3:03 PM UTC

splithalf wrote: post #121

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…

Lots of addicted folk talk this way. I couldn’t function without ____, where ____ could be anything from coffee to amphetamines. That isn’t to say that you are abusing the medication, but that the dividing line is more arbitrary than most people understand. Many addicts are simply people with inadequate health coverage who are forced to self medicate, often with the exact same substances (adderal, benzodiazepines, pa…

The ridiculous double standard is that we see physical devices -- glasses, hearing aids, canes, as corrective, but drugs that treat disabilities are seen as "crutches", which happens to also be a physical metaphor, but one that implies some transience, suggesting that eventually we'll get better and not need the drug.

Try telling a deaf or blind person that their assistance devices are "crutches" they'll eventually not need and see how that works out. Would you say a paraplegic in a wheelchair is an addict? Do you expect them to somehow magically grow legs and be able to walk, if they could just "give up" the chair?

That's what accusing people who need pharmaceuticals to function sounds like. It's implying they are morally inadequate for needing their drugs.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#148

Post by ryanwhitney » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 3:07 PM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #84

I really dislike this sort of blog. Every article feels like it was written for their affiliates and for search engines, and rarely for the readers. It's certainly not written for people with ADHD. Here's the only useful paragraph in the article: > This idea came from Megan, a guest on Hal Elrod’s podcast. Megan explained she keeps track of all the books she reads in a spreadsheet. Each time she finishes a book she a…

Ditto on environment. I had found that getting out of my normal setting helped with this immensely for me. Going to a coffee shop had been working pretty well (not every time but most times), but covid killed that routine.

No thanks to a spreadsheet though. Lots of adhd advice around bullet journals too, but that worked as well as every other past attempt to keep a journal in my life.

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#149

Post by cratermoon » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 3:10 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…

One of my motivations for getting into programming was to be able to learn to have the computer take on much of the remembering. I tried various paper methods, but all of them required one thing I didn't have: the ability to remember to actually look at them for the information I put into them. When I got a computer capable of managing my calendar, tasks, grocery lists, etc, it was a dream because I only need to put something in and tell the computer to remind me. Andy Matuschak calls it "programmable attention" https://notes.andymatuschak.org/Programmable_attention

Re: How to Read Books When You Have ADHD

#150

Post by _aleph2c_ » Wed, Apr 14, 2021, 3:14 PM UTC

If I have to get through boring material, like technical manuals or things written in a tedious fashion, I use a text-to-voice synthesizer (balabolka on windows). I have hacked balabolka to use the Cortana voice, and over time I have increased its reading speed. Now 'she' sounds like a chipmunk on meth. If I need to get through a book, I buy the paper copy, then obtain a pdf and run it through the synthesizer... I read the book while the synth squirrel-speaks the words. If I find something interesting, I'll turn off the synth, then slow down and go over the good spot in slow motion, reading and link-think what I'm reading to other things I know.