Real Dislike of Reading.

Hi there,

An excellent question to which I do not have a rational answer.... As part of my work I read contract documents, specifications etc..., which isn't an issue...

I think it may be the amount of time spent against an activity that could result in an unfavourable outcome where I get annoyed that my time could have been better spent doing something I know I would have enjoyed.

My mind also wanders constantly and piecing together character building over days/ months is very tiring... Quite often, and before I started my road to getting a diagnosis started Summer 2023, my wife would often have to piece together film story lines for me..., or I would read online what the point of the film was before watching a second time.

Typing whilst thinking so apologies if a little convoluted but having red the issues with autism, I dont think I can piece together what is happening to characters and it gets confusing what they are doing.

Thanks, will give audio books a go.

I don;t find reading difficult, I have a hatred of it with my anxiety going through the roof at the thought of reading a book... I was curious if I was alone on this feeling... A shame as there are few people I know that don;t read a book.  :)

To be fair, I've lived there, I can definitely understand why someone WOULD feel that way

Reading isn't for everyone.

I prefer audiobooks, I find it much easier hearing books rather than having to read them. My vision isn't the best but I am lacking in imagination anyway so it makes books less appealing. With audiobooks I can lay in bed, plug in my headphones, even listen to them when driving the car and the best thing of all I can imagine what's being said in the audiobook.

I always recommend audiobooks to everyone. It's an incredible experience to hear a story being read like that

I love reading! Stories are great! You should try audiobooks if you find physical reading difficult :)

Roy said:

Audiobooks seem to blockout other thoughts

Yes! That's exactly how I feel. I often find that if I'm doing things round the house or working on a craft project, an audiobook will stop my mind from wandering or going into an anxiety spiral.

That’s how I find audiobooks, they block the world out. When I do visualise a character they are always based on a real person, I can’t make up a character’s appearance. When my children were young they would ask me to make up a bedtime story, that was never going to happen, I don’t have any imagination. Give me an engineering problem to solve and I will find the answer. The part I’m dreading at my assessment, the dreaded frog and picture book.

Having read books all be it badly before and now using audiobooks I think it is a better experience having audiobooks. Lately it's been raining here and I've been lying on my bed, hot chocolate in my hands listening to my audiobooks. It's peaceful.

I can read but I find it difficult. When I look at words all together like they are in a book there's a line through them and it's hard not to notice that. Irritante! And I struggle with my imagination which makes it harder to read a book because I can't visualize the characters and what's happening. I have found audiobooks are better suited for me. I can visualize what's happening when it's being told to me though a story. I listen to some on my phone and I have cds of others. If you haven't tried audiobooks then I would give them a try. They relit my passion in books.

Valdez said:

its 8 years since I picked a book up due to the anxiety that kicks in

I'm curious, what do you become anxious about when reading?

Is it that you are expecting to find it difficult to keep track of?

Ha, I just read your reply as didn’t like reading In Berkshire. Polish and polish.

At first glance, I thought you didn't like Reading in Berkshire!

Ben

You have summed it up really well, I often feel inferior for not reading so much. Audiobooks have opened up the world of books to me. I can read a paragraph 5 times and it’s just a collection of words, just can’t process it. Audiobooks seem to blockout other thoughts.

It's okay not to like reading. People often act as if reading is uniquely special and being a big reader makes you better or smarter than others, but that's not necessarily true. It's fine if you prefer to learn in other ways or you only feel comfortable reading things that are presented in an eye-catching way.

If you feel like you're missing out though, have you tried audiobooks? I find I get on quite well with those as long as I've got something to keep my hands busy and help me focus.

I have over 1000 comics which drives my mum crazy as they're still at her home, in my old bedroom which is like walking back into the 70s/ 80s... 14" portable TV, pacman handheld game and so on... Should charge as a museum exhibit haha.

I was referred for OCD back in the day when it wasn;t really acknowledged... It has kind of been described more as ritualistic and tied into the likely autism diagnosis this year.

Apologies that I often use 'likely diagnosis' and similar... There may be people visiting and seeing this thread as a first visit and it is important to me that don;t attach my posts to autism but are aware that I in the system for diagnosis based on multiple assessments with professionals.

Hi Valdez!

That's so awesome ^^ 

You must have loads.

I like to keep all my CDs and books in order I think it's an autism and OCD thing :) 

Hi Goosey...

I have Beano, Dandy, Whizzer&Chips, Topper... All UK comics from 1979-1985... Turns out I was super organised as a child and kept them, all in date order by comic haha

Thank you...

At a guess, its 8 years since I picked a book up due to the anxiety that kicks in, so no worries on the time element.

Seems that no-one else has this so it must be a me thing haha.

Thank you Iain,

1. Excellent idea and that's how I kind of functioned in my exam preparation. History was easier with dates that I could easily remember and Geography with illustrations and bullet points... No long winded texts to scan over which as you say, you could fly through and digest.

2. Yeah... That would work really well, but wouldnt that distract away from reading a book being relaxing and fun?

I agree on text style... That makes huge sense why I used an 84 large text book for my final year study and also comics... I don;t know if I can count it as a book but do like the Far Side Galleries.

Sorry but I couldn;t get away with Pratchett... I tried after Dragonlance but I preferred the more serious story with some comedy in characters over Pratchett's style... Discworld was the one I tried.

Thank you for the ideas which I agree with.

My dads got a lot of Spiderman comics he bought when he was younger in the 80s ^^