When studying it is important to be able to sort through information quickly so as to find key points for learning within different types of text.
One key skill is speed reading. This is the ability to quickly scan through text and be able to pull out pieces of key information. Often however, if you are dyslexic or showing signs of dyslexia this can be a really difficult exercise, when reading at normal speed is a challenge.
In the book,Sage Study Skills for Students with Dyslexia, there are some tips that are useful in helping you to develop an ability to speed read. Our friends at The Codpast found four tips that are really useful
- Use your peripheral vision: You can actually take in groups of up to 7 words at a time while still grasping the gist of a sentence. Try to move your eyes forward quickly and consciously force yourself to skim words in clusters.
- Trust your knowledge of words and context: Poor readers often back-skip because they have not understood or have missed a word. Back-skipping means more fixations and wasted time. If you make a conscious effort to keep your eyes moving forward, context and work knowledge should make up for, ‘missing words’
- Run a pencil or a stylus along the text: Your eyes will move more smoothly if they are guided by a slim implement like a stylus, pencil or any slim object you have handy. Running your finger along the page can also help, but this isn’t ideal as your hand tends to block your peripheral vision.
- Suppress your inner voice: Sub-vocalisation (reading in your head) is a necessary part of the reading process, however being too aware of that voice can mean it acts like a pacemaker and dictates your reading speed. Try to push your inner voice into your subconscious so it still aids comprehension but allows you to read more freely.
Read the whole article from The Codpast by clicking here.