Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Have you ever read a book and then...

I do the same thing :-) I am a mommy but have been a book-a-holic for as long as I can remember. I am in love with books and they always seem to play out in my mind while I am reading. I somehow can read really, really fast and go through books like most people go through chocolates :-) I constantly have 1-2 books on my table - Barnes and Noble loves me.

I always wondered the same thing...if reading was so vibrant for others or if it was just me. I think I love reading so much because it just takes me to the amazing places!

Of course I do! No, I'm not a parent (gifted student) but I definitely do that. Not only do I just make it a movie, but I become engulfed into the book and I AM one of the characters in the book. I adore reading. It is incredibly fun! Also, If I'm not satisfied with the way something is happening in a book or I want to add onto the story I read, then, voila, something to do once I've finished my book and once again become bored in class! Haha, I am very good at multitasking though so I become engulfed in the book but still pay attention to the "snore fest" that's actually going on. Then I love when teachers try to make me feel stupid by calling on me when I am "Obviously not prepared or caring about school because I am reading a book INSTEAD of paying attention." (Note: that must be said in a silly, mocking tone) then I end up answering it perfectly. *sigh* If only everyone could understand.

I only recently discovered (and I'm almost 40!) that not everyone has that movie (or pictures) in their mind when they read... or think... or... well, anything! I can't wrap my brain around seeing in 'words'. I mean, what does that 'look' like? Do you literally see 'words'? Don't you have to get some kind of image in your mind when you read words? No?

My son (6) is like you and he really becomes what he sees. We aren't a TV family, but he recently saw a very tame classic children's movie and could NOT stay in his seat. He kept squealing out loud, talking to the characters, moving his arms, falling off the chair, stomping his feet, etc. He gets into his books too, but not like that.

I find this topic fascinating. Thanks for bringing it up.

Another thing that I was shocked to learn as an adult is how slowly people read. Many people read at the pace they speak, sounding out each word in their heads. Very strange to me.

I process in images but I remember in words. If I am taking a test I can see the page and I "reread" it in my mind. I can only do this if I studied the material. Usually when it is something technical in nature.

Count me in for the movie in my mind group. I much prefer reading a book to seeing a TV show or movie most of the time. Until very recently (I'm almost 40 too) I never even thought to think about whether everyone felt this way about reading. I couldn't imagine why so many prefer to watch TV instead of read in the evenings. The most effective punishment as a child was being grounded from reading. Smart Alec that I can be, I did try to apply that to school assignment also... After 8 weeks (one marking period) of no pleasure reading I rarely made it to that level of discipline again.

A couple months ago, DS 11 had a book report due and was struggling to come up with how to draw a cartoon illustration of the main action of the book. I asked him questions and finally said draw what you saw in your mind when you read it!!! He looked at me very blankly and said that he couldn't write down the words. Now he reads very quickly and comprehension and detail are great. I never knew that he didn't see the book the way I do. Instead he can recreate the page in his mind for recall. It turns out that DH also was confused by the moview in my mind idea. Both DS and DH are math gifties although DS is actually pretty equal verbal and quantitative.

Believe it or not, I've discovered that my primary method of thinking is kinetic, not visual or verbal or auditory. So, no, I definitely don't have an image unless I'm trying to think of one. But I can feel it, and I can feel the shapes of the words.



LOL You should hear my (dyslexic, 2E) DH read. He speaks like the highly intelligent person that he is, but he reads like a 2nd grader (though he can decode and understand up to a much higher level, obviously). He's less fluent than my 4-year-old.

I do see a "movie" when I read, I also vividly live trough the story. It is bad as I can not stop reading a good book. Now I'm too busy with work and DD to read anything. Sometimes I take one of DHs books in the evening and go to sleep when I have it finished. I'm a fast reader but not fast enough that I could read a book and still have enough time to sleep during the same night. I just can not put a good book down. When I was in school I used to take books with me to classes and when teachers did not notice I would read them and if I did not get enough sleep after reading all night I would nap after school. My life has too much responsibilities now for that. If a book is very emotional I have hard time letting that world (from the book) go after I finished it and I keeps bothering me for week.

When I read I do not see words as images, I have no idea how I understand what I read LOL I read english and my native language equally as well. Although I do write and speak my native language better than english.

I definitely don't see the words when I remember a book, I don't think I even register that I see the words when I'm reading a book ! It's more that my memory of the book is auditory rather than visual. It's kind of odd, because I'm not a very auditory learner (for instance, I can only judge the spelling of a word by seeing it on paper; I always recognize a familiar face, but often can't attach the person's name to it, etc.). I know that I have visual images along with what I'm reading, but they are kind of indistinct--the visual details aren't "sharp", they're kind of...ephemeral.

I think that's how I am in the rest of my life too. Obviously I see the things in my life as I'm experiencing them, and certain visual experiences remain vivid even in memory, but mostly my memories are auditory. I'll have a visual snippet (snapshot or film-segment, if you will), that is accompanied by a much longer auditory memory. It's kind of like when I visited Ellis Island and took the audio tour as I walked through the museum. There were pictures and images, but the meat of the experience was in the voices that put all the life into those still pictures.

I think it's fascinating that the reading experience appears to be just as satisfying and absorbing for both types of readers described here. It would be easy to think that a picture thinker couldn't make words come alive completely enough to fall into a book, or that a word thinker couldn't create an engrossing enough alternate world without the vivid movie.

So here's a question then....for those that have a highly visual experience in books, do you hear your voice in your head when you write, or is that something that is more typical of those of us who think in words?

I "see" the book like most here have mentioned, especially if it's fiction. With non-fiction I used to freak out my science teachers because I would be stuck on a word answer and I could tell you the page, column, paragraph and sometimes even sentence that the answer was in, but not that much needed word. Reading was my survival in my younger years. I cannot watch a movie if I've read the book, to much of a let down each and every time.

I also read extremely fast. So I am definately surprised by how slow many people read, luckily my DD's seem to have inherited this trait.

I so remember these days. I will never forget the day the Biology teacher did this to me for the last time. He was using a Chemistry formula and had it wrong. He had to call in the Chem teacher before he would believe me. After that he left me to read in peace. I'm sure many of us can relate.