Speed Reading

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My son is in college. He is bright, but reads slowly. Since he is interested in history, reading is a big issue. Has anyone tried speed reading? What kind of results did you have?
Thanks

I'm not sure what you mean by speed reading. I read very quickly normally, but sometimes I will glance over a page very quickly and pick out what looks the most important. The temporary storage of the visual information also allows me to retain a little bit that I didn't actually "read" per se. Very useful for my 5-minute history cram sessions right before the test.

I don't know about speed reading. Once somebody suggested, when reading for information, to read the first and last lines of a paragraph, then decide whether to read the middle. It's not a bad system, but no guarantees, of course.

I read very fast to begin with, so this might not help you very much.

I had a computer program in high school that was actually bought to help my step brother read better (a boy with ADHD). He never used it, I used it about three times, then quit because it sped up my reading too much, and I was already reading my books too quickly. (100 pages an hour)

The principle behind it is that it trains the person to keep their head still and move their eyes. The basis being that the eyes are controlled by muscles, and all muscles need work outs. This I beleive is the same basis as the Speed reading brand.

Speed reading program would probably help. The program we had had you follow a bouncing/blinking ball around the screen. it also had other eye excercises, but it would have timers where the computer would stop and make you look away from the computer for 15 minutes to rest your eyes. It worked for me.

So his comprehension is okay? If so, that's good.

Has he checked with his counselor at school?
Some uni's have something along the line of a 'Disabled Student Services' department.
Mine does and I have seen others here post about their schools.
A place like this at his school might be able to offer up some help.

I always thought programs like the infamous Evelyn Wood Speed Reading program trained people to pass on certain words while concentrating on others, in order to speed up the reading yet retain comprehension.

When I first learned to read, it was like I was reading with my eyes. I saw something, knew what it was, etc... It wasn't until a few years later that I almost read with my ears!! !! !! I saw something, repeated it in my head, and THEN knew what it was. If he AVOIDS that step(which is actually quite common), his reading speed can SKYROCKET!

Tracking with a finger improves reading speed greatly. If he has some type of disorder with visually separating the words, placing a bookmark under the line he's reading may work better than the finger.

Other than that, all I can say is practice. I can read three young adult books in an hour now.As a teen, I believe it took an hour and half for one book, and as a preteen, it took me a week