Question I was asked.
Are you able to read with your eyes or do you use a reader or other device?
Print vs e-copy
My fine motor means I don't have good control with turning pages, one page at a time. So I do prefer a pdf or e-copy. Advantage of electronic, you can zoom in, which is useful for those tiny numbers/labels in graphs or diagrams.
Reader Specifics
The actual reader does not matter. Use any text-speech software/reader that works for you.
For my laptop, I use Natural Reader, which can both read out PDFs as well as act as a text-speech voice for conversations; necessary for someone with very limited talking ability like me.
If you know of other text-speech or reader software for laptop/iPad/phone, please drop a comment below.
To use or not use a Reader
Using the actual reader is context dependent and mood dependent for me.
Text Heavy Material
Readers handle most text-based social science/humanities materials well.
For text heavy material, text-speech software is definitely useful in unexpected ways.
For instance, Disability Studies scholars like to use complex, almost convoluted language, which is ironical as it then becomes inaccessible to the very disabled population being discussed. In some of these papers, it can take many paras/pages to get to the point of what they are really talking about. Which can be a very impatient reading experience for someone like me. So you can let the text-speech just go on in the background and your mind will pick up the important points of what's said somewhere in there without having to listen to every word.
Science/Math Books
While text to speech software is great with humanities and a majority of social sciences, they are not as good with science/math textbooks. It can only be a supplement at best for science.
1. Mangles and Winces.
Calcium ions Ca+2 is "ca two plus," (which sounds like someone is choking) or "California two plus"
Na+ is "nah plus;" someone just negating their 'no' with a plus.
2. Images
And when the text to speech encounters diagrams it wants to just rattle off any readable labels it finds, sometimes in random order, and may even skip some, which is very confusing. Not all labels are readable either.
You want to spend just that little extra time on diagrams and graphs and that needs to be done visually.
When using a reader with science and math, you may need the book in front of you when trying to read it and follow along and wince every time it messes up.
Maybe there are solutions out there that I'm yet unaware of. If you know of any, please leave a comment.
Speed of Reader Output
In general I find that the text-voice-output is too slow.
I like to play my read-aloud voice software anywhere from 3-5x (or greater) speed as I still find that my mind is racing faster than it, and I get impatient with its slowness (ADHD factor?).
So sometimes it just easier for me to quickly visually scan the page (with my eyes) rather than wait for the voice to play catch up. I do tend to read fast.
Is 3x-5x (or more) reader speed too fast?
I've been told in the past that a faster (3-5x) voice-speed was "too fast" for me to be able to learn.
Au contraire!
When I went to the PD Soros conference in New York last fall, I met another PD Soros fellow at Harvard Law who is also blind. His screen reader plays at 5x speed or more. He explained that he was hearing at the speed of reading with the eyes. That is his ears were acting like his eyes. Apparently, that is perfectly normal in the blind community.
I was rather relieved to know that my asking for a faster text-voice speed is not so unusual after all. And maybe reading much faster like visual scanning is not unusual either. I know my sensory system is all over the place, maybe my senses are compensating too.
Optimize Input-Output Time
While not every autistic is the same, I think it's worth exploring what makes for a more effective learning style for each person. Think of how can you optimize input-output balance with respect to time.
A slower output (due to oral motor apraxia, fine motor and other issues) does not have to translate into slower input (absorption of cognitive material). I think that's how I've been able to manage academics time-wise. My output is clumsy and slow but my input is pretty fast. Which is probably the reverse for NT peers. They type away at enviable speeds.
Focus & Attention
A caveat of course is that my ADHD and OCD's means I do tend to get easily distracted; makes me concerned as I may miss things that are important. When something interests me, I will hear every word and see every pixel and grain. But how can I listen/read/attend if a variety of OCDs is for instance, keeping my focus on that piece of lint on a student's jacket that is five feet away and which needs to be removed immediately; or my ADHD that keeps my mind keep flitting from one thought to next.
Some fellow PhD grad students mentioned recently that they like to listen to brown noise/ pink noise while they study for focus. While I've heard of white noise (which I don't like as I find it adds to more static-noises in my head), this brown and pink noise is new to me. I think its worth exploring though.
Context and Mood dependent
Autism does not look the same every hour and every day. It's not predictable what the next hour will look like. Sometimes I'm more visual, other days I'm more auditory and some days I need both. Sometimes my mind is tired and sluggish and in a brain fog mode. Lots of causes - maybe a barometric pressure change, med effects, weather, you body just not there. There are days, not much sinks in visually. A text-speech reader of books is definitely helpful in those times as a supplement to tired eyes and tired brain. It's one more modality of input which can definitely help. A slower reader speed can potentially help those times.
Tweak what works for you for each situation, each hour, each day.
There is a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning involved.
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Tell me more about your learning style. What works. What does not. What tools do you use? What tools do you need? What more can be done?Comment below or use the anonymous google form.
