My child can read really quickly. Is this normal?

[OneBusyPinkRaven]

I’m not meaning this to be a braggy post. I’m just curious. I’ve been noticing how quickly my youngest reads books and the lack of stumbling over some long words that I’d have expected at her age (just turned 9). Her understanding is probably age appropriate, but I was curious about the speed.

I did a little test out of interest and we both read the same page of her novel at the same time. She was finished in about 2/3 of the time it took me, and then was able to accurately tell me about the text. The speed was such that it doesn’t make sense in my brain. Is this normal? How is she doing this? Sorry I know I sound ridiculous and appreciate reading doesn’t come easy for many kids, so I don’t mean to offend anyone. I’m just curious about how she is able to do this, and at only age 9.

Keep an eye on details comprehension skills, and phonics skills.

I can read really fast, and without obvious issues until got part way through university and the text got really hard. Then it became very apparent I wasn’t reading properly.

Probably similar to me. It’s just a skill or perhaps how brains work. I’m pretty average in terms of intelligence, DH is probably smarter than me and he’s a slower reader. DD reads well and fast for her age, I imagine she’ll be the same. I just read a lot as a child, I think thats probably what did it. I only read an individual word if I haven’t come across it before, I guess I scan mostly.

Agreed. Both my sibling and I were/are noticeably fast readers.

@OneBusyPinkRaven

I thought you were going to say she was 3 or 4. Sounds very normal for a 9 year old. Mine were the same.

I have always been like this and also take the information in. I’m a restless type of a person. I suppress it so say nothing but it means the fact my peers aren’t as fast is annoying at every age.

This. My boyfriend at university literally could not believe the speed I read at - he thought I was bullshitting him when I would finish a page in a fraction of the time it took him. He said my claimed reading speed was impossible 😂

Ah, you're me 15 years ago! Welcome to simultaneously feeling special and like you're missing out.

I found a great experiment to work out how aphantasic you are -

A person rolls a ball along a table. The ball rolls off the table and hits the ground. Answer the following questions without thinking about it.

What's the table made of?
Did the ball bounce?
What colour is the ball?
Is the person male or female?

DP had answers to all of those, DD, 2. Me, no answer to any of them.

For me, what really made it hit home was someone asking about music. I can recall a song I know well perfectly in my mind. Every note, every chord, the way someone's voice changes at a particular point. I hear that song.

That's what most people see when they picture something mentally.

I think I’m a fast reader. I don’t look at each word individually m, I can kind of absorb a chunk at a time, reading multiple words at the same Time without moving my eyes. No idea that is standard or not.

I am an avid reader since childhood now 56 I am almost reading the end of a sentence same times as the beginning I easily read over 60 books a year and that's only reading in bed before sleep
I was however reading my kindle on the train the other day and my husband couldn't believe how quickly I was tapping it to turn the page
not something I consciously do but always read fast

I used to drive my mum mad as a kid. She’d save to buy me a book around lunchtime and I’d have finished it by teatime. Some people just read faster

Same, that’s how I read
it caused me huge amounts of trouble as a child
if I open a book and look at it, I can read both pages at the same time? I don’t read line by line

an average size paperback chick lit type thing takes me about 45-60 mins

People are just different. I read at lightning speed and my 10 year old does too. Not quite as fast as me, but really fast. My husband and daughter, much slower.

I sort of take in several words or a sentence at once.

It's a very useful skill, particularly for skim reading long documents to pick out the important bits.

I am an avid reader since childhood now 56 I am almost reading the end of a sentence same times as the beginning I easily read over 60 books a year and that's only reading in bed before sleep
I was however reading my kindle on the train the other day and my husband couldn't believe how quickly I was tapping it to turn the page
not something I consciously do but always read fast

I have a very very strong visual imagination so I don't fit that pattern ... I think in images so I'm picturing everything as I read it.

Its interesting. I also find it fascinating that my daughter and I both permanently have bits of songs in our heads, whereas my husband and son almost never do.

My son's fast reading speed just came in handy on tests for secondary schools. He could read all the questions super fast and was finishing the tests with time to check his answers way before most others. Clearly he had to be good at the reasoning too but the speed certainly helped as timing was a real struggle for some.

I was hyperlexic. Didn't know that was what it was. I am not a visual reader, I don't have pictures in my mind as it goes along. Not exactly aphantasic but visualisation is not my strength. Not autistic either. 1200 words a minute was my last year result.

I was reading very fast from a young age and don't have aphantasia just to balance that out. I do have face blindness but that's probably unrelated.

If she likes reading and does it a lot, she has probably naturally learned to read very fast just from doing it a lot. Partly from practice and partly because if you enjoy reading you naturally want to get to the next bit in the story/find out what happens so you will always read as fast as possible.

I am also a fast reader.

crap at recognising faces and not autistic.

There’s various tests for reading speed that will tell you how fast a reader you are compared to everyone else.

https://swiftread.com/reading-speed-test

I read photographically. It's like the words on a page are talking to me. I don't remember when this started, but it seems like I have always done this. Signs, carrier bags and any visible text will be talking to me. It annoys me if I am abroad and I don't know the language, when the words are trying to talk to me and I don't know what it means. I am also aphantasic.

I was very similar and was quizzed and queried about comprehension. My DD is the same. I can kind of look at a page and "see" it all - it's strange,,,,however, spending too much time online and not reading proper books is eroding my skills and worries me about the generations behind me. I have also got Audible which doesn't help my reading.....

Also me & my eldest.
My other children didn't get the aphantasia or the speed reading - they (like my husband) experience books as films in their mind.

Such an interesting thread. I am also a fast reader and aphantastic to some degree. I can visualise images but only for the briefest moment before I lose them.

Quite a good sense of direction - I almost feel a sort of pull towards the direction I am orientating myself with.

I was the same at that age and still am. I remember my dad questioning me about a book at that age because he couldn’t believe the speed and I knew the answers. It’s almost photographic. I’m probably autistic and also very visual if that has any relevance.

Completely agree. I used to be such an avid reader and I still love it but I don't read as much as I used to and I'm always trying to get my kids to read more.

I read very fast and learned to read early. I spent my primary years listening to other children read because I was a free reader. I am also aphantastic. I can just about visualise objects if I kind of screw my face up, but it's a verbal description. So 'apple' becomes 'round with a dip and a stalk, normally with a slightly lighter colour on the crest' rather than 'seeing it'.

@VimesandhisCardboardBoots your experiment really frustrated me!:

A person rolls a ball along a table. The ball rolls off the table and hits the ground. Answer the following questions without thinking about it.

What's the table made of? No idea - I assumed some sort of wood? You didn't tell me.
Did the ball bounce? I don't know? Tell me what the ball was made of, how high the table is from the floor, and what the floor is made of/covered with and I'll make an educated guess.
What colour is the ball? Ummm... You didn't mention that
Is the person male or female? How could I know? Literally no information.

This is made up, right? People surely can't be having an image in their mind when they haven't been given the information to form it?

I am autistic. I have a dreadful, dreadful sense of direction. When we had paper maps, I had to have the map lined up with the road so I knew where we were going. I once got to a junction of the motorway and was baffled that they had changed the sign (I was on the wrong motorway because I hadn't switched at the interchange). I had to teach myself a set route to university, she then when I wanted to go to a different city I had to learn it as 'go to university city and then keep going for 30 miles.' I once took an hour to do a 20 minutes journey because I didn't realise that the junction I needed was not on the same carriageway, so I kept overshooting Jx and flipping from Jw to Jy. If it's night time, I have to learn routes all over again, and even seasonal changes throw me.

This is so interesting! I've never realised there is a test for this. Confirms that I am a speed reader!