There is reading, and then there is *Reading.
I remember loaning a couple of my prize positions, history books, to a
friend. This was back in my sighted days. I was stunned when he
returned them and I discovered later that he had made notations in the
margins and underlined sentences that he was impressed by. On the
other hand, I had friends who considered themselves to be readers,
because they took the daily paper and read the Funnies and the Sports
Pages. Some of my sister's friends loved to read the Romance
Magazines and the Scandal Movie Magazines.
Of course, at that time in my life I had little room to talk. I spent
lots of my reading time buried in Science Fiction. But in defense, I
also read piles of political and history books. At one time I read
everything I could get my hands on, written by Thomas Jefferson, while
at the same time I was zooming about in the future.
Today there is far too much non fiction reading for me to spend much
time in fiction. But Cathy and I do go to bed with a good fiction
suspense Talking Book.
Sadly, Americans reading level has dropped considerably, thanks to our
mass media. Entertainment as well as reading level has been lowered.
What passes for news is mostly on the TV served up in little sound
bites. Of course there is a good side to this. My boss told me that
my five to ten page reports were far too long winded. She wanted a
single page synopsis. Knowing that no one ever read my detailed
reports saved me lots of time. I just handed in the single page and
said the full report was on file. That meant I'd tucked my notes into
a folder.
But it was symptomatic of the times. Everyone wanted quick
information because they were in a big hurry. And they were just as
quick to point the finger if things blew up.
Carl Jarvis
On 12/2/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Probably most people, even those who do not read, will say that reading
is a laudable thing to do. The ones who do not read then make some kind
of excuse like not having the time or that it makes their eyes tired.
There is a dyslexic on the Bookshare volunteer list who mentioned some
statistics about non readers. She said that a study of people who do not
read was made and overwhelmingly they were dyslexic. Second to dyslexia
were people who started to work at a very early age and coming in third
were immigrants. The reason the dyslexics don't read is pretty obvious,
but I can only speculate about the other two groups. If this is true,
though, there must be a lot of dyslexics out there who don't know it. I
can just mention some book that I am reading without even commenting on
their reading habits and they start making excuses for not reading as if
they are a bit embarrassed that they don't. I do kind of wonder how many
of them are undiagnosed dyslexics.
On 12/2/2017 9:45 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
It certainly is, for many many people.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob
Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2017 4:29 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: book
Is reading for many Americans a favourable thing to do?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie L. Sherrell" <blslarner@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2017 11:11 AM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: book
In answer to your curiosity about Trump's reading history, Carl, wonder
no
more.
The man is apparently dyslexic and is functionally illiterate, which
helps
explain his erratic spelling and disdain for education. His classmates
at
Wharton saw little of him on weekends, when he retreated to NYC to work
in
the
family real estate business, and state that when he did come to study
groups he
was consistently ill prepared. Whenever he's asked what he's reading,
he's said
for years it is "All Quiet on the Western Front." In videos of the
depositions
made back when he was sued by the government for refusal to follow fair
housing
guidelines, you can tell he's not reading the contract his interrogator
is
asking him to review. He claims that the lettering is too small, but
refuses to
have them blown up so he can "read them without his glasses," which he
supposedly failed to bring with him. He admits that he's never read a
single
contract he's ever signed, but boasts he's signed thousands of them.
By the way, no one I've ever talked to has ever indicated he has any
glasses,
reading or otherwise.
He can decipher short communications, which is why he loved Twitter so
much.
But he has insisted he not be bothered by being given written briefs,
particularly if they're likely to be long. He claims they're too long
to
bother
with when in reality he'd never be able to get through them easily.
He's
good
at hiding his illiteracy, but believe me, it's there.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the
very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
We gave the Goblin King control of our nation!