Motherhood brought with it an increase in my ADHD symptoms. This wasn’t just mommy brain fog. I began to notice pitfalls in my executive function. I always thought I was a good reader, but then I would look back at the text and realize I had missed a detail. During my K-12 years, I was a good test taker. I knew how to find the answers, but I would miss information that was less interesting to me. All of my life, I knew that my mind worked differently, but one thing that persisted was my love of reading. Becoming aware of my diagnosis was key, because now, instead of shaming myself for DNF -ing a book, I can try one of my ADHD reading tips to get back into reading from a place of softness, without shame or guilt.
Read ahead. Sometimes I’ll skip around in a book or read it back to front. My first approach is always to read the book from front to back, in a linear fashion; however, because of my ADHD, I often find that if I get disinterested even for a page or two, my mind can sometimes form a block where I lose motivation to go forward. So now I skip ahead. I don’t know if this is “normal”, but I will take clarity and motivation over a surprise ending. This usually prompts me to go back and reread the part where I lost interest more closely for details.
Audiobooks count as reading. As a mom, I’m often running around the house taking care of my kids and managing life in general. I can’t always sit undisturbed with a book. Audiobooks are a lifesaver for me. I love listening to a good audiobook, especially if I have the physical copy as well. One thing about ADHD is that the more senses you can engage in an activity, the better. If you listen while you read, your comprehension will increase.
Use an e-reader. Getting my MFA was my first time seeking accommodations for my ADHD. So what accommodations do you get for a reading and writing-centered degree? An e-reader app. The software I used not only read the text aloud but highlighted each word on the screen as it was read. The color and motion hold your attention as you read. One similar app is Speechify, which I use to listen to longer documents.
Releasing all reading goals and expectations. For the last two years, I was completing a master’s degree, working, and raising two kids, yet I kept telling myself that I would read a certain number of books in a month or a year. Maybe it’s the growth of #Booktok, but seeing everyone else’s goals truly made me feel like a slow reader. I don’t want reading and books — topics that usually bring me great joy — to become another arena for guilt, shame, and competition.
Keep reading soft and for you. This is my biggest tip. Keep reading a soft practice, not a harsh discipline. I don’t know who I’m speaking to, but most of us don’t need more discipline. We’ve been taught all of our lives to continue setting impossibly high bars that we can’t possibly meet consistently. We change every day. Life asks more of us at some times rather than others. Give yourself grace. Your reading practice is something that’s for you, so it has to work for you first and foremost.
Read within your special interests. If you identify with being neurodivergent, you probably have a few special interest areas. One of mine, for example, is Black women writers, but when it comes to my taste in books, I would say I like contemporary fiction and literary fiction. So these are the books I’m most likely to finish. These are the books I lean towards. Some people are avid fantasy readers. Some people are devoted to romance. Whatever your niche is, find it and read to your heart’s delight! Don’t let anyone judge you for your genre. Manga and graphic novels count as reading too.
Read a book by an author you personally admire. Motivation is key. There have been multiple times in my life when I was drawn out of a reading slump by a book written by an author I knew or deeply admire. Somehow, I’m always more motivated to finish these books, and once the reading slump is over, it’s like my palate is cleansed. My passion for reading returns.
These reading tips help make reading easier and more enjoyable for neurodivergent folks, moms or anyone who has been feeling stuck in a reading slump. Have no fear, you can still enjoy reading! You just might have to tweak the conventional reading advice to make it your own. Imagine reading as a way to practice self-love rather than another task on your list.
What reading hacks are you using to make progress on your TBR list? Let me know in the comments.
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson
Rowana Abbensetts-Dobson (she/her), is a Caribbean-American writer from Brooklyn, NY, and founder of Spoken Black Girl Magazine. Rowana received her BA in English Literature from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio and earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University. She is the author of Departure Story: a novel, and also publishes Spoken Black Girl Magazine, focused on Black women and mental health. Rowana has had fiction and poetry published in Moko Magazine, Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Culture Push, When We Exhale: Anthology of Black Women Rooted in Ancestral Medicine, Free Verse Magazine, and Zora's Den: The Fire Inside Volume lll Anthology. As a freelance health and wellness writer, Rowana has written for Business Insider, Well +Good, and Electric Lit.
