[nabs-l] Speeding Up Reading?

Sat Sep 22 01:23:12 UTC 2012

Hi Jewel,

Same with me! I'm at 170 WPM, but I still primarily read with my right hand,
and haven't totally gotten the two-handed reading thing down. My left hand
can go down to the next line where my right hand will meet it near the
beginning, but if I try to read to the middle of the line with my left hand,
some of the letters will appear up-side-down to me and it really slows down
my reading speed. It's a lot better than it was, especially since I've
started to learn Braille music. This is because the exercises in my book
require me to play the piano with my right hand while I read with my left.
I'm still really slow with that, though. Part of the reason I'm still so
slow with my left hand is probably that a lot of the reading I do for school
is on a Braille display, and I can't really read with two hands on a Braille
display, or at least using the two-handed reading technique the way it was
meant to be done.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jewel
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 6:52 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Speeding Up Reading?

What if your right hand is more sensitive? I'm left-handed, and my right
hand is more sensitive when I'm reading Braille. I read with all fingers of
my right hand, but haven't gotten the two-handed split down yet, and the
teacher who tried to show it to me didn't get that my right hand is the more
sensitive one. I'd love to read faster, as I'm at 50-80 wpm right now.
~Jewel

On 9/21/12, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> These are all great suggestions. I think putting your middle and ring 
> fingers down on the Braille in addition to your index finger will 
> really help. Also, as you master the two-handed split, you will find 
> you are getting words from both sides of a line at the same time. Your 
> brain will integrate this information from both hands so that you are 
> able to get the gist of a full sentence without reading every word or 
> every letter.
> Arielle
>
> On 9/21/12, Cynthia Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> My method sounds silly, but it really helped to change my mind set 
>> about reading. Terri said some great things too. I did not do the 
>> speeding up thing but a few times.
>>
>> Cindy
>>
>> On 9/20/12, trising <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>> Here are some things that I tell campers as I direct a week of camp 
>>> for improving Braille Reading Speeds.
>>> 1. Do not move your lips as you read. Fast readers do not read aloud.
>>> 2. Use all six fingers on the Braille. More fingers means faster speeds.
>>> The
>>> index fingers give details but the tall fingers and ring fingers 
>>> give the shape of the words. Print readers do not read every letter. 
>>> I do not read every letter in Braille and neither does my husband. 
>>> We read close to 300 words per minute.
>>> 3. Keep palms up off the Braille. Some people benefit when I say 
>>> piano hands. Others thing that there is a soft ball under their 
>>> palm. You do not want to flatten that palm onto the Braille.
>>> 4. The left hand is more sensitive than the right. Keep both hands 
>>> together until the last word or two. Then, let them separate. The 
>>> left hand tracks back on the line you just read and then drops down, 
>>> while the right gets that last word or two. Then, they are braught 
>>> together again to read most of the subsequent line. Practice makes 
>>> perfect. Even if these things do not help at first, keep practicing 
>>> them, and your speed will increase. I hope this helps.
>>>
>>> Terri Wilcox
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Cynthia Bennett
>> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>>
>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>> 828.989.5383
>>
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