I run a number of groups with young writers, many of them are neurodivergent. One piece of advice I give regularly when I’m asked what they can do to one day become an author is that reading widely is a great way to learn how to write as you can see how others tell stories, everything from character to structure to whatever else, reading how others do it is a great way to learn, along with writing and experimenting with storytelling.
This morning, one of the kids was saying she doesn’t like to read. It’s not that she can’t read, and when a book grabs her interest, she’s hooked, however there are struggles, including the fact that she has to sit down and sit still to read.
I encouraged her to start listening to audiobooks.
I know there is a lot of discussion about whether or not listening to audiobooks is reading. My answer depends on your definition of reading… with audiobooks, you are still experiencing the story. You are still learning about the story and experiencing storytelling.
For many people, an advantage of audiobooks is that you can listen to a story while doing other things. If you have ADHD and sitting down to focus on a book is hard, listening to an audiobook means you can experience the story while doing other things. For some of us, this means we listen better and experience the story in a more effective way than if we sat down and read words on a page. Sometimes it can also mean the task we are doing gets done better than if we had done it without listening to the audiobook.
I love listening to audiobooks while driving. It helps keep me focused on what I’m doing as it keeps my brain engaged while listening to the story. I find that, especially on long drives, I don’t get tired quite so quickly too.
Audiobooks are great for those of us with ADHD. We can enjoy a story and still move around and do things we need to do.
Audiobooks are also readily available. There are apps such as Borrow Box that mean you can borrow them from the library. Right now, I’m borrowing CDs from the library as tech is letting me down.
If you or one of your children is struggling with focusing on reading a book, give audiobooks a try. Download one or borrow one and give it a try.
