Lindamood-Bell’s visualizing and verbalizing program to restore reading comprehension starts with an image, a sentence, and builds up to a chapter and then finally chapter by chapter, just like normal reading. You visualize as you read; at the end, you verbalize. It’s a lot more difficult to visualize several chapters in a row then verbalize them, than it is to visualize and verbalize one long chapter!
On August 7th, I began reading The Demon Code, a novel I won from The Crime Vault in 2013 and couldn’t read back then. I’m currently finishing the 10 novels I won — my reading comprehension has been restored and it’s about time I did. The Demon Code is the penultimate one.
But on Friday, 11 August 2023, wanting to get through a back story quickly, I read three chapters in a row! The whole of Part 2.
I was so surprised by how much it transformed my reading experience — from “oh god, do I have to read this stereotypical, silly dreck” to “oh, I’m visualizing this!…and it’s kind of engaging me” — that I tried it again on Saturday.
Today, I read 13 chapters before I stopped visualizing and began verbalizing all 13!
Whoa!
Yeah, OK, the chapters were short, a couple barely a page. Still, I found I retained my imagery and could summarize the five narrator points of view (one was a throwaway with the guy dying, so it doesn’t really count — summary: arrogant shit gets himself killed). I found the visuals came to me readily. And I was able to briefly tie them together.
Chapter by chapter by chapter lets you enter the story deeper, upping the enjoyment.
The proof will come in the next few days if I can manage to build up the big picture or if I start getting lost. So. Many. Characters!
Regardless, major milestone day!!
Almost 5 years from the end of my reading restoration course with Lindamood-Bell, through some big setbacks, until today to get to chapter by chapter by chapter. Sweet.
