Talkabout

28/08/2008 @ 20:34 panther said:

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Anyone else have trouble reading sometimes? Whenever my depression worsens I have a hard time concentrating while reading. And it's not necessarily only times when I feel sad and miserable or when I have something else at the forefront of my mind. It's like my mind is trying to zone out--I often end up just staring at the page, thinking of nothing. It's extremely annoying.
28/08/2008 @ 20:45 Wolfie said:

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hey panther, wierdly yes, me too. Perhaps its when my mind is not fully engaged - the other half of my brain didn't wake up that morning - but I can really wander a long way when reading or worse when typing and end up either not knowing what I have read or typing a load of garbage. Need to focus - but it is so difficult sometimes. Wxxx
28/08/2008 @ 21:03 mooge said:

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HI Panther and Wolfie, I know for myself that when I'm anxious or under pressure it takes me far longer to read something and I find it much harder to concentrate; the importance of what I'm reading is not taken in, perhaps defensively or maybe because my has already wound itself up so it can't take in more information (maybe because its dealing with the anxiety/pressure its created). I wonder if there's any similarity here. Mooge.
28/08/2008 @ 21:37 UMxx said:

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Hey Panther,
Me too - but I have always thought that when I am depressed it was also due to me being tired and my eye muscles don't work so well. It just gets hard. I find that if I look up often and "rest"my eyes it gets easier. But it is also the noise and thoughts that are in my head that affects my capacity to focus.
Sometimes I use a tinted sheet - like a overhead transparency that is coloured to cut down on the glare - does the brightness of the white affect you?
28/08/2008 @ 21:58 summer76 said:

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Hi panther, yes, perhaps not just reading but concentrating on the text. When I am 'wobbling' I can read and re-read lines over and over again to make sure they sink in - and drop to the bottom as it were. Certainly on PC screens. Shockingly at work I sometimes print stuff off to read if it is page after page. I agree with um. The white of the pc screen tires the eyes. Health and Safety has it we are not supposed to work at the screen for longer than 40 mins without a break.

Certainly if I am responding to a post. I hope I have taken in most if not all of what has been written, and understood it's meaning, before I respond. It is a luxury we have on here that we are not afforded out there (in my case the office for example).

Cheers
summer
29/08/2008 @ 01:55 harmony said:

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HI

I have problems reading/underestanding first time - and the older I get, the worse it gets. I cannot hold things in my head - need to see the words in front of me to refer to when I am responding in writing. I have Irlen sensitivity and so don't always see things are they are - I see different colours/ light etc. I have given up reading on the bus because the black print has red and white edges to it and it's very very tiring to read. I can use a turquoise overlay which helps but is not always practicle. When I use Excel spreadsheets I cannot track across the cells unless the background is turquoise.

I have all but given up reading for pleasure as by the time I've completed all the reading/ writing I need to do for work I'm tired an end up falling asleep if I am reading for 'pleasure'. Its all further complicated by the fact I get a lots of blurred vision because of my diabetes, and I also wear reading glasses.

When I was in my late 20s and had a major breakdown I couldn't read a book for more than a year - couldn't concentrate past the first paragraph. And later, after 5 years of full time studying, I didn't read a book for over a year for the same reason.

When I am tired I type a load of rubbish and cannot initially see my errors because my eyes just dont' work right when I'm tired. or hungry, or blood glucose is low, or high. It's all a big problem really. I find responding to TAs very difficult at times as I cannot see what I'm responding to and I can't usually remember the content for the duration of my response.
NAd by the way it is 2.54am my time and eyes are tired as I shul be asleep - so apologies for all the typos this posting will have - tooo tired to even attept to re read it - can barely even see it as eyes are very very blurry

Love, Harmony
29/08/2008 @ 19:27 Brown Bear said:

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> I find responding to TAs very difficult at times as I cannot see what I'm
> responding to and I can't usually remember the content for the duration of my
> response.

Quite a few people have mentioned this and there are several different ways to make it easier. I'm going to create a Spanner Brick for reference.

The simplest is to open a New Window [usually Ctrl-N] on a PC. It will be blank of course so go to the History menu and pick up the TA you were looking at before you chose to respond. Scroll the relevant bit into view and move the windows so that you can click back and forth from one to the other. You need to reduce both Windows to less than Full-Screen [middle button top-right corner] so that each has a piece showing behind the front window.

BB

There are easier ways but they are Application Dependant.
29/08/2008 @ 19:59 harmony said:

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BB , would you be in any way offended if I used the word 'genius' to refer to you?

Why did I not know about this - it could have been making my life easier for 15 years.

Cheers! Harmony
29/08/2008 @ 20:04 Brown Bear said:

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Yes deferently :-) I'm just an interested amateur whos been messing with computers for a long time. But thank you. If you tell me what browser you use, I'll explain the simple way. On the other hand I might suggest a different browser!! BB
29/08/2008 @ 20:31 harmony said:

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Hi BB

I have internet BY Yahoo! broswer - it doesn't let me see the BWW site properly
I have Moxilla firefox which lets me see the site properly but it crashes on me.

I feel there ar just too many things to know about computers for one lifetime - and I didn't start with computers until I was nearly 40.

Cheers

Harmony
29/08/2008 @ 21:26 summer76 said:

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Well done Brown Bear, I do admire IT 'savvy' people, only because I could never be one. Not the patience I am afraid. Though when I do make 'an effort' it is always rewarding, so thank you. Your advice sounds brilliantly straightforward. As always it would just take a few clicks and enters and the result would advance and surprise me. I will try it.

Just let you all into a 'summer secret'. I know it is from the stoneage. But when I am writing anything on here, certainly responding to a long post, I jot down things that have affected me or want to say using a quill and parchment - alright then pen and paper. So worried about wasting the chance or getting it wrong. May make it feel less instinctive or from the heart - but that comes when you are typing it.

Harmony, your difficulties make your posts all the more special because of the effort that goes into them. Thank you. Hope that's not patronising. I am sure there are quite a few on here who do not have the sight I take for granted. Makes me think of a Braille BWW or voice activated.

Cheers
summer
29/08/2008 @ 21:27 UMxx said:

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For Mozilla Firfox users - there is an application called "Cool Iris" - and when the mouse hoovers over the name of the TA or the Post Reply button it will open it for you in a smaller window.

I use it for trying to find older TA's that had something in that I need - and it is quicker than going through the reload process.

I'm sorry this isn't going to help you Harmony as Firefox crashes but it is a very helpful little gadget.
30/08/2008 @ 02:58 Jomo said:

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Oh. The agony of not being able to read. All my life I have read, and most often, several books at a time, to try to keep my mind occupied.

Now, I cannot. I can read - and put it down, and have no idea. I could read the same book cover to cover, and never know what is in it, ever. It is the most terrible loss to me.

I have found out that the local library is within walking distance from my new home - so I am going to fire up Ethel and walk there, and try again. It is so hard - I have so much time on my hands, and I can't read. I am so sorry that it affects other people too, in so many different ways.

I guess for me it is a symptom of stress.

Well. If I was reading, maybe I would not be on here so much!

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