Would You Be Offended if Your Own Mom Wanted to Give You a LeapFrog System?  

Yeah, I think you're right that she didn't realize what age it is for. One of my coworkers got one for her one year old and apparently didn't realize the age it was for either.

I do not think she would have intentionally meant to offend you but it is easy to get the wrong idea I do it all the time!

I was thinking the same thing as I read this discussion, MSV1313.

Thanks! I love writing and especially on the computer because then I don't have to look at what I'm typing, I just type away.

I have started reading a lot of audiobooks lately, but honestly I was better at writing long before I started reading audiobooks. I just enjoy writing so much more than reading, and I learned to type when I was six years old so ever since I have been typing away.

That device is awesome! I have never heard of it before. I have Kurzweil 3000 now which is great, but then when I go out I have to ask others to read things for me or it will take me forever to read them on my own.

Thanks for BR! I hope that something I posted here may be helpful to you. Scroll down to see the other idea I have.

Thanks! I'm hoping eventually the price of that technology won't be so much (or maybe some other company will come out with a similar device for much cheaper).

I'm sure that the price will either come down or somebody will make a version of it more accessible to the masses. That is the way of technology.

I hope so too. That's how it's worked with nearly everything else.

You have given me so much hope seeing that wonderful product!

I'm not dyslexic. I have scotopic sensitivity syndrome (www.irlen.org for more information). I've been tested for dyslexia though and while I had a lot of problems during the testing, I didn't have a problem with spelling or speech which would be more likely in someone dyslexic.

See the thing is that most people with reading problems have dyslexia. Dyslexia affects reading, but also affects comprehension, speech, writing, etc. I only have a problem with reading. I can comprehend something just fine and I can write about a subject clearly. I don't have any speech disorders. The only thing that is a problem for me is reading.

The main thing that makes it difficult for me to read is that I see a constant fuzzy haze, sort of like the snow on a television screen. The white background practically glitters. The letters can fade in and out and become difficult to see. Sometimes entire lines just move right off the page. Words swap places and then I'm totally confused about what I'm reading. And after 5 minutes of all this, I soon have a headache. Glasses and colored overlays help quite a bit, but not completely unfortunately. Maybe I just haven't found the right combination yet.

I didn't think dyslexia because it would affect the writing.
This is so specific, have you seen an eye doctor? Even if it's not an eye problem, maybe he could refer you to a specialist.
That would drive me utterly mad, I read all the time, to the point of obsession. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't read anymore.
There must be a solution to this, and I'm thinking it's a physical ailment.
I really hope you can find out what it is and what can be done about it.

I've seen so many eye doctors. They usually just give me really strong glasses which I end up not using because those give me an even worse headache.

The main reason I can't get prescription glasses is because I can't read the eye chart to do so. Last time I went in and they gave me the picture test instead where you look through a machine and it gets your prescription. But that still didn't work because you're supposed to fine tune that result by looking at the letters after and I couldn't really do that accurately.

I do wear colored filter lenses though, which I got from an Irlen institute (www.irlen.org) They help a lot with other things like seeing in 3D. But with reading they still only help a little. I've had 3 pairs now though and each one has gotten a bit better. So I'm hoping that the next ones will be even more helpful.

At least it's improving, even if it takes time. I hope the next time, it's the one that works for you.

Based on what you describe that you see on the page, I wonder if this little trick one of my grade school teachers came up with to help people with trouble reading might be helpful to you:

Take a piece of construction paper (regular paper is fine, but I think having it a solid color may be more helpful in your case) and make it into a size that is comfortable for you to maneuver in a book (or magazine, newspaper, or whatever) and cut a hole in it roughly the size of the average word or sentence (one or the other depending on how much interference you get).

This effectively blocks all but the word/words you want to focus on and you simply move the paper with the window along as you read. I don't know if this would help you at all, but it is a very inexpensive solution that is worth a try. I know it helped a lot of people I went to school with and when I was assisting an ex-boyfriend who was functionally illiterate, it helped him tremendously and now he is an avid reader.

The paper with the window cut out might even help when you are reading text on a computer screen. Of course you can use different paper and window sizes depending on what you are reading.

Hmm, that's an interesting idea. I used to read with a ruler underneath the line I was on as a kid because I cannot distinguish between two lines. But the teachers discouraged it since they said they wanted me to actually have to read like everyone else does.

Currently I have a method that makes about 5 words at a time show up and nothing else. But it doesn't work on novels or the left page of a textbook. So maybe I'll try your method and see if that will work. What I do now is take a long skinny hand held magnifying glass with a line on it, and use that to only see those words that are blown up (I can see smaller words, but this way the words are distinguished). But since the handle is on the right side, I can't use this where the handle would get in the way. It's really more for reading handouts I guess.

I tend to be a pretty grateful person too. But I wouldn't even know of a kid to pass the thing along to if I had gotten it.

The only type of books I would read as a kid were the books that you could learn from. I would read books on how things worked or encyclopedias or other reference books. But reading went very slowly and these took a long time to complete. If I was going to read something though, I wanted to gain something from it at least. But I still didn't like reading, I just liked learning.

So even reading for learning did not exactly improve my reading.

Now though there are several types of books that I enjoy. But I would never read them if they weren't on audio. I'll actually read just about anything on audio, but I do have my favorites. I like books that expose certain industries and I enjoy crazy memoirs as well. But unfortunately I just wouldn't be able to read them on paperback. In fact, I've read some books on audio that I read on paperback and I've been shocked at all the stuff I missed. And reading on paperback just takes me far too long.

I told her what this thing actually does and she seemed to think it was actually going to be able to read textbooks and such. So I don't think she'll get me one now thankfully.

I don't think the Nintendo DS has any reading games, but I could be mistaken. I know they have math and music games.

I have a Gameboy Advanced, but I hardly ever use it. I have some games for it, but I just never have the time to play with anything like that.

It's not my eyes, it's my brain that keeps me from reading. Or that's what they tell me. It sure seems like it's my eyes. But I do have glasses already, well, colored filter lenses. I do love audiobooks though. I think I have a fairly good vocabulary, but I am still studying for the GRE and definitely need more vocabulary for that. I didn't like WordSmart though and I'm not sure what else is out there.

Yeah, I told my mom that unless she wants to spend a couple thousand dollars and get the device mentioned for me above, to just get regular gifts. It was nice of her to want to help, but my reading cannot be helped.

7th or 8th grade math is unfortunately considered college level in some areas. I have to retake algebra and trig, which I consider to be 7th and 8th grade level courses, because they have expired. Yes it will be easy to get an A, but it's annoying to have to retake classes that shouldn't even be college courses. I guess you probably feel just the opposite but with English!