Reading could be a problem. It was for me. What kind of reading are you trying to do?

I found that I could not read overly descriptive articles. I do quite well reading technical information. I get overwhelmed by formatting that does not have enough paragraph spacing. Without paragraph double spacing ever 5 or 6 lines, I get overwhelmed trying to find the start of the next line.

If I tried to read fiction, I was easily over whelmed. There are just too many balls to juggle and keep in the air at the same time in most fiction. The many persons and plots, etc with descriptive terms is too much for my mind to handle. I can crash within a page or two.

If it is a newspaper article and the author uses too much "in the know" style, I get overwhelmed. Say the writer is writing about many people who he mentions once then not again until many paragraphs later, the writer will now abbreviate the name Dr Jonathan Strangename as Strangename. I will have to look back in the article until I find out who Strangename is. Otherwise, the writing become meaningless.

"In the know" is a common problem with doctors and professionals who live everyday using their knowledge. They forget that not many of us have the same 'in the know' knowledge. For those of us with PCS, the frustration comes when we start doubting ourselves for struggling to understand what the ?????? he is talking about. Our brains want to understand but we fail to understand and start blaming it on ourselves.

The basics of understanding the impact reading has is to become aware of the thought processes during reading. Do you reread the same line trying to understand it? Do you lose your place on the page? Do you struggle to keep all of the juggling balls (names, plots, timelines) in the air? Can you remember what you have already read and add to that information?

A trick that works for some is to use a reading aid that covers the text below the lines you are reading. By covering the other text, you are reducing the stimulus that your brain has to process. I have to do this if I need to fill out a complex form with lots of fill in the blank spaces. I will even put a blank paper over the text above and below where I am writing.

My 80 something MIL and her even older husband have found they can read much easier with a Kindle. They can limit the amount of text on the screen and make the type larger, etc. Many of the PCS symptoms are common to the elderly as their brains deteriorate. I sometimes say that I am a 50 something with an 80 year old brain.

I hope this is making sense and is helpful. Everyone has different experiences. I have just had years of various experiences to analyze and try to overcome. Some I do, others I don't overcome. Then, I just turn the page and go on.

My best to you.