How you relate to fiction (a survey)

[Alexej]

As I read this I am struck that folk with alexithymia will have a very different range of responses to this question. Given that there seems to be high correlation of alexithymia with autism I probably am not the only one in here who self identifies with alexithymia.

 

[Suzette]

So l feel the highs and the lows. I have a hard time with violence or abuse showing animals or kids. It's very hard for me. I tend to disassociate pretty fast.

I can't read those parts. I skip them.

 

[Progster]

If I'm reading a fiction, I'm not really focussed on people's feelings or emotions or trying to imagine them, I'm focussing on the action and the plot. So if I read that a person's beloved dog died, I just think, 'oh, so that's what happens' or something like that. I don't try to imagine their feeling. But I know on an intellectual level at least that when a pet a person is fond of dies, then they usually feel sad. It's a rule. But if it didn't contain the word 'beloved' and just said 'his dog died,' then I wouldn't automatically assume he was sad. I really wouldn't know what to think because not enough information.

 

[QuestJan]

Let me know if this doesn't make sense, or if I'm missing any other important factors.

Are you testing us for the term that describes this skill?

Inference. Inferencing is when nobody spells out what they want the reader/listener to know, instead, expecting the reader/listener to figure it out from the context.

It is reasonable to expect directions to be transparent and straightforward (nonetheless, good luck with that). However, reading is not a spectator activity. Good fiction is written for the reader to engage in the work. It's more like ballroom dancing: The author leads and the reader follows their subtle moves around the dance floor.

When children do not decode proficiently by 2nd-grade, they fall further and further behind in language development. It's unfairly called the Matthew Effect and is a vicious cycle of language/speech delays putting a child at risk of dyslexia. They do not read much and their language development falls behind that of the proficient readers. This harshly impacts vocabulary, syntax, and socioemotional problem-solving development causing further language delay.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

It really depends on the author.