Van Orden Reading

 

Purpose:  To develop a wide peripheral field while reading.

Materials:  Reading material

Procedure:

Two pages of a novel are to be read each day in the following manner:

1.  Keep in mind that the page is background.

2.  Imagine space between the print and the background, even if it is only the thickness of the link at first.

3.  Attend to only one word at a time, even though meaning will be lowered inititally.

4.  Soon the background should appear further back and reading rate should increase.

Aspects to be emphasized:

1.  The reading material should be held no closer than ________ inches.

2.  Emphasize that the page is background.

3.  The patient should utilize this concept of conscious awareness of the background of any object he looks toward during the day, be it a person, a car, a sign, the TV or any other object.