# Why do I read so slowly? Causes of slow reading in adults and when it is dyslexia > You read the same sentence three times and by the end of the page you cannot remember what it said. Why reading is so hard for you, what a normal speed is and when it may be dyslexia. *https://mypsicotest.com/en/blog/slow-reading-adults/ · Published: 2026-10-15 · 9 min read · MyPsicoTest team* You open the report you have to read for tomorrow, reach the end of the first paragraph and have no idea what it said. You start again. In the meeting, your colleagues are already discussing it while you are only halfway through, and you start to wonder whether something is wrong with you. **Slow reading** is more common than it seems and can have very different causes, from eyesight or tiredness to attention or dyslexia. This guide explains what a normal reading speed is, what usually lies behind reading slowly, how to tell the causes apart, whether speed-reading courses work and which tests can help you see whether something more is going on. ## What is a normal reading speed? There is no exact figure for **reading speed**, because it depends on the text, the language and why you are reading. A review by Rayner and colleagues puts the silent reading speed of a skilled reader at around 250 words per minute. Reading aloud is slower: a [study by Trauzettel-Klosinski and Dietz](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22661485/) measured 436 adults aged 18 to 35 reading equivalent texts in their native language, across 17 languages, and the average was 184 words per minute. To get an idea of yours, take a simple text you have not read before, time one minute of silent reading at your own pace and count the words. If you come out well below those figures, or if what worries you is less the speed than having to reread everything, it is worth looking for the cause. Differences between people are large, and not all of them are a problem. According to the same review by Rayner, what matters most for reading speed is language skill: vocabulary and practice. ## Causes of slow reading in adults ### Not reading much The simplest cause, and the most common. If you read few long texts, or only on your phone, it is harder to keep up the pace with a book or a report. Rayner and colleagues conclude that the way to read faster without understanding less is to read more and build your vocabulary. ### Eyesight If you used to read well and now find it hard, especially up close, it may be your eyes. The [NHS explains](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/long-sightedness/) that long-sightedness can happen at any age but often affects people over 40, and that it shows as fuzzy words in books and on screens, tired eyes after reading and headaches. In that case, the first stop is an optician. ![Glasses resting on an eye chart with letters of different sizes, as in the eye test worth having if you are reading more and more slowly](https://mypsicotest.com/assets/img/blog-lectura-lenta-revision-vista-1200.webp) ### Attention: when your mind wanders It happens to everyone: your eyes keep moving across the page while your mind is somewhere else. A study by Reichle, Reineberg and Schooler on this **mindless reading** found that, at those moments, the eyes lingered longer on each word and no longer responded to what the text said. That is why you reach the end of a paragraph with no idea what you have read and have to go back. If it happens all the time, with everything long or boring and for as long as you can remember, ADHD may be behind it. If it also happens away from books, with everything you do, we explain it in [Lack of concentration: why you can't focus and how to find the cause](https://mypsicotest.com/en/blog/lack-of-concentration/). ### Tiredness, sleep and worry Reading takes a lot of attention, and it is one of the first things to suffer when you sleep badly or are worried. The NHS lists difficulty concentrating during the day because you are tired among the symptoms of insomnia, and difficulty concentrating and restlessness among those of generalised anxiety disorder. If the slowness began during a particular period, that is probably where the explanation lies. ### Dyslexia **Dyslexia** is a learning difficulty that mainly affects reading and writing, and it has nothing to do with intelligence. In Spanish it has a particular feature: because words are almost always read the way they are written, it shows more in speed than in errors. A study by Serrano and Defior, at the University of Granada, found that children and adolescents with dyslexia reading in Spanish struggled with every task, but much more clearly when time was measured than when errors were counted. In adults, the NHS describes signs such as needing to read something several times before it makes sense, feeling tired after a lot of reading and writing, confusing words that look similar or often spelling words wrong. We explain the different profiles in [Types of dyslexia: what they are and how they show in adults](https://mypsicotest.com/en/blog/types-of-dyslexia/). ## How to tell the causes apart This table sums up the most useful clues: | What your reading is like | What may be behind it | What to do | |---|---|---| | You have always read slowly, with effort, and you also struggle to spell correctly | Dyslexia | Dyslexia Test | | You read well, but your mind wanders and you have to reread anything long or boring, as long as you can remember | An attention problem, such as ADHD | ADHD Test | | You used to read well and now struggle, during a spell of insomnia or worry | Tiredness, lack of sleep or anxiety | Insomnia Test | | Words look blurry up close, your eyes get tired or you get headaches | Eyesight | An eye test at the optician's | | You read little and find difficult texts especially hard | Lack of practice or vocabulary | Read more, at your own pace | A simple way to separate the first two: as the dyslexia test page explains, with ADHD the difficulty depends on attention and improves when the text interests you, whereas with dyslexia decoding words is hard even when you are paying full attention. Even so, it is a clue, not a diagnosis: dyslexia and ADHD often come together, and tiredness makes either of them worse. ## Do speed-reading courses work? They promise to double or triple your speed, and the science does not back them up. The [review by Rayner and colleagues](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26769745/), published in a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, concludes that there is a trade-off between speed and comprehension: it is unlikely that you can go from around 250 words per minute to 500 or 750 and still understand the text as well. Skimming gives you a general idea, with moderate comprehension. To read faster without losing comprehension, what works is practice and better language skills. And if the cause is dyslexia or an attention problem, no speed-reading course is going to fix it. ## Is there a test to find out why you read slowly? There is no slow-reading test, because it is a symptom with many causes. The one that explores it most directly is the MyPsicoTest [Dyslexia Test](https://mypsicotest.com/en/dyslexia-test-adults/), designed for adults, which starts right there. Its first statement is "I read more slowly than most people and get tired quickly with long texts", and its second, "I often have to re-read a sentence or paragraph several times to understand it". It has 20 statements that take about six minutes, which you answer according to how much you agree, thinking about how things usually are for you throughout your life. They fall into three areas: - **Reading:** seven statements about speed, needing to reread, skipping lines or confusing similar words. - **Writing and spelling:** seven about spelling mistakes, doubts when writing or difficulty organising your ideas on paper. - **Memory, sequencing and organisation:** six about remembering sequences, telling left from right or following several instructions in a row. The score runs from 0 to 80 and comes broken down by area. As the test page itself explains, a high score in reading and writing with normal memory suggests a classic dyslexic profile, while a high score only in memory and organisation may point more towards ADHD. One tip from the same page: if you have developed tricks to compensate, answer thinking about how hard it would be without them, because that compensation is what hides dyslexia in adults. The result is calculated in your browser and your answers are not stored. ### Other tests that may help If your problem is that your mind wanders and you struggle to stay focused, the [ADHD Test](https://mypsicotest.com/en/adhd-test-adults/) includes this statement: "I have trouble keeping my attention on long or boring tasks, such as reading a report or following a meeting". If the slowness arrived with a spell of poor sleep, try the [Insomnia Test](https://mypsicotest.com/en/insomnia-test/). All the questionnaires, free and anonymous, are in the [psychological tests](https://mypsicotest.com/en/psychological-tests/) catalogue. ## What to do if you read slowly - **Have your eyes checked**, especially if you are over 40 or your eyes get tired when you read. - **Read more, but read what interests you.** Practice and vocabulary help most, and they are easier to keep up with texts you enjoy. - **Cut down on distractions.** Your phone out of reach and short reading blocks work better than a whole afternoon of half-reading. - **Use your ears.** Audiobooks and screen readers are legitimate tools: the NHS itself mentions screen readers and information on video among the support available to people with dyslexia at work. - **Get an assessment if the test suggests it.** The NHS explains that dyslexia is not assessed by a medical doctor but by an educational psychologist or a dyslexia specialist, who looks at your reading, writing and use of numbers. A diagnosis opens the door to adjustments such as extra time in exams. At the end of the test you will find our recommendation of a licensed psychologist who works with ADHD and anxiety, also online. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a normal reading speed for an adult? Reading silently, a skilled reader manages around 250 words per minute. Reading aloud is slower: a study of adults in 17 languages found an average of 184 words per minute. There is a lot of variation depending on the text and the person. ### Why do I read so slowly? The most common causes are not reading much, eyesight, tiredness, lack of sleep, worry and attention problems. In some cases, especially if reading and writing have always been hard for you, it may be dyslexia. ### Is slow reading a sign of dyslexia? Not necessarily. But in Spanish dyslexia shows more as slowness than as errors, so if you have always read slowly and with effort, and spelling is also hard for you, it is worth taking the dyslexia test and considering an assessment. ### Does ADHD make you read more slowly? It can, because it is hard to stay focused on long texts and your mind wanders, which means rereading. ADHD and dyslexia also often come together. ### Can you learn to read faster? Yes, but not with speed-reading tricks. A scientific review concludes that you cannot double or triple your speed without losing comprehension, and that what works is reading more and building your vocabulary. ### Can my eyesight make me read more slowly? Yes. The NHS explains that long-sightedness often affects people over 40 and causes fuzzy words up close, tired eyes when reading and headaches. An eye test at the optician's will clear it up. ### Is there a test to find out whether I read slowly because of dyslexia? There is no slow-reading test, but the MyPsicoTest dyslexia test devotes seven of its twenty statements to reading, starting with speed, and breaks the result down by area.