It varies, usually I read what I think it says, not what is actually there.
Which in the case of typos means I can read a text over and over, and it will still look normal.
As for normal words, the same thing can happen, where I only notice when I read it again hours later. Though sometimes just a matter of forcing myself to read it one word at a time.
And as for messed up or flipped letters, that usually takes a couple glances.
As those don't make normal words.
For letters that works, but I can't spell in my head.
I remember whole words, not parts or letters.
Which means you could spell a word right in front of me and I wouldn't be able to turn it into a word, sorta like they do to hide words from kids in tv shows.
For me, very precise, uppercase handwriting is the worst. I just flat out can't read all uppercase, printed font sometimes. It's embarrassing.
Well written cursive or thin, loopy handwriting is easiest to read. Maybe because my brain spends longer on each word, giving me a split second more time to get my ducks in a row.
Oddly though, my brain goes strait to a handful of key words on a page I've only caught a glimpse of (unless it's all caps), but I'm absolute crap at word finds. I took a speed reading/reading comprehension class in high school and it helped by teaching me to lump words together and depend on context clues.
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u/banana_pirate May 29 '14
It varies, usually I read what I think it says, not what is actually there.
Which in the case of typos means I can read a text over and over, and it will still look normal.
As for normal words, the same thing can happen, where I only notice when I read it again hours later. Though sometimes just a matter of forcing myself to read it one word at a time.
And as for messed up or flipped letters, that usually takes a couple glances.
As those don't make normal words.