Bionic reading: could an ADHD-friendly hack turn me into a speed-reader? | Daniel Lavelle

This typographical trick certainly helps me focus. But maybe having a wandering mind isn't such a bad thing

With ADHD, thoughts and impulses intrude on my focus like burglars trying to break into a house. Sometimes these crooks carefully pick the backdoor lock before they silently enter and pilfer all the silverware. At other times, stealth goes out of the window; they're kicking through the front door and taking whatever they like.

Either way, I was supposed to be reading a book just now, but all I can think about is how great it would be if I waded into a river to save a litter of kittens from tumbling down a waterfall just in the nick of time. I've got the kittens in my hand, and the crowd has gone wild; the spectres of Gandhi, Churchill and Obi-Wan Kenobi hover over the riverbank, nodding their approval while fireworks crackle overhead ... I snap back and realise I've read three pages, only I don't remember a single line.

Daniel Lavelle writes on mental health, homelessness and social care