Q is for Quiet
Do you crave quiet? Or different kinds of quiet?
This is the story of two Quinns — one who went to a small private high school in a big city, and one who went to a 2200 person suburban high school.
Quinn knew she needed Quiet to read or study. She did best at home in the afternoons, before her parents and her older brother got home from work around 7pm. The covid lockdowns were really hard for her, and not just because of Zoom school, but because her parents were always working from home, and there were deliveries all the time — Amazon packages, documents for her dad, groceries for the family and sometimes takeout for her brother. She felt relieved when school resumed in person. Quinn would walk to school early, and read in the library for half an hour.She was grateful for the small classes, and often there was a quiet study time in a 10-person class. After school, she had three hours of quiet at home, all alone. Though she found she needed quiet to read and do her math homework, she found she did her best writing and model building when her house was noisy and full, or even in the cafeteria at school. Sometimes, she’d go to a Starbucks or Panera when she was doing lab reports, or drawing, or creating charts and graphic organizers. She loved being in a busy place with her headphones on, watching a Crash Course lesson with John Green or Khan Academy video. The hum of city as she walked home energized her, and then she loved stepping into the quiet of her family’s apartment.
The other Quinn felt that everything about school was noisy and crazy and fun. He loved the large, boisterous classes, and did his best work in teams with other kids. He often visited a favorite teacher or the robotics lab before school or during his study halls. He liked to play sports after school, and rarely began his homework until after dinner. Most schoolnights, he would read or study until about 11:00, alone in his room with ‘forest sounds’ or ‘ocean waves’ playing in the background. His dad never interrupted him, and Quinn even kept his phone in the kitchen, a whole floor away, so he wouldn’t be tempted to interrupt himself. He liked to do homework problems for math or science class on the team bus to games on Saturdays, and he spent every Sunday morning writing essays with lo-fi music on in the background.
Quiet Time
Most dyslexics need serious Quiet Time for certain activities, but not all. Some need it for reading, others for writing or studying. Many actually prefer having people and noise around when they’re doing homework, or planning or re-writing study notes. Some say the ambient noise helps with their focus. Many dyslexics need a deep silence in order to read, especially when reading challenging or lengthy texts.
The trick is to find out what works for you, with various types of homework, reading, writing, creating and studying, and then find a consistent way to get the environments you need.
Quiet Spaces
- At Home: If there are other people at home, how can you carve out a quiet space for yourself? Your own room? A porch or patio? Dining room table while everyone’s in the kitchen? Sit alone in the car?
- At School: Even large schools often have quiet spaces available. Consider a corner of the library, an unused music study room, or one of your classrooms when there’s no class meeting there. Sit in the back row of the auditorium, or gym bleachers. I know a student who read best in the messy art room when there was no class going on. She enjoyed the paint splotches and the works-in-progress all around her as she tackled a long book.
- Third Places: Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term ‘Third Places’ to denote a place that is not-home (1st Place) and not-work (2nd Place) but at which we still feel at home, or an affinity. Think a coffee shop or diner, a public library, a corner of the school cafeteria, a church or community center, or the YMCA. I know dyslexics who study best at a part-time job where they mostly have to sit quietly (receptionist, info desk) in a popular space.
Quiet Creativity
Are you the type of creator who likes quiet while you’re writing or building or drawing, or composing music, or planning an art project or a sewing project or cooking? Or do you prefer working in a group, or with the noise and bustle of a busy house or coffee shop or school common area?
Ask yourself what environment you feel most energized in when you are writing, reading, building, drawing, calculating, planning, organizing, creating. You can need different types of quiet or different space for certain tasks. Give yourself the opportunity to carve out the different things you need to achieve in different areas of study.
Quiet Community
Many dyslexics — as well as those with ADD — find being in a quiet space while with other people helps them focus and ‘hum along’ to the work. Some dyslexics claim that reading while others are reading or doing homework (in a library or study hall, for example) helps them keep on track. See if this is true for you. Many people like quite time/space and sense of community. Look for students like you. Think about putting up flyers and starting a quite study group for yourself and like-minded students.
If it’s not possible to study in a physical location with others, consider an online study community, like Study Together on Discord, or even Lofi Girl on YouTube (18,088 people worldwide were watching the Lofi Girl live stream as I write this). You can also find the Lofi Girl study community on Discord.
You can also ask friends, librarians, or others in your network if they can point you to online groups that study, write, or do homework in ‘companionable silence’. This can be especially helpful if you work best at odd hours — like very late at night or early in the morning — and want to feel as though you’re not the only one awake and working.
Adding to the Quiet
Many dyslexics like to read or study with something in the background that has a rhythm, or a consistent background pattern. Try these out and find out if any of these work for you: music (some people find instrumental music better for them), white noise (this could also be the steady ambient noise of a cafe or lunch room or busy library), ocean waves or forest sounds (you can find these online, but you could also try going out into nature if its a nice day and soak up some sun while you study), sports, or even binaural beats.
Takeaway:
Both Quinns needed total quiet focus for certain kinds of reading, writing or creating. Each of them also did some of their best work in busier, noisier settings, or while working in a group. Test out what works for you, and try to design an environment — in time, in space, alone, with others, in total quiet or with background sounds — that supports the way you learn and create. You’ll feel more focused and ‘in the flow.’
