Do audiobooks count as reading?
Yes! Thanks for enjoying this blog post, have a great day!
The bigger question is, who is keeping track of this stuff? But seriously, it seems like this question cycles through the book world every six months or so. People in support of audiobooks say that the listener absorbs the story, so of course it counts. While people on the other side say that because somebody's eyeballs didn't take in the information, then it doesn't count.
Let's break down some of the tensions around this debate. First of all, we haven't come up with a new word for "reading," so people are forced to say they listened to an audiobook which just doesn't connect with our understanding of what it means to read. Strictly speaking, listening is not reading. But that seems a bit childish to say that just because we don't use the word, we didn't do the activity.
Secondly, the idea that reading only counts if you look at the words discredits all the folks out there using visual assistance aids. I don't think anybody can argue that the blind and visually impaired have never read a book just because they might use braille or screen reading devices.
Thirdly, our brains can't tell the difference! Whether we read a narrative with our eyeballs or hear it with our ears or feel it with our fingers, our brains work roughly the same way to interpret the story.* Most of the research shows that the difference occurs when learning to read, there might be some advantages to seeing the words while working to decipher what the squiggly lines mean.+ But otherwise, pretty much the same thing!
In conclusion, audiobooks count as reading! Read On!