Audiobooks can be just as good for you as print books
and so it still counts as reading.
As a writer, I love print books, I love the feel of them and their smell, and I can lose myself in reading one. I have had many fond memories and experiences lost in the pages of a print book. I have also lost myself just as intensely in an audiobook while cleaning my house, or going for a walk, or on a long car trip.
But as an ADHDer, I know the feeling of sitting down to read a print book and just losing myself in my thoughts more than comprehending the words in front of me. Not because the story is bad or boring, but that it just doesn’t have the “it” factor that gets me invested from page one. This has sometimes led to a shame spiral about my comprehension abilities, but I think that feeling is misplaced.
Who’s heard these interjections from the reading community?
“Well, if you only listened to the audiobook, you didn’t actually read the book.”
“You didn’t read the book. Only real book lovers or fans sit down to read the book.”
Or the dreaded, “I just love the feeling of a physical book in my hands. I can only read real life books anyway.”
As if people who listen to audiobooks don’t also love the feeling and weight of a physical print book in their hands.
Unfortunately, a portion of the reading community has leaned into this pretentiousness. I want to start this off by saying, I am not trying to make this a neurodivergent versus neurotypical thing, or trying to say that you’re an asshole if you have said things like this; or feel this way genuinely. I think print versus audiobook should only be about personal preference and not some kind of ignorant elitism.
So let’s look at this common and enduring debate, while presenting a somatic angle.
Benefits of Print Reading
Let’s get the obvious benefits of reading physical books out of the way. Many studies show time and again that reading from the physical page enhances comprehension, reduces stress and eye strain, and builds retention and focus. When you read words, you boost your brain health.
Print books rock!
Also, engaging in tangible, analog activities engages more parts of your brain at once and soothes the nervous system.
And best of all, NO ADVERTISEMENTS! I’m kidding, but you have to admit, that is a great bonus these days.
Now, all of these benefits don’t discount any individual, or at least they shouldn’t. If you are neurodivergent or have visual disability, reading print books isn’t as accessible as you’d like it to be.
Hence, the case for audiobooks
Benefits of Audiobooks
Audiobooks are convenient, and in an information age that’s constantly on the move, convenience is everything. We can multitask, not putting our lives on hold, and still enjoy a book, just like someone who sits down to read might.
Not only that, audiobooks are accessible to the disabled. Neurodivergents with ADHD (wandering attention and thoughts, inability to sit still), dyslexia (word-processing disorder), or just busy lives (working people with long hours or commutes, stay-at-home parents, etc.) might consider reading a book if it comes in an audio format in addition to a print version.
Not only that, but our human understanding of life, morals, history, and identity came from the oral tradition - the stories and narratives passed down through generations by being TOLD these stories. Yes, it is completely evolutionarily human and natural to listen to someone tell you a story. We do it all the time, even today. You might listen to a podcast or a radio show, is that not similar?
If I am busy, I can’t focus well, or my attention is diverted to something else important that I have to address right now - and we all know ADHD thrives off urgency. Feeling like I can pop in my earbuds and immerse myself in a new fantastical world or alternate reality might just be what I need.
I save my eyes the strain and the pressure to appear focused and controlled and just take in the story as I need in the moment. And I know that I’m employing a technological advancement that creates accessibility to others who might not be able to enjoy sitting down to read a good book. And you’ll know from reading my previous essays, that a world with accessibility for the disabled makes the world better for everyone!
And it isn’t like anyone who listens to an audiobook won’t also enjoy sitting down at the end of a long day and enjoying the print copy. You don’t know how many of my Audible™ books I got in print or rented from the local library when I ended my subscription. If I love a story, I want to experience that story in whatever way I can, period.
But there’s more…
The Somatic Edge
Audiobooks are good for your eyes; at least in, 2025, they are.
I read a fascinating passage from author and creator of “The Soothe Programme” in the UK, Nahid de Belgeonne, in their book called “Soothe: The Book Your Nervous System Has Been Longing For.” An early chapter covered the effects that the five senses have on regulating the nervous system. I suggest you check out de Belgeonne’s work for yourself for more detailed breakdowns.
Vision and Hearing Somatic Details
In the chapter called “Body-Sensing,” de Belgeonne talks about vision and hearing. The eyes are in direct connection to our central nervous system and can even be thought of two identical extensions of the brain that are exposed to the outside world - like teeth are the only “outside bones.” Before the rise of the digital age, we were often looking up and out at the outside world and enjoying the amazing, soothing vistas it contains. We all live with tiny TVs in our pockets and have drastically upped our screen time in the last couple of decades. Screens are relatively small and don’t offer the wide vistas and horizons that we used to look at more than backlit screens. Over time, because our brains are only making guesses as to what the world actually looks like via neural signals and context clues from growing up - like know that a big building in the distance isn’t actually small like it appears - we cannot effectively do this while looking at a phone, tablet, or computer screen. Naturally, this causes some wear and tear on our eyes, specifically the lenses, having to compensate for this unnatural visual ritual.
It’s literally called accommodation, that the lenses of our eyes adjust to perceive images from great distances and up close too. The lenses stay contracted for longer periods than is natural. And we are addicted to these small screens, compelled by instant gratification, as well as our fight or flight impulses. That isn’t just for screens, but for any small thing that we look at for hours at a time each day, tensing our lenses and the muscles that hold our focus on small close up images than the distant vistas, and away from natural light.
You can read a book and look at the horizon, the sunset, or go for a walk in a park, and allow your eyes to relax in this way, and even close them completely… if you are listening to an audiobook.
When it comes to hearing, somatically speaking, listening to sounds in a wide range of frequencies and varieties is beneficial for higher-planning and balance. The vestibular system is located in the ear and lots of auditory information can be passed through the cortex that is close to the area that processes higher-level planning. Many audiobooks are edited with what’s called a “low-pass filter” that allows lower frequencies through that normally would be edited out for intelligibility. It saves on file space and size and can allow for a more dynamic listening experience while keeping clarity and intelligibility.
There are benefits to listening to audio up close, as well as far away. Listening to an audiobook over a speaker in a group setting, or alone while doing dishes, or cleaning the house might have its somatic and social benefits (like a book-club where everyone listens to the audiobook together while doing little projects). We are sitting down so much these days, to our physical detriment, and our visual system informs our vestibular system. When we are sedentary, we are kneecapping our vestibular senses and input, which controls our sense of where we are in space and if we are right-side up or tilted. This effects our balance, and that can dysregulate our nervous system too.
A good somatic practice includes a lot of movement, even slow movement, to stimulate the vagus nerve and get us regulated through our senses. I’m just saying, that is a lot easier to do while reading through an audiobook than sitting down to read.
Doesn’t matter how you read, just stop scrolling
So yes, I will not tell you that your preferred medium for consuming good stories makes you an asshole, or a bad reader, or dumb, or whatever else someone might qualify a reader as. That’s elitist.
For most of human history, working people were illiterate. No one was going to school unless they were royalty, nobility, or going into the clergy or politics. Being able to physically read was a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
Now, we learn through lectures and classes being taught by instructors, orally, in addition to the textbooks. We listen and speak to each other, it’s our primary method of communication as humans. Listening to audiobooks, to me, makes just as much logical sense as sitting down to read a book. I know the story? I took in the prose? Visually and audibly, I read the story. Simple.
So my advice, instead on getting on your high horse over how you consume media or don’t consume media, try going for a walk and letting your eyes relax, balancing and soothing out your nervous system by not engaging your eyes in a small, contained, oftentimes backlit area, and allow yourself the option to continue your favorite story in an audio format and see if you feel better afterwards. You might just enjoy yourself.