About Barriers to Comprehension

A.K.A. (Also Known As)  "Barriers to Communication"

If you read something and a few minutes later you can't remember what you read, then you have a comprehension problem. In other words, the author is communicating something to you and you have a barrier to getting his/her communication.

Note: Most authors have barriers to communicating their subject matter in a way that it gets gotten, however, in the education game it's always the student's responsibility to discover, mostly by asking others, (their parents, fellow students/teachers) "Just what the heck is this author saying?"

What are barriers?

A barrier is something in the way. It's either known or not known. If you aren't learning then you have a barrier.

For example: Few teachers are aware of the barrier they have to communicating subject matter in a way that you get it. Yet when they acknowledge, tell the truth about, their barriers, the barriers begin to disappear and communication takes place.

A teacher may have an unconscious bias (they are totally and completely unaware of it) towards students who are well-to-do, or good looking, or a certain race, and they are in denial about their bias. Yet you experience it: If it's real for you then it's a barrier. It will serve as a barrier to communication between you and the teacher until ...(see below)*.

A barrier can be physical:

• The reading light is not bright enough.
• The room is too noisy or cold.
• There is someone in the room whose presence is affecting your concentration.
• You can hear the TV in the other room
• You can have a hearing or eye problem

A barrier can be mental/psychological:

• You were traumatized earlier in the day or life
• Two years ago your father, in a fit of anger, told you are stupid and will never amount to anything.
• You are experiencing hurt/pain from an illness or injury.
• You have a chemical imbalance. Too much sugar or not enough vegetables.

A barrier can be any thought that comes to mind:

A barrier is any thought that comes to mind when you ask you, or someone else asks you, "What's between you and comprehending this material?" Yes, any thought that comes from your mind is one of the barriers. The question must be asked over and over, perhaps two dozen times, until your answer is "Nothing comes up." several times in a row.

A barrier is an incomplete:

An incomplete is something that's floating around in your mind occupying space.

For example:

• If you stole something two years ago and haven't gotten acknowledged for stealing it then that incident is an incomplete.
• If when you were five your mom asked you if you brushed your teeth and you lied, that lie is an incomplete. It's a communication that has yet to be completed.
• If your aunt sent you a check for your birthday and you haven't thanked her, that perpetration is an incomplete.
• If your father asked you to do something and you sassed him and you have yet to acknowledge the sassing, "Dad I get that I was abusive." then that incident is hanging out, way in the back your mind, occupying space, getting in the way of you being here now, of comprehension.
• If you are having sex without your parents and your partner's parents knowing it you are not only being deceitful but you are supporting your partner in deceiving his/her parents. This perpetration is sapping your energy. It's serving as a barrier to you being whole and complete. Worse yet, it's sabotaging your partner's success, it's supporting them in thwarting and deceiving their parents. Thwarting begets thwarting.
• An incomplete can be that you came across a word when you were reading that you didn't know. You think you might know its definition, and you assume/hope that its meaning will become evident within a few more sentences. You were whole and complete (you were in-integrity) until you came up to that word but your commitment to being incomplete took over and you went past the word rather than looked up its definition. You are incomplete regarding that word.

All failures to learn a subject can be traced to the fact the person went past a word they did not understand.

Communication takes place in space.

If something is between you and another, an incomplete, then communication does not take place. What happens is talking takes place. Talking produces entirely different results than does communication. Most importantly there can be no sustained experience of love or satisfaction if you are stuck doing your imitation of communication, if you are stuck believing you communicate when in fact you are stuck talking.

* To ask a question about barriers, to find out how to complete a specific incomplete, how to acknowledge and complete a barrier between you and say a teacher/parent, post a message on the Teen Forum. Registering with an alias is acceptable and encouraged.

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