Losing patience to read deeply?

[laura*]

We have the opposite problem with our nearly 11 year old. We've had to tell him that he can't just sit and read at recess...he HAS to be social, too. His social skills are somewhat lacking and it's in part because he'd rather hole up in a corner with his nose in a book than cultivate friendships.

You've mentioned your son being ADHD. Perhaps the reading is his own way of generating enough stimulation to keep his mind occupied. In other words, socializing during recess might be insufficiently stimulating to keep his attention.

[Crankin]

Or it might be just one of the things that he likes so much that he can deeply focus. This is quite common.
DS#2 had about 13 "obsessions" before leaving home, from Ghostbusters, to juggling, to cycling. We once "had" to take him to see the MIT juggling club perform in a snowstorm. Reading was one of them, too, particularly, long, difficult books about history, politics and war, which probably led him where he is today: USMC.