It looks like they can read, they're just not understanding what the concepts are. I think it's like having face blindness or ADHD, you try to work around it, with some being more successful at it than others.

It’s worth pausing here to point out that you can’t really blame younger people for struggling at what were once seen as academic basics. The school system is in shambles, their education was bisected by the COVID pandemic, and they’re been reared in a world that’s increasingly deemphasized reading in favor of videos, voiceovers, and other emerging forms of communication.