I too have always been able to read at what other people think are very high speeds. It started when I was in 2nd grade. (talking Australian here, don't know if this is the same terminology for other countries) In grade two I could read at a grade 6 level, by year 7 I could read at a year 12 level. This is by no means some amazing feat, I'm certainly not special.
It was around grade 5 I realised that I could actually read much faster than my peers. It was silent reading hour and I finished my book in a few minutes, the teacher told me that I hadn't and to keep reading, the other kids called me a liar. It was a long hour as far as I was concerned being a little kid. After that I hid my speed reading and only ever used it to entertain myself. I would try to see how fast I could read the subtitles on the Japanese shows they played on SBS, or to knock off an entire book before my mum made me turn off my lights. When I practised by myself I usually did it out loud, trying not to slur my words, stuff like that. Once again this was just for my own amusement.
Reading out loud I am very fast, my sister is the only person I have ever met that can understand when I read a passage at full speed. Silently I read many times faster. I always hear people saying that cutting out the sub-vocalisation allows anyone to read at high speeds, but I still say the words in my head as I go.
I find I can read most fiction without having to slow down to enjoy it, as well as still comprehending and remembering all the plot details, character interactions and even the exact wording of dialogue from fairly far back in the text. I find it is not as useful for technical writings or anything involving stopping to understand math. Despite this it is still very useful for quickly finding passages or words in large chunks of text or reading through material that can be learned by rote.
All in all I treasure my little skill and would be very upset to lose it.
I also say the words in my head, but not in their entirety, a lot of the time. However, my speed also varies greatly depending on what I'm reading. The Art can take me almost 10 minutes per page, while Harry Potter or some other fiction book clock in at 150-200 pages an hour.
Unlike you, I don't read aloud very fast. In fact, I'm usually pretty poor at reading aloud. At max speed, I read much, much faster than I could possibly speak and when reading aloud I often stumble over words because my mind is going on, but my mouth is still trying to say the third word behind.
To a certain extent I sometimes dislike reading very fast. My retention rate is the same either way but I will often finish good books too quickly for my liking. This may also be a reason why I am attracted to longer books -- they can provide more than an hour or so of reading time.
It was around grade 5 I realised that I could actually read much faster than my peers. It was silent reading hour and I finished my book in a few minutes, the teacher told me that I hadn't and to keep reading, the other kids called me a liar. It was a long hour as far as I was concerned being a little kid. After that I hid my speed reading and only ever used it to entertain myself. I would try to see how fast I could read the subtitles on the Japanese shows they played on SBS, or to knock off an entire book before my mum made me turn off my lights. When I practised by myself I usually did it out loud, trying not to slur my words, stuff like that. Once again this was just for my own amusement.
Reading out loud I am very fast, my sister is the only person I have ever met that can understand when I read a passage at full speed. Silently I read many times faster. I always hear people saying that cutting out the sub-vocalisation allows anyone to read at high speeds, but I still say the words in my head as I go.
I find I can read most fiction without having to slow down to enjoy it, as well as still comprehending and remembering all the plot details, character interactions and even the exact wording of dialogue from fairly far back in the text. I find it is not as useful for technical writings or anything involving stopping to understand math. Despite this it is still very useful for quickly finding passages or words in large chunks of text or reading through material that can be learned by rote.
All in all I treasure my little skill and would be very upset to lose it.