Hyperlexia: Autism with a Twist?by Kristyn Crow | More from this Blogger 27 Aug 2007 11:25 AM I'm still trying to decide whether I think that "hyperlexia" is really just autism with a remarkable (savant) reading ability, or whether it is truly a stand-alone condition, as some people insist. You be the judge. What is hyperlexia?
Is it a subgroup of autism? In some of my research, I have seen Hyperlexia described as though it were a condition separate from autism, yet many classic autistic symptoms are listed as part of the diagnostic picture. Most notable are the social problems, like difficulty making friends, difficulty interpreting the non-verbal signals of others, ritualistic behaviors, and anxiety. Language problems are also seen, like repetitive speech, trouble with pragmatic language, echolalia, and peculiar prosody, or rhythm, of speech. So as I read the diagnostic description I thought, "this is just another way to classify high-functioning autistic kids and confuse parents." And some parents who receive this diagnosis for their child may not be prompted to start early intervention therapy, seeing the term "hyperlexic" only as evidence that their child is gifted. It's a "superability" instead of a "disability." And some parents insist that their hyperlexic child has symptoms more like ADHD or hyperactivity than autism. Obviously not all children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) have the striking ability to recognize and decode words, so it has been suggested that hyperlexia is a branch off the autism tree, if you will. It's a particular type of autism. Yet others say that the term "autism" is being spread too thin, covering all kinds of different disorders which should have their own name. So they reject autism as a blanket diagnosis. Renee Montero Kovach, in her article "Hyperlexia vs. Autism," says, "To say that any child with autistic-like tendencies has autism is ludicrous. It seems, however, that a child with any communicative disorder that can't be clearly labeled gets classified autistic." Treatment Treatment of hyperlexia should focus on reading comprehension and langugage-building exercises, where the child practices answering simple questions about what he has read, or works on conversational language skills. Utilizing social stories would be a good idea, because the child can use his reading skills to better recognize appropriate social behaviors. Peer tutors can help these children stay on task and provide a model for friendship. Do you have a child with the diagnosis of "hyperlexia?" What is your opinion about the diagnosis? Kristyn Crow is the author of this blog. Visit her website by clicking here. Some links on this blog may have been generated by outside sources are not necessarily endorsed by Kristyn Crow. Related Articles: "Mommy, Tell Me a Social Story!" The Autistic Savant: When a Disabled Child Has Extraordinary Gifts Holes in the Abstract: An Interview with Kyle What is Semantic-Pragmatic Language Disorder? Play "Dumb" and Encourage Your Child's Language Development Learn more about Kristyn Crow  Kristyn Crow is the mother of seven children, and the author of three children's books. Visit her website at www.kristyncrow.com. Relevantspecial needs tags User Comments mentalutopia (15) 07 Sep 2007 05:01 PMMy son spontaneously started reading a year and a half ago when he was 2.5 years old. Whenever I read a list of the traits of "syndrome of hyperlexia" he fits them to a Tee. His actual diagnosis, however, is autism. He also fits the autistic traits and symptoms to a tee--scripting, insisting on routines and sameness, extremely picky eating, sensory issues, language delay, etc. We get a big kick out of the movie Rainman because the main character shares so many traits with our son. Only our boy doesn't amaze others by counting cards--he just reads. First he read sight words that he recognized from Baby Einstein and Signing Time videos. But after watching a few Leapfrog videos he branched out and now reads phonetically. While he will read words he isn't familiar with, he prefers words he knows and understands. While he was not reading yet when he was diagnosed (not until a few months later), he was already fascinated with letters and numbers. He does not exhibit ADHD or hyperactivity symptoms. And autism runs in the family--I have one autistic sister and one brother who likely has Asperger's. So do I think my son has an autistic spectrum disorder? Yes. Do I think that hyperlexia should be a diagnosable disorder? Yes. But I do think it belongs on the autistic spectrum. My understanding is that the DMS-IV does not list hyperlexia as a disorder, so for children to currently be labelled hyperlexic without also being labeled autistic could prevent those children from accessing many services that could help them.  Kristyn Crow (2546) 07 Sep 2007 05:56 PMI absolutely agree. When I first read of this "disorder," I told myself, "This is autism or aspergers with a marked reading ability." Yet many current books refer to it as its own diagnosis. There is also a hyperlexia website which considers it separate and apart from autism. Yet if you read their description of the condition, it's textbook ASD. SoniH (5) 21 Sep 2007 11:10 AMHi, My 6 year old son was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3. One of the struggles we've had was clarifying his functioning level with educators. I found and used this tool on the site http://www.autismsupportsforyou.com and found it very user-friendly and helpful. Parents are asked to complete a survey that asks questions from a parent, caregiver or educator about a child’s particular learning style and needs. Based on that feedback, it generates a report of individual strategies that can be applied immediately. This was created by a mom with a child on the Autism Spectrum and group of educational consultants, it's really cool. I Hope parents find this as beneficial as we did. Best regards, Soni SamanthaMay (5) 27 Jan 2008 10:31 PMI have worked with children with hyperlexia, both with and without autism. I say this with a sureness based on years of providing assessments and intensive 1:1 intervention. There are some remarkable overlaps between pure hyperlexia and autism, but they do not always go hand-in-hand. Hyperlexia can refer to a student that reads well above their age/grade level, but it can also refer to any student (or adult) that has a marked disparity between their ability to decode and their ability to comprehend. For example, a 9th grade girl that reads fluently at a 9th grade level, but cannot recall or think critically about a story only a few sentences long, written at a 3rd grade level. (And yes, I am thinking of a specific girl that I worked with!) The program that I teach refers to this as "weak concept imagery" - a difficulty in creating dynamic, mental images that leads to a weakness in written AND oral language comprehension. Symptoms also include difficulty following oral directions, grasping humor or social cues, mental mapping, verbal expression, etc. I mention the program that I teach only because this is how I learned about it - hyperlexia is barely recognized, unlike dyslexia, but in my experience it's quite common. The woman who developed this program is passionate about the field of comprehension and is very concerned about the lack of awareness surrounding it. She has developed a method of instruction based on cognitive theory, specifically dual-coding theory. DCT essentially states that all cognition relies on an interplay between two "codes": one of which is a verbal code, a.k.a language, and the other is non-verbal, a.k.a mental imagery. For example, try to think of your house, but not form an image of it - the outside, your kitchen, etc... There are many children who don't have the ability to create a mental image. This is, however, something that CAN be taught! It takes daily, intensive intervention, but the research shows that it does lead to changes in the brain. The important thing is that it's not just a tool or a skill they can use, it's something that becomes automatic - so that they can fall into an imaginary world when they're reading, or easily picture what you're talking about in a conversation. I've seen so many children who blossom and emerge with help. twinangel42 (5) 02 Mar 2009 11:25 AMI have a 10 year old son that has Hyperlexia. He was diagnosed with this syndrome when he was 5. I was told that when he was diagnosed that this is a form of Autism. He went threw a full day of testing at a major hospital here is Iowa and was diagnosed. He had a severe fascination with numbers since he was 1 and he knew his alphabet and could count to 200 and knew all his shapes including an octogon before he was 2. His spelling ablility is outstanding. He is in 5th grade and spelling at a 11th grade level or higher. He struggles with other areas. He is so amazing. Community Tags aspergers, ASD, gifted, hyperlexia, reading Discuss this article
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Special Needs categories |
Hyperlexics are said to almost always be boys, and their ability to spell, read, and pronounce words is markedly advanced for their age. Usually these kids have easily mastered letters and numbers by the age of two, and by three can read many words. They seem to have a far greater capacity for reading than for spontaneous speech. They may eventually even read and pronounce words at a college level, yet have a difficult time comprehending the meaning of the words, or how to use them in the right context. You might say these kids are master decoders, but poor interpreters. For example, they might read a Harry Potter book with ease, but have great difficulty answering "why" (abstract) questions about the book. "Why was Harry Potter afraid of Snape?" They love books, words, and may find word play entertaining. However, they find spoken language hard to understand.
