hyperlexia? | Autism PDD
Matthew is phonetically sounding out words... My husband had on an Old Navy T-shirt that said "world's greatest dad" Matthew pointed to it and said "da-ah-da... DAD!!! He's done the same thing with other words that I know he's never seen before as well... as long as they are short and simple anyway ;)
Jason memorized words and patterns in words when he started reading.
My son is hyperlexic too. We actually hadn't realzied this until we got the provisional HFA dx, I was doing a search and came across hyperlexia by incident. Our dev paed however did not take it seriously and said this is just a savant ability.
He knew his letters and numbers before he was 18 months. He was not saying words out loud beofre 2 and half so we did not know he could read. Even before that, he was saying names of the shops, banks, cars he saw outside and we thought that he must be recognizing the logos. Then came the few surprising incidents. He was bringing over DVDs without cases, only titles written over them. He was reading words on the tv. When I read to him, I notice I had to read word by word once, otherwise he would insist to read again and wouldn't be satisfied. He has an amazing memory as well, at almost 4 he remembers directions way more than I can at 31.
I think he started with 'sight reading' from picture books so he always associated words with images, hence knowing what the word meant. We continue to encourage that as much as possible. Many words he can read because he has seen them once somewhere without knowing the meaning like medium, resources, temptation, superannuation, congeniality. heheheh (I know mostly from the media). I don't know if its really hyperlexia or truly a gift. When he grows up, it will surely help in do well in academics I beleive. Even now, it helps him pick up language more, understand and associate more so its good. Another thing, he knows many words, easily 500 plus (none taught by us so I don't know how he will do if we actually started to do this with him) yet when he reads sentences, he can't make sense of most of them. So I can't really say if its fair to think that he can read at 2/3 grade level. I think reading and comprehension go hand in hand and he might be knowing many big words yet he does not know many small words, this skill is not even. Still we like to show this off occasionally for our guests who do notknow any better. heheheh. Mary When I would read him a book, instead of looking at the pictures, he would point at the tiny little numbers on the page, or point out the letters. He could pick out numbers hidden on things that the average person wouldn't even look at (like serial numbers on a label). [/QUOTE] I totally get what you mean. So true for us too. Mary He knew many letters before 12 months and all of them by 15 months. He was reading memorized sight words before 2 years of age and was fluidly reading at 3 years. Now at 4 years he reads at a 2 grade (8 year old) level according to most of our specialists. He fits most of the criteria to a T!! His language acquisition was very odd... very chunky and very scripted... but that evened out in flow by 3.5. Now at 4.5 he NEVER stops talking... the psychologist called him "hyper-verbal" as well
My [/QUOTE] Oh my God. You could have been talking about MY son. The last part really hit the mark. His speech is very 'chunky and scripted' now at 3.10 yet he talks all day long..(mostly repititons and variations of I want type sentences). I mean we are actually telling this kid to be quiet.
Your post gives me so much hope, that one day our son would be talking well too. I love this board!!!! Mary it is very rare indeed before the age of 6 and autism is usually assessed as well I think she memorized the words visually and then understanding came later...when she wrote out : "Pop goes the weasel" she had no clue what a weasel was at 2 but seen the words come up on closed caption with nursery rhyme videos..or books~not sure where? It seemed every word we exposed to her she picked up and then figured out how to decode later words she never read or seen before. I do think she comprehends fairly age appropriate at least from what the school's speech path. told me. I think it's best to get them to express each word they are not understanding than just reading it and have no clue.
He knows phonics, but I believe most of it is memorization and sight recognition. It's like he only has to see something once to remember it. He does occasionally trip up on words that look similar...(monday/monkey). Shelly, thanks for the book recommendations!!! Oooh how exciting Karen Yayy Alex Our first indication that Sarah could read was when she spelled out on floor with ABC blocks " Old McDonald had a farm" and I freaked..she was 2 1/2 and had no words yet...she would constantly spell out titles of things and foods and nursery rhymes...in ABA therapy & speech they noticed she would read the flashcards and tested her on just words without pictures and she knew over 200..she still spoke only around 5-10 words a day and none functional so it was strange to see her read and speak all these words and never use them
"Hannah's Hope" & "When babies read" ..both show how to use this to help them..the reading is always higher than the understanding or expressing understanding in our case...so keep it mind to really teach meaning even if he seems to know:) I believe this gift is what made her lose most of her autism traits so fast:) She went from nonverbal aloof child to a very gifted & talented sparkle:) Can a four year old be hypelexic? What's the cutoff age? Or, is it relative - simply, reading ability that seems advanced compared to spoken language expression and comprehension? The girls started reading on their own, too - Evie at 4.5, Abbie a few months later, but it was more or less just typical little kids sounding out simple words - not so much reading precociously. They can now read 'Bob's Books' level stuff with comprehension, but since they've never been formerly taught reading skills, they can only sound out phonetic words. That's within the typical age, right? MK and Shelley - it's really hard for me to understand how a kid who's like 2-3 years old can decode words such as 'people' or 'said' and other words that aren't so easily phonetically decodable. Do hyperlexic kids phonetically decode the words or is it more like they recognize the word by it's pattern and memorize what it looks like moreso than they learn the rules of decoding? Hi everyone - Two days ago we realized that Alex is spelling things out with his blocks. Below is a DVD menu, written with some very creative substitutions, b/c of the limited letter supply. Alex is 4 and doesn't communicate much verbally - it's emerging, but is minimal. The only thing I know about hyperlexia is that you need to be careful that the child doesn't develop his reading skills so fast that he doesn't understand what he's reading. I know that many hyperlexic kids can read precociously well and fast, but can lack understanding and conversational ability to discuss what they've read. Does anyone know the early signs of hyperlexia? Would these letter creations be a sign or hyperlexia or just a good memory? Any ideas about how to work with kids who love to "write" and how to make this a social opportunity, instead of a purely solitary enterprise? chapter selection story bonus material
He ran out of "l's" making a capital "T."
ETA: OK, I can't get the pix up right.
Suffice to say, he is spelling things out with blocks. If anyone cares to answer, w/o a picture example, I'd love it.
Hyperlexia has characteristics similar to autism, behavior disorder, language disorder, emotional disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, hearing impairment, giftedness or, paradoxically, mental retardation.
To develop effective teaching strategies and more typical childhood development, it is important to differentiate hyperlexia from other disorders. A thorough speech and language pathologist who is familiar with the syndrome of hyperlexia is a crucial first step. Psychological tests which emphasise visual processes rathere than verbal skills aid in identifying hyperlexia.
Hearing, neurological, psychiatric, blood chemistry and genetic evaluations can be performed to rule out other disorders but are not needed to identify hyperlexia
hi hun hop this helps
The future of a hyperlexic child depends on developing his / her language expression and comprehension skills. Intensive speech and language therapy and early intervention programs can help achieve this objective. The child's reading skills should be used as a primary means of developing language.
It is important to teach the child appropriate social skills. Providing opportunities for the child to interact with children whose behavior is more socially appropriate is one way to accomplish this.
Parent, teachers and other professionals should work together to develop programs for each child to reach his /her fullest potential. It is important to teach the child appropriate social skills. [/QUOTE]
This is the six million dollar statement!
Anamcara, great ideas. I actually ran out and bought Alex more lower case wooden letters that just happened to come with picture & word puzzles: http://www.gummylump.com/front/f_product.php?id=1699 I think this begins to address what you are talking about.
It's exciting that Alex is perhaps showing signs of hyperlexia, b/c it shows academic aptitude, which has been fairly hidden so far. (We always thought it was there, just not readily visible.) But I am also of the opinion that social appreciation and fluidity is of equal, or even greater, importance in these early years, so I am glad we're on the RDI train, as well. Thanks for the ideas. Any more are welcome. You may want to consider turning on the closed caption text on your television if Alex watches any T.V. I believe ds is hyperlexic (4 y.o. reading at 1st grade level). I think doing that has helped him with word comprehension because he sees the words and hears the story at the same time. He has had a recent explosion in his conversational skills, and has been using some very big words that I think he is picking up by having read them first. Jason is hyperlexic. I'd thought so all along but his psychologist just put it in writing this week in his chart. He knew many letters before 12 months and all of them by 15 months. He was reading memorized sight words before 2 years of age and was fluidly reading at 3 years. Now at 4 years he reads at a 2 grade (8 year old) level according to most of our specialists. He fits most of the criteria to a T!! His language acquisition was very odd... very chunky and very scripted... but that evened out in flow by 3.5. Now at 4.5 he NEVER stops talking... the psychologist called him "hyper-verbal" as well
My younger son, Matthew, also shows signs of hyperlexia. He learned the entire alphabet by 15ish months without us EVER showing him a letter (after Jason we put most of that type of stuff away bc we didn't want Matthew to do the same things). He's 26 months old and is spelling out words and reading a good handful as well... and I mean sounding them out not just sight words. Its frightening!!
We've been told hyperlexia is a good thing and that most children with it end up being high functioning!! Thanks BoPeep. Though the girls were "reading" at 4.5, it wasn't advanced reading - it was sounding out a word at a time. Now, at nearly five, they can read simple bob's books, but they're not reading war and peace or anything - and they never had a strong interest in letters or anything - I think they were more fascinated with the stories and wanted to understand them (they love writing little one paged stories about frogs and kitties and such, like this) (The frog was sad. He lost his shirt) - Abbie needs a little work with her writing skills, lol. I reckon a true hyperlexic kid would be more interested in the letters and words themselves rather than the story, but I could be wrong. It's interesting, though. It sounds like it's good news in any case, LilBoPeep! Can a four year old be hypelexic? What's the cutoff age? [/QUOTE] Fred, most of the materail I am reading says something similar to this: "These children, most of whom have learned to read before age 5 with little or no training, have this precocious reading ability combined with language difficulties (in spite of accelerated reading ability) and display significant difficulty in social relationships." http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savan t_articles/hyperlexia Hyperlexia is not a separate dx in the DSM-IV. It's merely an observation, at this point, so there are no solid criteria. Alex has the intense fascination with letters that a few people have mentioned in this thread. He has since very early on. I brought him home a new letter set the other day and he couldn't have been more excited had I brought home Elmo himself.Our daughter read at age 4. Many kids in montessorie read at age 4 cause they teach phonics/blending and no letter recoginition at all. I saw a hyperlexic toddler when I subed in ppcd classes. Daniel is a poor reader/speller. Dyslexic also. Daniel talks alot also. Daniel must hear and see short to the point directions or it doesn't make sense for hi. Same with me also. He is great at math. [QUOTE=fred] I reckon a true hyperlexic kid would be more interested in the letters and words themselves rather than the story, but I could be wrong.
It's interesting, though. It sounds like it's good news in any case, LilBoPeep! [/QUOTE] This is it, fred. Intense fascination with words and letters - -ability to read and write things way beyond age-appropriate, but not necessarily having the understanding of the words or passages. Certainly not having the ability to converse about what is read. Your girls sound right on track and more or less age appropriate - perhaps a little ahead, but nothing outrageous, which is good. That they are more in to the stories says very good things. This is cool for us b/c before this, Alex showed very few academic skills. I feel in my gut that there is a ton of untapped potential in him and this confirms it. We are using his word recognition for emotion sharing - and then we'll move on to helping him understand that written words go with ideas and objects. It is wild, though, and very encouraging, to see a "very limited" 4 year old spell out "chapter selection, bonus material, sneak peeks" from memory.
blessing for him.
He comprehends more than the average hyperlexic too. Enough to ask
about the things he doesn't understand.
He could spell his own name at 18 mo, and just took off from there.
What Is Hyperlexia?
Hyperlexia is a syndrome observed in children who have the following characteristics:
In addition, some children who are hyperlexic may exhibit the following characteristics:
How is Hyperlexia Defined?
What can be done?
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