Hyperlexia

Song: Enya - Ebudae

In hyperlexia, a child spontaneously and precociously masters single-word reading. It can be viewed as a superability, that is, word recognition ability far above expected levels. The more common definition also includes difficulties with comprehension of printed material beyond or even at the single-word level. Many hyperlexics also have trouble understanding speech. Most or perhaps all children with hyperlexia also lie on the autism spectrum.

Hyperlexic children are often fascinated by letters and numbers. They are extremely good at decoding language and thus often become very early readers. Some hyperlexic children learn to spell long words (such as elephant) before they are two and learn to read whole sentences before they turn three. An fMRI study of a single child showed that hyperlexia may be the neurological opposite of dyslexia.

Often, hyperlexic children will have a precocious ability to read but will learn to speak only by rote and heavy repetition, and may also have difficulty learning the rules of language from examples or from trial and error, which may result in social problems.

Despite hyperlexic children's precocious reading ability, they may struggle to communicate. Their language may develop using echolalia, often repeating words and sentences. Often, the child has a large vocabulary and can identify many objects and pictures, but cannot put their language skills to good use. Spontaneous language is lacking and their pragmatic speech is delayed. Hyperlexic children often struggle with Who? What? Where? Why? and How? questions. Between the ages of 4 and 5 many children make great strides in communicating.

Social skills often lag tremendously. Hyperlexic children often have far less interest in playing with other children than do their peers.

Information: Wikipedia
Pictures: Google
Interesting sites about Hyperlexia:

http://www.hyperlexia.org/aha_what_is.html
http://pages.prodigy.net/charlotte/Older_Children.htm

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Hyperlexia
• Autism
• Spectrum
• Asperger
• Syndrome
• Language

[Ysem19]

Congratulations. You made the video very skilfully! You are a genius!:)

[SzChristie]

Hey, Mesy! I am not a genius :) It was just a 5 minute work.. But thank you, my dear friend, glad you like it!

[hopeforamerika]

You've done a great job with this. The video is beautiful and informative. The sources are good. It looks like a lot of the criteria used to evaluate children 'asperger' is present in those with the gift of hyperlexia.

[curlywirlymichaelman]

is it possible that i have hyperlexia? I began reading teenage fiction at the age of 6, but i do not seem to have a social disadvantage unless you count that when i am bullied i tend to be a smart-ass. Ple

[pasfresh123]

I say hyperlexia is STRICTLY the aspects related to precocious readings. The social skill problems are not hyperlexia per se, but simply ASSOCIATED with hyperlexia. Let's make definitions clear. Let's make hyperlexia a symptom, a part of the puzzle, not a complete syndrome. The same goes for the word autism, it is a symptom, and it refers strictly to the (apparent) mental isolation of the child/person. That's how I see things.

[pasfresh123]

... unless the law treats you differently depending on the diagnosis. And I wouldn't be surprised that lawyers would make the law go in the direction of making things very complicated for all people with an "autism spectrum disorder", and make money of their backs.

[pasfresh123]

Diagnosis seems to depend on what the expert you happen to be evaluating you has studied; and also the flavor of the day. One "expert's" hyperlexia is another "expert's" Asperger syndrome, is another "expert's" dyssemia, etc. One must not get too attached on the specific diagnosis and just deal with the day-to-day consequences...

[pasfresh123]

Is your problem hyperlexia or being mistreated by people? I think hyperlexia fits somewhere in the puzzle but it is not the immediate cause of the pain you describe. // Can an adult say he "has" hyperlexia? or only he "had"? Isn't it strictly a characteristic of the child, based on the definition on the right? // Is there not a link between hyperlexia and the tendency of a person to take things literally, and to be dependent on rules for everything in life?

[pasfresh123]

I don't like the term hyperlexia. Hyper is the wrong prefix. It should be a root that means "precocious" or "early", as opposed to "hyper" which means "too much". I am very annoyed by the "scientific community" which invent words that don't really apply (etymologically or even just logically) to the problem they are describing. Pervasive... what a crock. That word means absolutely nothing. Autism... it means self-ism or selfishness. I hate it. Schizophrenia... Paranoia... all wrong.

[Brady2k8]

I have Hyperlexia. Im 19 years old 20 in Feb. I cant begin to describe to you what it is like to have Hyperlexia. It is one big torture. Everyday i wake up frustrated, angry and feeling hatrid towards people. I was told i had Hyperlexia when i was 17. A late diagnosis, i was bullied at both schools and even at college where i am now. I have had a hard upbringing. Im sick to death of people thinking Hyperlexia is not tht big of a problem. Thnx 4 uploading, it lets makes people aware.

[galexy14]

Thanx for posting this...there is sooo much about autism but not much on hyperlexia.