Hello from Australia...question on hyperlexia

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Hi everyone,
Great site, had a few problems wi my blog but I'm not technically inclined so I'll post here.
I'm a nuerotypical (or at least I think I am) with a 5 year old diagnosed with ASD. She's had language speech delay but seems to be coming in leaps and bounds since starting school and speech therapy. At the Moment she can speak short sentences.

My wife and I are skeptical, however, about the diagnosis but realize the diversity of people with ASD is as varied as stars in the sky. My daughter started talking at 10 months. Saying words and gained an obsession with animal names such as hippotamus and elephant which she could spell by 18 months. By two years of age she could count to 100 and at 5 she seems to remember and write out every car number plate that she has seen. Her reading skills and ability to understand and decode written and verbal language is actually quite good.

Her writing is very neat. Her obsession with writing, numbers and reading lead us to an alternative diagnosis of hyperlexia. Unfortunately nobody in Australia has heard of hyperlexia. Her fine and gross motor skills are above average so she doesn't fit with aspergers, she has alwaysbeen a curious child interested in new things not into routine that much so I'm wondering about the asd diagnosis?

Just interested to hear about anyone with experience of hyperlexia?

Hyperlexia is not an alternative to ASD. It is common for people with hyperlexia to also have autistic traits.

There is some confusion over hyperlexia as a sub-group of autism as DSM IV was written in 1994. Since then a lot of research has been published on hyperlexia and in the USA a Hyperlexia Association has been created. Unfortunately in Australia I've come across nothing on Hyperlexia.

My understanding is the US National Hyperlexia Advocacy group will be canvassing the American Psychiatric Association to formally recognise hyperlexia as a separate condition according to DSM criteria when DSM V is published in 2012.

Regardless of that outcome I recognise that my daughter has "autisitc like traits" and that intervention is necessary. Apart from speech therapy my wife and I found that our own training using visual/written cues has been beneficial as we have not found any necessity to use ABA, psychotherapy or drug therapy.

Interesting. It might be a good thing. Under those conditions, I would probably be considered hyperlexic.

I don't know how successful that attempts to separate out hyperlexia will be. It seems that that the DSM is moving in the direction of merging various types of ASD into a single category, so there would probably be resistance to splitting off a new category.



Many people feel that ABA is not very useful. I think that psychotherapy and drug therapy are useful for dealing with co-morbid conditions and problems that are indirectly caused by AS/hyperlexia. They are generally not useful with dealing with the primary disorder.

In some ways the label is convenient so I'm not too bothered, it's a pain to have to explain you child is sub-sub type...group of a spectrum disorder...it confuses me so why lay it on the unsuspecting nuerotypes.

The main issue with the diagnosis is the use of visual cues and text for learning rather than verbal..auditory. My daughter seems to read easily , our only problem is getting her to understand what she's reading

You should remember that if the child has aspergers they're trying to piece together understanding of a world that works by rules they can't - physically, can't - understand. A little leeway on the meaning of "understand what she is reading" might pay dividends.

I was reading before I was three, but I'd have been in some difficulty explaining the meaning of what it was I had read. Quoting usually sufficed. A compliant English school system let me sail through GCE 'O' levels before the mandatory literary component in an Australian matriculation syllabus made a first call on understanding rather than just manipulating symbols. An enlightened understanding of what the child is enduring coupled with recognising what they can do well could help you build bridges to better comprehension.

I have no idea what the above might look like in practice. I just have memories of the unenlightened inside of it all, and I remained unenlightened through the few decades of my children's lives.

Welcome to the forum, cyberdad!

You might want to take a look into the Parents' Forum http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum19.html I think you'll find there quite a few people that share your struggles and could offer more insight or suggestions about your daughter situation.

To WrongPlanet!! !

Hi everyone, Thanks for the welcome...
It's a fine balance between moderating what works best for our children and equipping them with survival skills.

I'm coming at this with an approach to integrate my child into the mainstream, however a quick check with my own views is that mainstream is sometimes mediocre and conformity masks unappreciated diversity.

Apologies for burdening everyone with my rambling, I'm just getting past the phase of explaining my daughters development to family and friends and getting that condescending sympathetic nod mentally writing her off. My daughter is a blessing and whatever she does in her life she will always get 110% support from mum and dad.

Welkome to WrongPlanet.

The WP Kink

I think you should get her intelligence tested. With hyperlexia the reading comprehension is behind the abilitie to decode; If your daughter understand (And not just decoding.) well books beyond what you would expect from someone of her age, she may be intellectually precocious rather that hyperlexic.

Already did and was told her non- cooperation prohibited her from doing an IQ test. However the psych report did say she was performing at the level of a 5 year old when she was tested at age 4 on numeracy and reading.

Welcome!