hyperlexia

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my daughter is age 9 dxed ADHD. we think she has AS....at any rate, she's been having trouble inferring meaning from text. in previous years, she's been able to read a book & tell you verbatim what happened in the book. when it comes to explaining why things happen- well that's where she seems to be having trouble. ....when the texts & questions were easier, she could find the answers. now that she's in 5th grade, and the text is more difficult & the questions aren't as easy to find- she can't seem to find the answers. it's like she's stabbing for answers in the dark. she keeps spitting out answers that either have nothing to do with the question, or answers that just don't tell enough detail.................is this hyperlexia ?

Maybe. Sort of sounds like how I was at that age - but, in the end, my problem was more the oversimplicity and "dumbing down" of questions to a childs level - appropriate for "normal" kids, but not complex enough for me.
In essence, they can be much the same problem - albeit for different causes.
A hyperlexic mind can, however, have uses in the adult world - though typically it is a developmental issue, sometimes comorbid with AS, that lessens as the child grows.
For a child still in school, however, it might help to stress a more involved and complex-repetitive curriculum.

im not convinvced, from the information supplied that it is hyperlexia.

i believe it relates more to AS ideation and cognitive style.

some AS can rote learn very well written words.

when this is done verbally it is called echolalia.

the capacity to read, and regurgitate significant amount os material is an As feature. but undrstand it....no. many AS cant do this beyond just learning what they read and the expected answer, this inflexibility of thought, is in my experience very AS.


the stabbing at answers demonstrates As cognition and the ability to make connections between seemingly unrelated items and stories. the age you describe is a time when many AS have to make a link in comprhension and also and maybe significantly, make and work at friendships, understanding the give and take of relationships and maintaining friendships.

many thing occuring at once here.

try her with her "baby" books and see if she regurgitates the story to you or "comprehends it"



she is, in my opinion making the transition from rote learning, to comprehension.

thanks for the replies. ever since she's been able to read, she's been able to memorize facts that she's found in books. up until a year ago, her primary love was for books with facts. she has since begun reading books with stories. she can tell you about the characters- who likes who, who hates who, what they did in the story. she has quite a bit of difficulty, though, trying to explain why they do specific things unless it is clearly spelled out for her- for instance, in a story about 2 characters who can't get along she could tell you that #1 hates #2 because #2 stole her bag. she could not tell you that #2 stole the bag because she was jealous - unless the text actually says "#2 is jealous" . .....even if the text alludes to jealousy by saying that #2 stole the bag & then brooded about yesterday when #1 played with #2's friends- daughter would still not make the connection.
i feel like i'm not getting anywhere with her teacher. the teacher acknowledges that her reading comprehension is a problem, but that seems to be where it ends....

ok if it is AS.

then it doesnt matter why #2 stole the bag unless it is relevant to the plot.

the bag is stolen...why this is so, isnt important ( to me...AS) unless it is explained.

its interesting your describing an emotion such as jeleaousy.....very difficult for a young ( potential) AS to understand.


What happens in these stories was always more important to me than why it happened.

i never got the under current the undertone of a plot.
i never understood nuance and i cant watch soaps ( soap operas) as i dont get the plot.

as a young child watching the "rocky" movies to me rocky always trained and boxed and beat the bad guy.

the underlying theme of toughness in the face of adversoty, human endeavour and winning against the odds seemed very cliched to me, i get it now, but at the time i just wanted to know who's head rocky was going to pound, the "story" was lost on me.

same for shakespeare... i undestood it intellectually, never intuitively.

this is a feature of AS.

and after writign this, i have just realised that my wife is like lady macbeth....hmmm

It might also help to introduce her to science fiction novels. Accurately described events following logical patterns are ideal for, based on what you've written, what I assume her mindset would be better suited for.

for an explanation of theory of mind, intuitive ( mentalising) and explicit ( intellectual) try an article by Frith U. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004 may; 45(4) : 672-86

Hyperlexia is the precocious ability to read and to recognise numbers and letters and an interest in these which is abnormally high. E.g I have a 3 year old that I work with that reads fluently, ie has the ability to decode the written word, but is unable to understand what she is reading.

Wikipedia gives this simple definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlexia

.For a child that has acquired reading/letter decoding and numbers skills at roughly the appropriate age, but is having difficulty inferring meaning from them, this is more a feature of ASD and the way that the cognitive language skills work in a child with ASD. i.e being able to see beyond the words and making interferences from not just what is written, but also understanding what is not written. E.g
" the girl stopped.. looked .. and her eyes widened and her face went pale" .. this implys that she has seen something distressing. Most ASD children that read this sentence will read it just as it is. They will not necessarily recognise that the girl has seen something that made her react that way.
depending on who you talk to and what book you are reading Hyperlexia is either considered a stand alone condition or it's seen as part of ASD.

I would say from your description that your daughter is not hyperlexic, but just showing those features that are very common with children with ASD, which is difficulty with cognitive language and making inferences from non concrete language use.

Find out what level she is reading and comprehending at and give her reading material at that stage, rather than material at the stage that she can decode at. When she has read something or if she is reading to you, make sure you discuss the book and what is happening as well as talking about any implied meanings and statements in the book. To help her learn ensure that she is comprehending what she reads, not just decoding it.

thanks again for all of the replies....
reading through saffy's description of hyperlexia, i really don't think that this fits my daughter.....still struggling with her current dx- the psych said that she is "too social" to be AS. I don't see that, but who am I ???

ishmael- have tried to get her to read sci fi, as the other aspies in the house enjoy this- daughter says it's too scary.
donkey- will try to check out that article....

kramer1- found this info on another website.....

"Hyperlexic children are highly visual learners, often processing much more effectively materials presented to them in visual formats. Visual methods of organizing materials or note taking, such as the use of Mind Maps or Word Webs, which allow the child to organize materials spatially instead of linearly, and the use of Story Maps for teaching reading comprehension, are often highly effective for the older hyperlexic child. "

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

http://weeklyreader.com/wys/graphicPDF/wordweb.pdf this is a link to a sample word web, which seems btw, that it's the same thing as a mind map. i think we might try this.



i don't know. i'm in the same boat.

[quote=" Does anyone know of any activities to help improve reading comprehension skills in AS children or is this something they grow out of?[/quote]

what happened will be more important to why it happened.

when you use term like to improve reading comprehension it concerns me as much to suggest that, why do you want to change how they comprehend anything?

how they comprhend is normal for them, and different to you.

for example.....everyone likes to figure out solutions to problems.... great effort and emphasis is devoted to finding solutions to problems and many people will offer solutions, men always do.

an As cognitive style would be to avoid giving a solution to a problem but to identify the problem.
Once correctly identified the solutions flow easily. this comes from focusing on what....not why.

different, yes!

...change ? if you feel a need to then i think this is a path that may be frought with some moderate difficulties.

so to have a mindset that some As has that says " what happens" instead of why does that happen is different to perhaps what you consider normal but it isnt necessarily a worse skill to have.

i'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the AS way of comprehension....only that it doesn't fit into the regular ed standards as they're currently written. accomodations need to be made in order for someone with comprehension "differences"