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DevilKisses
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06 Apr 2014, 12:50 am

I think this explains why people thought I was autistic as a child.

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This is a less frequent form of hyperlexia and it is the one sometimes inappropriately diagnosed as “autism” because of the failure to distinguish ‘autistic-like’ symptoms from autistic spectrum disorder. These children also read early, often show striking memorization abilities, and sometimes have precocious abilities in other areas as well. They may have ‘autistic-like’ behaviors for a period of time. For example, they may show unusual sensory sensitivity (to sounds or touch or taste). They usually seek, and do not avoid affection, and in that sense are more social, outgoing, interactive and less withdrawn than children with autistic spectrum disorder. They do tend to make eye contact and can be very interactive with persons close to them. There may be fascination with, or intense insistence on, routine and resistance to change. These children seem quite bright, inquisitive and precocious in some areas overall. Interest in, and mastery of, reading coupled with memory powers memorization is conspicuous and often quite amazing. There may other ‘autistic-like’ symptoms or behaviors as well, such as ‘stimming’ for example But over time the autistic behaviors and symptoms fade and, as it turns out, these children then are quite normal (neurotypical) for their age.


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linatet
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06 Apr 2014, 5:46 am

Well, I seem to fit this hyperlexia characterization, difference is, the traits didn't go away (and I didn't have normal eye contact, I stared at people).
did yours fade with time? And you had speech delay didn't you?



BeggingTurtle
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06 Apr 2014, 7:01 am

I have hyperlexia, but I have dyslexia as well, so things get complicated...


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rhp
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06 Apr 2014, 9:28 am

My son matches the hyperlexia type 3 profile and I was more type 1 like. But I think both of us have had a meaningful social learning difference.

Whether it's called autism or not... it's really more about insurance and school bureaucracy than about us.

The hyperlexia 3 article is not really consistent with current mainstream practice or science as far as I can tell. Its distinction between autism and autism-like is not recognized by many.
The article itself gets at why; he says the hyperlexia 3 kids benefit from the same interventions as autistic kids, and that often the only way to distinguish is to allow the "natural history" to unfold. Parents and clinicians don't find this a practical distinction then when wondering what to do with a preschooler.

Slightly caricatured, his premise is that if a person can meaningfully adapt, learn, and improve then it isn't autism. This is not how people think of it these days in my experience.

Moreover the paper is essentially anecdotal in nature, which makes it interesting but hard to really evaluate.

http://intellectualizing.net/2013/09/24 ... liography/

Also consider that autism isn't a single condition with a bright line between diagnosable and not. it's possible to be much closer to "autistic" than "normal" yet still not qualify for diagnosis. Different conditions resulting in autistic traits may also be more different than alike, and those differences may be more material than autism itself.

long version of this point:
http://intellectualizing.net/2013/12/17 ... omplexity/