Hyperlexia Experiences
I was able to read before I was able to write or speak. The thing is, I can never talk about what I read, and I still struggle to do this today. I failed governmental reading comprehension standards and passed English class by listening in class but never read a single book.
I learned about hyperlexia from a psychology text book for class (studying language development), but thinking back, at least from my experience, it feels more like an impairment. The book treated it like a splinter skill and I know a few on the site feel the same way, but what do you think of hyperlexia?
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Shedding your shell can be hard.
Diagnosed Level 1 autism, Tourettes + ADHD + OCD age 9, recovering Borderline personality disorder (age 16)
Hyperlexia might be a splinter skill but I wouldn't call it an impairment. Probably the impairment is not the reading iteself but the difficulty in comprehending what one is reading (e.g. the nuances of the social situations within the story), or in expressing that verbally.
I'm pretty sure hyperlexia actually helped me enormously, because a kid I used to read so many books, and I think I used them to learn social skills. The only down-side was getting caught out speaking like a book character
Must be different for different people. For me, hyperlexia has always been a huge asset. I have always had trouble picking up dialogue on tv, so I'm ever grateful for subtitles.
There is no problem that can't be solved by enough research!
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I sometimes leave conversations and return after a long time. I am sorry about it, but I need a lot of time to think about it when I am not sure how I feel.
I don't know if this is hyperlexia, but when I was in Grade 3 (about 8 years old) I did a routine one-on-one reading/comprehension test (my school monitored the reading capabilities of students by having them complete a reading/comprehension task with a teacher aide outside the classroom). The teacher aide sent me back to my teacher with a slip of paper which said that my reading/comprehension level was around that of an 18-year-old.
Conversely, it's hard for me to understand what people say when they talk aloud. It often just sounds like a collection of unintelligible syllables strung together.
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Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 without accompanying language impairment
I find it easiest to connect with people through the medium of fandoms, and enjoy the feeling of solidarity.
Too often, people say things they don't mean, and mean things they don't say.
I started reading early and picked it up fast. Was reading at a college level by third grade.
I don't know, it's helped as far as school goes. Homework has never taken much time. In the short term I have an almost photographic memory. So I can regurgitate information accurately enough to pass tests with very little stress. I don't think I've ever actually studied for a test in my life. I've tried, but get a few minutes into it and realized there was no point in doing it.
If I'm interested in the subject and not to stressed I can write really well, too. That one's kind of hit or miss. I may get completely stuck on one paper (format) but just absolutely blow the teacher away with another. I'm pretty out of practice with writing. I got institutionalized over a poem I wrote when I was younger and didn't write anything because I wanted to for twelve years. My first semester in college my history teacher said I wrote the best final exam essay he'd ever seen. I pretty much wrote it and memorized it the night before. The next semester I had an English teacher that managed to engage me at the end of the semester and I made her jaw drop with a bunch of short stories from my life. That was the first time I'd written because I wanted to in twelve years. Failed the class, though.
Outside of an academic setting, I find it less useful. Sometimes I have to actively stop myself from reading. Signs, cereal boxes, the ingredients on whatever happens to be in front of me, menus. I can't afford to buy books. I get lost in them once I start reading and can get a little thrown off if I'm interrupted. Can't concentrate on what I'm reading if there's too much going on. And there's only so much time. If I start reading a book I usually don't stop until I finish it, and I have a lot of other things I like to do that take time. The balancing act can be challenging. And have a difficult time finding new authors. Been striking out with that lately.
As far as it may translate to interaction, verbal or otherwise, I'm not sure if I could honestly say it helps. I can get really, really long winded without necessarily making a point. Or anything like a sensible statement. And whether or not what I say (or write) has anything to do with whatever else may be happening in the conversation, it could go either way.
Sometimes I think I need a spokesperson just to delegate for me.
And smartphones are really frustrating.
The true definition of hyperlexia involves having comprehension problems like the original poster described, but it does seem like many of us on the spectrum have early reading splinter skills without any comprehension problems. I say that I was hyperlexic, because I taught myself to read at age 4, but I never had comprehension problems, so it probably wasn't true hyperlexia. With me, I've always had strong abilities in memorizing vocabulary and an intense interest in learning new words. I think this is partly why I've always been drawn to the medical field and science. I also have a form of photographic memory for what I've read.
One thing I did struggle with as a child was sounding out words. I had no grasp of phonics, because, when I'd see a new word, I'd just ask my mom how to pronounce it, and I'd remember it from there on out. I can sound out words now, but I'm not really sure when I started to be able to do so. I find learning other languages easy, and I taught myself advanced Spanish, and I find that I'm hyperlexic in Spanish, too.
I also have what I believe to be ticker-tape synesthesia, so I "see" words when I speak them or hear them spoken. I don't remember having this when I was younger, though. It goes back to about middle school, I'd say.
For whatever reason, no teacher ever suggested I get tested for anything, so I honestly have no idea what grade level I could read at certain ages. But the one standardized state test I took in first grade showed that I was at the 99th percentile in language/reading and 50th percentile in math. I still cannot believe that the teachers didn't recognize this as a problem, and that is one reason I didn't get diagnosed with NVLD until college.
Update/edit: I understand other people don't have a problem. My concern is largely feeling like it has caused me trouble to the point I have trouble reading straight. I don't know if this is dyslexia (I don't know that it's like) or something else. I always feel like I'm reading fast, and get lost and never understand what I read.
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Shedding your shell can be hard.
Diagnosed Level 1 autism, Tourettes + ADHD + OCD age 9, recovering Borderline personality disorder (age 16)