Posted by Cindy

In Reply to: expressive language disorder - Primary way it displays itself now is difficulty in writing posted by Joyce Reynolds-Ward

A neurologically-typical child who is an early reader is not hyperlexic.
Hyperlexia refers to a child with a severe language disorder who reads early.

According the the website, Hyperlexia is defined by:

An intense fascination with letters or numbers and/or a precocious ability
to read words before the age of 5. Often among the child's first "words"
are the names of letters and numbers. (My child's favorite book at the age
of 18 months was an adult history textbook called "The Federal Union." He
loved the chapter headings, page numbers, and dates and would drag the book
around with him. He also found numbers everywhere: tiny little video
counters, serial numbers, and would get very excited and call off the
numbers--at the time the names of numbers were the only words he had. He
even knew the numbers when presented upside down). At the age of 2, he
discovered letters and to this day he loves to watch movie credits, ABC
videos, Logos like PBS and NBC, signs with words ("No Parking") etc. One
day at the age of 3, he simply amazed me by reading several words which he
had certainly been exposed to ("cat," "egg," "umbrella," "apple," "yak,"
"cake," "car" and about 50 more) but never taught. This would merely be
"early reading" except for the fact that he is very language-delayed and has
PDD. Expressive and receptive language is very hard for him; print is very
motivating and appears to be effortless. It is this strange combination of
difficulty with language but ease with print that makes hyperlexia different
from a precocious typical preschooler who learns to read at a young age.

Other hyperlexic traits:

Significant difficulty in understanding verbal language.

Abnormal social skills, difficulty in socializing and interacting
appropriately with people.

Some hyperlexic children learn expressive language by echoing or memorizing
chunks of language rather like you might if you were to visit a foreign
country with only a phrase book to assist you. You could say the phrases
included in the book but would find it difficult to break down the phrases
and reconstruct them using new words and ideas. (My child learns language
this way. He learns a phrase and will deposit it whole into new situations.
Though he does get the idea across, it is an eccentric way to say something.
Even when he knows all the words singly for a phrase he needs, he cannot
always construct it himself).

The rest of the traits of hyperlexia are sometimes present but not always
and apply to many children on the autistic spectrum: Rarely initiates
conversations, an intense need to keep routines, difficulty with
transitions, ritualistic behavior; auditory or tactile sensitivities,
self-stimulatory behavior; specific and unusual fears; normal development
until 18-24 months then regression (my child had 15 or so words until 20
months and then lost all of them, the next words he acquired were the
numbers 1-20 which he learned somehow without our specifically teaching them
to him); strong auditory and visual memory, difficulty answering WH
questions, think in concrete terms, listen selectively, appear deaf at times.

If any of this sounds familiar regarding your child, www.hyperlexia.org is a
wonderful website with lots of information and ideas.

--Cindy

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