Is very early reading (hyperlexia) a sign of ASD?

[Lilytherabbit]

Just that really. Or is it normal for some NT kids to just be very early readers.

My sister (undiagnosed ASD) who is almost 50 now and who struggled in school and life (she lives in a different country where diagnosis and support were completely unavailable) taught herself to read around the age of 3, but then struggled at school due to her lack of confidence and a crazy teacher who didn't understand what was wrong with her.

I have 2 that were reading at 3, both NT.

Now 19 and 23, they never read for pleasure.

I was reading at 2-3, no ASD, high IQ. Being an early reader is not a reliable marker for ASD. As your sister is an undiagnosed ASD, presumably you don't know whether she has it or not anyway.

I could read at 2 or 3 . My mother always talks about it. I've always loved books and reading however I did terribly at school so I do wonder if I'm on the spectrum as my DS age 7 is autistic. However he is really struggling with basic phonics etc despite being really bright and inquisitive. So no rule really

It might be more accurate to say it’s a possible sign of neurodivergence rather than specifically of asd.

My son was exactly like this. He's autistic and hyperlexic. He was reading by himself at 3, socially he struggled a lot and still does.

I don't know if hyperlexia is normal.

DD dx with autism at 11.

She could read and type words at 2, with no hothousing from us. When she started school her teacher told me she was an "anomaly" because she didn't know any phonics (we wanted to leave that to the school) but could read.

She's great with spelling and grammar but she never reads for pleasure.

No. perfectly normal kids often learn to read very early. (me, and two of our kids).

Your sister sounds a lot like me, could read before I started school, socially awkward (also bullied by a teacher), various other things that make me strongly believe I am autistic - I’ve done those self-tests and even in my most sociable and ‘un-autistic’ moods I score very highly for autism.

Retired member of an assessment team - SOME autistic children are hyperlexic.
Hyperlexia isn’t just about early reading, it takes into account speed and style of reading too.

My sister was that kind of child.

She can't read social cues, is very socially awkward but always scored high on intelligence. She had a form or selective mutism too as a child. I worry what's going to happen to her when my mom passes as they live together and she is not completely independent.

My mum went to every possible doctor (over 45 years ago - in an ex-communist country) who used to laugh at her that her DD is fine, one in particular said to her DD would make a good 'detective', whatever that meant. My mother accepted that she is just 'different', but only recently it struck me that yes, she probably is on the spectrum, never diagnosed.

Hyperlexia and early reading are two different things. Hyperlexia is a red flag for neurodiversity, not just Autism. Early reading is not but that doesn't mean they aren't autistic, just that their reading ability is not a symptom.

I stand corrected, the doctor told my mum my sister would make a good 'spy' as she wouldn't talk to him. And that was the end of the journey seeking a diagnosis

My son was an early reader, fluent by four. But with it went lots of other things - strong interest in and memorisation of bar codes and number plates. And aged four and a few months he suddenly announced had had matched every letter of the alphabet to its number and would spell words for us in numbers so ‘cat’ would be 3-1-20 etc. My mum used to write him little letters in this ‘code’ and he would read it. As time has gone on other interests have taken over / so can recognise around 180 world flags in seconds, same with country outlines etc on the globle and worldle games. We’re just started the ball rolling for an autism diagnosis.

so perhaps it’s early reading matched with other signs in some cases?

Could you please not word things to suggest that neurodiverse children aren't normal.

Normal just means average.

ND children aren't normal, they are special, and that's ok

3 isn’t considered early reading. 1-2 is. And it can often be because these kids get more screen / book time to help their parents cope. Example the majority of my DNs have ASD. But all of them; whether they had ASD or not, had hyperlexia because the only way they wouldn’t constantly fight each other was if they were watching Blippi / TV / playing games on the tablet & they just picked up reading from there.

Another DN in India has ASD too - she used to throw her toys around, constantly break them or use them to hurt her baby sister. So her Mum replaced them all with books & by 1.5 DN had taught herself to read and write.

I taught myself to read. I did understand most of it though but I had the hobbit and Lord of the rings in my bed when I started school.i remember I didn't follow a the names of battles.

However my daughter is autistic... I suspect there's a whole generation of bright autistic bookish women who weren't diagnosed as appeared to behave well in class. Many of whom could be on mn...

lol my DN has the code too - she def has ASD but has high IQ too. So she’s getting some specialist help in India as her pediatrician thinks early intervention might help her to eventually cope with mainstream education. Might he a good idea to get your DS’s IQ tested too & see if that help is available here too.

It was for my ds. He wasn't "taught" to read. He just could one day - aged four. We read to him every night - two Thomas the tank engine books - fairly lengthy. He got to know them off by heart and so I think put the words to what he knew when he looked at the books himself.

I was the same, nobody ever taught me
It caused nothing but issues with friendships, school etc etc
When they're "read the next 3 pages" and I had already read the book. Takes me about 45-60 mins to read an average chick lit type paperback
Not autistic, just a massive love of reading

@LondonWolf i think my son was very similar. I was looking g at videos the other day about him telling himself the story (of a book) aged about 2.5 and he had stuff like the tiger who came to tea pretty much word perfect. I think he memorised how the story went and eventually clicked about the words on the page. Each morning when he was still in a cot we’d bring him his milk and 3 or 4 books while we showered and he’d sit there intently looking at them. In that way he ‘taught’ himself to read.

PauliString love the Lassa Fever/Readers Digest story - I am not diagnosed as yet - but have all traits and was an early reader - 2 1/2 - omnivorous hyperlexic I was fascinated by HP sauce ingredients - obsessed with finding out what was ‘rutabaga’ ( an HP sauce ingredient) - turns out to be a type of turnip WHO KNEW 😆👍🏿☘️

ASC or not will be diagnosed by what a person struggles with not what they are good at.

That is not accurate