Or is my hyperlexic 3 year old actually neither ….

[ForWorthyTiger]

Autistic OR ADHD?

First of all, I know we can’t armchair diagnose, but I’m wracking my brains right now with my puzzle of a 3 year old little boy.

Theres my gut mum feeling that he’s without a doubt hyperlexic, hence excellent decoding skills but communication difficulties and poor comprehension. That all makes perfect sense. He fits the description for hyperlexia on almost every single front apart from the fact that he is more a sensory seeker than avoider. He also follows the trajectory; regression at around 18 months, early letter / number / shape recognition (could count, recite alphabet and recognise individual letters and shapes at 18 months - 2 years) then started being able to sight read at 2.5 (could well have been able to before this) and now is starting to develop language is a gestalt learning style. Not a lot of functional communication going on but some is starting to emerge now he is 3.5.

But here’s what always gets me, why is hyperlexia not in the DSM?? Especially given that dyslexia is! It’s a learning style to my knowledge that benefits from a specific range of interventions and supports, rather different to that of autism (without hyperlexia) or ADHD. It is often also shoehorned onto a broader diagnoses as I understand onto ASD when accompanied with communication differences or what they tend to call ‘speech delay’. But my worry is that if my son gets a diagnoses of ASD, of which doesn’t entirely fit him in my opinion, in school they will concentrate on that and not the hyperlexia.

If anything I feel like he skews more ADHD as he does not crave order, or sameness or routine, but enjoys novelty, movement and sensory input. And maybe what makes him ‘appear’ autistic is actually the fact that his communication difficulties very much make him behave autistic-like?

I have to admit I was never the type to think that a hyperlexic child like mine wasn’t also ergo autistic but the more he grows and develops the more I doubt it. I was the first one to raise concerns about autism or certainly the signs of atypical development in my son when he had his first developmental review at which I was promptly dismissed given that he was seemingly engaged doing all the typical things at the time, but something niggled at the back of my mind, and of course I am right in that he’s without a doubt neurodivergent, but all I can see in him is hyperlexia but not necessarily an actual diagnosable condition such as ASD or ADHD, or even AuDHD as they just don’t seem to ‘fit’.

Intervention / therapy wise nothing that is recommended for autism or ADHD has been super effective but approaches used for hyperlexia have.

Has anyone else experienced this at all??

At the moment he does have clear additional needs yes, and would benefit from 1:1 regardless of diagnosis of anything. So far he’s not disruptive, has never had a meltdown in his life, and tolerates peers well, and is in fact curious about them, just unable to socialise. He’s calm and quiet, much quieter there than at home.

On paper hyperlexia makes the child look intelligent, but in my son’s case (and many others) it certainly poses challenges in accessing the curriculum due to the difficulties often found in comprehension. So he can read, but can he understand everything he reads? No. It’s the opposite of dyslexia brain wise, certainly in my son’s case, so from my perspective should be a diagnosable condition and educators should ideally know what it is and be able to support. Some do and some don’t as far as I can see in UK education.

Don’t agree having raised my son so far! Also see this description fitting myself. I suppose my thoughts are that we are all on a general spectrum, but either more ND or NT but can be middle ground.

Both of my children are autistic, neither talked at all until they were 5.5 and one remains non-verbal. They both presented similarly to how you're describing your son and one was hyperlexic. I really think you should throw your energies into the EHCP and autism assessment processes, you will get nowhere with the hyperlexia stuff, it won't even be recognised and you'll get frustrated. The lack of comprehension is very likely to be due to autism rather than hyperlexia.

I wish you all the luck in this journey!

But here’s what always gets me, why is hyperlexia not in the DSM??

Because hyperlexia in isolation isn't, in itself, a problem. If it presents alongside communication/comprehension difficulties (which it often doesn't) it's those difficulties that are the problem, not the hyperlexia itself.

Your son's communication difficulties sit alongside his hyperlexia - they're not caused by it. It's possible that your son has hyperlexia as part of a spectrum of autistic traits, but again, the hyperlexia in that case is merely one symptom and it wouldn't be helpful to look at it in isolation.

I was a hyperlexic child. I was reading fluently by the age of two and reading at an adult level by six or seven. Apart from being miles ahead of everyone else in my class at reading and having a huge advantage in English when I started secondary school, hyperlexia has affected me in no way whatsoever. I have another neurodivergent condition (not autism) but that isn't part of my hyperlexia and isn't caused by it. They're two separate things.

You are greatly over-thinking the hyperlexia. Focus on the big picture and not one detail. Also, your son is only three years old. It might not be possible to diagnose him with anything yet.

He is a bit old for it now but did you ever do the mchat assessment online? It's for up to 30 month old but might still be worth having a look.

Also you should do some research regarding the spectrum as you don't seem to have a clear understanding of it.

You sound more like me, but my son I think in his case his communication difficulties are a direct result of his hyperlexia.

But your opinion is very skewed and not coming from a full understanding of the autism spectrum, as PP and myself have already pointed out.

Could say the same for you though…

🤔 I am diagnosed ASD since childhood myself, so I would say my understanding is quite hard earned. What exactly have I said that displays a lack of understanding?

ADHD, ASD and dyslexia are all life long conditions though. Hyperlexia, in isolation, people age out of as others catch up with them in terms of reading ability. In isolation as well it is not a disadvantage.

Have you tried using signs (makaton or BSL)? You might find that reduces frustration. Ds was late to talk (although within normal range) and signs were useful to reduce frustration.

When is he 4?

As I understand it once hyperlexic always hyperlexic, just like dyslexia. Son has difficulty with physical imitation, but does better with audio / visual and written text. Mostly us modelling language and showing him seems most effective at the moment, more of the Hanen style approach. Has to be more on his agenda.

So your understanding is more hard earned than mine? Okay. Here ends our interaction.

There are different types of hyperlexia and not all present as a or with difficulty. Unlike dyslexia.

September, he luckily has an entire extra year in pre-school otherwise I’d be applying to defer.

No I’d say I’m probably slightly hyperlexic but with good verbal and comprehension skills, never knew I was until I had my son!

Did I say that? No. You seem very keen to ignore the obvious signs of ASD that myself and other PP are highlighting. Many have said they do not otherwise align with Hyperlexia alone. This alongside the fact Hyperlexia more often than not does go in hand with ASD. Not acknowledging the issues you have highlighting with your DC are clear signs of ASD is why I say you lack understanding.

You then seemed to think I lack ASD understanding, but you have given nothing to back that up. It seems much more like you have been challenged here and you don’t like it.

You are challenging me for the sake of it, and I’m fully entitled to my opinion on my own child, I’ve seen him develop fr on the ground up and was the first to raise the question of autism if you’d actually read my posts you’ll see that.

My Grandson age 10 is diagnosed ASD and hyperlexic ... he's HE and meets up with others who are also the same .
He was much younger than your son when he started showing signs .
It can be a fantastic thing but also not.. luckily his Mum has a maths degree

Asd and ADHD are often comorbid so it is possible he could have both, however you seem to be ignoring people who are saying that sensory seeking can be part of ASD, as it is in my son as are sleep issues. He also loves socialising and chatting to and being with people.
the spectrum of ASD and ADHD are both broad and complex and encompass a wide range of features.
Asd is usually associated with a significant communication difficulty though, which it sounds like your son has. You will work it out as he gets older. It's good it has been flagged up already.
Might be useful to know that many selective private schools won't take kids with an ASD diagnosis. Well they won't where I live anyway, unless you pay for extra one to one support.

Hyperlexia is a developmental aspect that is somewhat irrelevant in itself. In the same way you can have a child that happens to walk early or sit up early.

The issues only come if this is symptomatic of something else. In your sons case it sounds like he's quite likely autistic too.

1:1 is very rare in nursery unless there are significant and unusually extreme levels of extra support needed. 1:1 at mainstream school is even rarer. So there must be an awful lot of other serious issues nursery are seeing to even suggest applying for an EHCP including this.

Age 3 is tiny. My kids weren't diagnosed until 7 and 9. It's going to be a long process. If you are already finding such high levels of stress as you describe I'd suggest reaching out to the carers centre or social services for support. You describe your child as quite calm and easy. They may well get harder as they get older (mine did!) so it's best to get yourself some support e.g. counselling now.

As pp said perhaps have a think about your own ND too. There's a huge genetic link and the anxiety levels you describe could be due to undiagnosed needs.

He sounds like he’s found his people which is great. I think my son is unique and wonderful and the way he sees the world astounds me all the time, but it poses challenges for him which hurts my heart because he has to exist in an NT world. Luckily his pre-school are amazing.

But then you’re also trying to argue the fact that your understanding must be better than mine - A person who is autistic and has lived with that disability my entire life. That seems a lot like you arguing for the sake of it. You did say you would accept if he was given an ASD diagnosis but you believe hyperlexia is the heart of it all.

I have read all your posts, I was the first to comment. It is quite clear you did not take the early recommendation of relaxing a little. We are here trying to help and assure you that regardless of specific diagnosis your son will actually be okay. It’s good that you are advocating and trying to understand, but you need other things to focus on. Sitting up st night stressing about it will not help.

I don't think this is the case actually.

You also need to consider the etymology of the words 'hyperlexia' and 'dyslexia' to understand why one is a diagnosable state and the other isn't - 'lexia' meaning 'word', 'hyper' meaning 'over' and 'dys' unfortunately means 'abnormal' or 'lack of'. Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty, whereas high mathematical ability isn't (although gifted students may find lessons boring and often need additional attention).

I do agree with certain aspects of ASD but there’s so much that’s atypical with my son too as far as ASD goes too. Certainly the sensory seeking I find easier than if he were to be sensory avoidant but he is not to the extreme with he sensory side of things, but I do understand about hypersensitivity / hyposensitivity in autism. He’s already at a private school but I am fully aware that they may well say they cannot meet his needs by the time he is gearing up towards reception starting.