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??

I am hyperlexic (and not autistic) - a pp said that it is just early reading and that other children catch up, but I'm not sure that's true. It is pattern recognition and decoding which has stayed with me into my adult life - I can break down Cyrillic and other alphabets without being able to understand the words, I can remember names of people and details about them forever if I read them once etc. I am not especially intelligent in other ways so it's also not a form/sign of intelligence. It is definitely a learning difference.
Interestingly though, I've been diagnosed as an adult with ADHD, which tallies with the idea that there is comorbidity with other neurodiverse conditions.

My son was very similar. I thought he was a genius at age 2 but he’s actually learning disabled and classically autistic. The hyperlexia was a memory trick - his memory is phenomenal. He wasn’t really decoding but memorised the whole word like a picture so it looked like he could read. He moved on to memorising whole books etc Look into private autism therapists to support outside school or private speech therapy. I don’t think schools can provide nearly enough (not their fault). Don’t expect a diagnosis or EHCP to bring magic support the best thing has been private therapists and training myself to teach him. Look at Hanen ‘more than words’ resources with home routines / understanding. PECS course is also useful. Don’t worry about the medical side focus on what he’s struggling with and if you have some money you can spend find people who can help you with those issues.

I don’t think my understanding of ND is better than anyone else’s, but the understanding I have of my son is.

The Hanen approach is working best for us at the moment without a doubt! I’m just including visual aids into the mix when it feels appropriate. My son can decode very well and has an excellent memory, but can also place meaning to nearly everything he has learned, it’s just what he’s learned so far is fairly limited, so I don’t know what that means for his future.

Oops, forgot to quote the post that states hyperlexia is always for life. I think it's quite common for hyperlexics to level off and end up broadly in line with peers.

Of course it is! And that’s why you are doing a fantastic job of advocating for him, interpreting his needs and trying to find the best thing for him. This is all very positive. You just need to stay open to learning that these needs may change, grow, fade, and they may fit criteria for different diagnosis at different times. Given his high needs difficulties I think it’s very fair that they are looking into ASD diagnosis. Again, My own son was diagnosed at 4/5 years old. I’ve been there, mama.

Please stop hyperextension is nothing like dyslexia and it's really offensive to those of us with dyslexia which is a learning disability.
Your son is 3 he has strengths and weaknesses like all of us nothing that you're describing in your child is abnormal.
You seem determined to find a diagnosis for what appears to be a normal 3 year old step away from dr Google and whatever websites you're getting this nonsense from.

Very interesting!

It sounds like you know your son very well and your advocacy will be a huge help for him.

You're right that it's becoming harder to get places in state special schools and that mainstream schools often struggle to cater for the needs of their neuro diverse children.

Like PP, I would say that kids with ASD can present in very very varied ways (and also that milestones can be met, just later). The right education for your son will be the one where they focus on his individual needs as a person, not on the diagnosis. Diagnoses and EHCPs open doors (in theory) but good schools don't tend to use them as a blueprint for care, if that makes sense?

Re private, they often lag behind state in ability to cater for different needs except private specialist schools which might be worth you researching if you can afford? Good luck.

That should have said hyperlexia not hyperextension thanks auto correct

You’ve criticised me for using too much Google…but I behoove you to Google what hyperlexia is. My son is not typically developing at all, and also has SEN

Are you in Scotland?

England. We can only really defer children who are not typically developing or have good reason otherwise to have an extra year in nursery / pre-school. If we were to defer him here I believe he’d go straight into year 1, which makes little sense! We have an extra year to help get him as ready as possible so fingers and toes crossed.

Just usually you can only defer if summer born I believe (April-August). My son has a speech delay and I suspect autistic but because he will be four next year February I don't think he can be delayed.

He sounds like a fairly commonly presenting autistic to me. I’m not sure why you think he would be better served by being considered hyperlexic? If you want people to share their experiences then AIBU isn’t where parents of disabled children tend to open up. Try posting in SNchat or SNchildren.

Maybe ask the setting if your child goes to one how it works in your area, as I believe it has to applied for through the LA. Many schools I think would expect a deferred child to go in with their age group, so your child would start in year 1 if you are able to defer.

Craving order, sameness and routine is a bit of an ASD stereotype. Not every autistic person craves routine and order. And not every autistic person avoids sensory input. . It's very common to be a sensory seeker because of vestibular dysfunction and poor proprioception. My daughter is autistic and is happiest on her spinning chair with all of her sensory lamps switched on.
Being a chaotic sensory seeker doesn't mean your son can't be autistic. Especially if he displays other traits within the diagnostic criteria

The DSM 5 actually specifies a child only needs to have two out of the four traits they've described for restrictive and repetitive behaviour. I'm sure many children don't meet the need for sameness and order. It also specifies you can be a sensory seeker OR avoider.

It's worth going through the DSM 5 yourself to see what criteria he meets. That way you can put any doubts to rest and whatnot

Thanks for the info.

Sorry I forgot to add that I believe any communication difficulties would mean your child could qualify for a deferral despite being February born.

When is his birthday?

https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/what-is-hyperlexia/

September born. He would start reception for a weeks age 4 then turn 5 being one of the oldest in his year, but golly does he need that extra year at pre-school gives us a bit of breathing space for now.

Hyperlexia would not require a 1:1 or an ehcp, so it can’t just be that. Like everyone else, no two autistic people are the same, so he will be treated like an individual by his 1:1 regardless of his diagnosis. If he is in mainstream school with no extra support, he will be lumped in with everyone else as no one, apart from the frazzled SENDCo, will have read what the specialists have said.

It’s needs based, and we’re looking at getting an EHCP in place before sep 2026. For now he has no extra funding just some very understanding pre-school teachers who are excellent at their job. He is already reading and knows all the phonic sounds for example but finds it hard to follow complex instructions because he doesn’t always understand what is being said or why, so it’s difficult for teachers to do the EYFS with him, in a nutshell.

He sounds like language disorder is going to be a big part of his experience.