Hyperlexia - can anyone help

[handbagqueen]

My nephew (4 years old) has just been identified as Hyperlexic - does anyone have experience of this? My SIL is desperate for information on how to help him in anyway possible.

Would she be better putting him into a private school as his current school are having problmes with his behaviour, so he is spending lots of time in the office rather than the classroom?

What are the most important things to do to help and support him?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Anyone??

Who identified the hyperlexia? It's not a usual 'diagnosis' as such in the UK, although it is sometimes used in the States.

Has he had a proper assessment from a developmental paed or multidisciplinary team (essential I think for a child with a mix of hyperlexia and difficulties with school).

Yes he was diagnosed by a developmental paediatrician. The school are being informed, but as this is not a well known in the UK we're a little concerned that they may not know what to do to support him.

The hyperlexia itself shouldn't be a problem (although provides the opportunity for text to be used to draw him in), so support will need to centre on the other issues - potentially social and comprehension issues I would guess. Has the paediatrician given any advice in those areas.

I know quite a few hyperlexic children who have been in UK schools, but the support they've needed has tended to be for their other issues, rather than the hyperlexia itself.

He should have an IEP though, and that can address all areas.

Thanks for the info - what is an IEP?

The paedritrician did say that they need to work on strict discipline to cope with the behavioural problems and he also suggested a private school may be better for him.

mt SIL can afford private education, but its not something they necessarily agree with and have state educated their other children, but if it can help their DS they will definately use it for him.

I believe that hyperlexic children are considered to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum -I'd contact the autism organisations for more information.

My ds1 was flagged as being hyperlexic as a part of his autism. It was never really an official dx but mentioned by the Paed and then later by the SALT. His teachers also realised very early on that although his reading was great his comprehension was poor.

He goes to a state school and has been well-supported by the staff there. A lot will depend on your nephew's individual needs. As Jimjams says, the hyperlexia side of things can be useful for teaching other things. The SALT explained it to me as ds1 being able to use his reading ability to build up his language ability, whereas other children will apply their language ability to improving their reading.

As far as comprehension goes, the staff gave ds1 easier books than he was capable of reading and did lots of work in making sure that he was able to understand. He's now 8yrs old, still able to read almost anything but now has the comprehension skills to match.

I think hyperlexia is meant to overlap ASD a lot, so the strategies used for autism will probably apply to your nephew too. It's hard to give more detail without knowing your nephew's particular difficulties.

Thanks for your help I'll pass this information onto my SIL, she is really worried. I'm pleased to hear that your has been supported well in a state school, she would prefer to leave him where he is as he is well settled and as you must know change is not a good thing for him to cope with.

I suppose the next steps are the SALT assesment and IEP.

My 5 year old DS has hyperlexia (although only the private SALT we saw recently has mentioned it) and high functioning autism. He is at a private school where the smaller class sizes and more structured environment mean he only needs a small amount of extra support.

He certainly uses his reading ability to build up his language skills! - the SALT showed him a picture of a sailing boat and asked what it was. "A yakkut" he said (only having seen "yacht" written down and not heard it said).

He too has been given books that are easier than he is capable of reading, with lots of comprehension and writing homework. Both his language and his comprehension seem to be leaping ahead since he started school.

Is it you that has the FB hyperlexia group btw?

My ds is 4 and started reading at 2. He can read anything now and is way a head at reading in his reception year at school. He does understand factual books but has trouble with fiction-mostly regarding understanding the feelings of the characters in the story. He is being assessed for aspergers and dyspraxia.

Hyperlexia in the UK would typically be interpretted to mean having reading skills above what would be expected of a child's cognitive ability. So, a child who has downs syndrome but who has good reading skills, may be described as hyperlexic. The childs good ability to decode the words would typically disguise the fact that they have difficulty understanding what they have read.

I suspect that children with hyperlexia have particularly good phonological processing skills and this is what makes decoding words easy. (Most kids who have difficulty with phonological processing find reading hard and these kids are often labelled as having dyslexia.) Phonological skills are generally thought of as independent of cognitive ability (whatever this is, but is typically tested through IQ tests.) Having good phonological processing skills does not necessarily overlap with social difficulties at all.

My guess is that many kids with ASD become fascinated (and some obsessed) with letters from an early age. Because they are so focused and so interested they learn to read very well very early. However, this may mask their limited comprehension of what they read. These kids will typically also have difficulties with social relationships. Hyperlexia itself does not cause the poor relationships.

It may be helpful for your SIL to find out what is causing the hyperlexia. Does your nephew have other issues (e.g. social problems, obsessional / very focused thinking etc) which may (only may) be linked to ASD? Is he just a really bright boy who has been labelled as hyperlexic? Does he have difficulties understanding language? I would recommend getting him seen by a decent educational psychologist who will do more than just the bog standard IQ test. They should be looking at what your newphew thinks and feels about school, how he is being taught, whether their are other issues around social skills etc.