Asperger Syndrome & Hyperlexia


It took me a long time to figure out exactly what Hyperlexia is and how it relates to Asperger Syndrome. There is great debate as to where Hyperlexia fits on the Autism Spectrum but it appears to be a separate and distinct condition. Children and youth with Asperger Syndrome can have the characteristics of hyperlexia as well, but these characteristics may emerge at any time.

Hyperlexia is a precocious ability to read words at an early age,or have an intense fascination with numbers, letters, patterns and logos along with a significant problem understanding and using verbal language and difficulties with social interactions. The characteristics of hyperlexia appear during the preschool years.

When I read through all the descriptions of what children are like with Hyperlexia, I can get really mixed up with the fact that the characteristics of this condition are almost exactly like the characteristics of children with Asperger Syndrome - it's very hard to tell them apart.

Some of the characteristics common to both conditions are:

- dislike of changes

- transition difficulties

- rarely initiates conversations

- auditory, olfactory and/or tactile sensitivity

- self stimulatory behaviour

- unusual fears

- think in concrete, literal terms

- listen selectively and appear to be deaf

While my son did not exhibit early reading skills before the age of 5 - he finally did learn to read at the age of 6 (after resisting this major change for some time) he soaked up books faster than I could provide them. By the time he was in Grade 3, his teachers were amazed at his reading skills and the fact that he was chosing books to read far beyond his years. This is common in children with Asperger Syndrome - if they like a topic, it becomes their focus, or special interest to the exclusion of all other topics.

It is important to identify Hyperlexia in preschool age children due to the language difficulties that ensue and social interaction problems. Speech therapy, social language training and social skills training all assist the child to overcome these difficulties. Since children with Hyperlexia are such strong visual and auditory learners this should be taken into account when attempting to teach new material and the material should be presented in a different way if the child is having trouble grasping concepts.

Some sites that you may want to check out are here:

http://www.hyperlexia.org/

http://www.hyperlexia.org/oldlink.html

The copyright of the article Asperger Syndrome & Hyperlexia in Asperger's/Autism is owned by Barbara Fowler. Permission to republish Asperger Syndrome & Hyperlexia in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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