Hyperlexia

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Hyperlexia
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  (Redirected from Hyperlexic)
William-Adolphe Bouguereau, The Difficult Lesson (1884)

Hyperlexic children are characterized by having average or above average IQs and word-reading ability well above what would be expected given their age.^[1] First named and scientifically described in 1967,^[2] it can be viewed as a superability in which word recognition ability goes far above expected levels of skill.^[3] Some hyperlexics, however, have trouble understanding speech.^[3] Some experts believe that most or perhaps all children with hyperlexia lie on theautism spectrum.^[3] However, some other experts believe the involvement of autism in hyperlexia is completely dependent on the type of hyperlexia.^[4] Between 5-10% of children with autism have been estimated to be hyperlexic.^[5]Hyperlexic children are often fascinated by letters or numbers. They are extremely good at decoding language and thus often become very early readers. Some hyperlexic children learn to spell long words (such as elephant) before they are two years old and learn to read whole sentences before they turn three. An fMRI study of a single child showed that hyperlexia may be the neurological opposite of dyslexia.^[6] Whereas dyslexic children usually have poor word decoding abilities but average or above average reading comprehension skills, hyperlexic children excel at word decoding but often have poor reading comprehension abilities.^[6]

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