Hyperlexia in Children – Its causes and symptoms

Do your child love reading?

Does he/she read exceptionally well at an early age without age-appropriate speech and language speech?

This could be a sign of an autism-like syndrome, called Hyperlexia, especially when the child has delayed speaking abilities.

What is Hyperlexia?

According to the special educators of Child Care Covina, CA, Hyperlexia is the presence of advanced reading skills in very little children. It is unexpected and precocious reading abilities in little children at a very young age. This is actually a learning disability and children with this syndrome also have a significant difficulty understanding and using normal verbal language like other children. They may also encounter difficulties in socializing with others.

Types of Hyperlexia:

There are three types of Hyperlexia.

Hyperlexia 1: This is a rare type of Hyperlexia and is mostly diagnosed when ordinary children can read at a very early age. In such cases, a kindergarten student may develop the ability to read a seventh or eighth-grade level book.

Hyperlexia 2: When some children on the autistic spectrum are hyperlexic, it is categorized into Hyperlexia 2. Most of the time these children are seen obsessed with numbers and letters. They may show some other symptoms of autism, such as avoidance of eye-contact, isolation, being adverse in receiving or giving attention, and may also be sensitive to any other forms of sensory overload.

Hyperlexia 3: Children with Hyperlexia 3 also read quite well at an early age but for a short period. Caregivers of Child care Covina CA have observed that these children are likely to show autistic symptoms which usually fade away with time.

Causes of Hyperlexia:

Though there are no concrete reasons for hyperlexia in children, experts think that the reasons for hyperlexia at a very young age is the result of deliberate or obsessive reading practices. For example,

·       Becoming attached to certain books or alphabets and reading them, again and again, every day may cause Hyperlexia in children.

·       Becoming a very compulsive reader at the expense of other forms of communication.

·       Developing an obsessive attraction towards numbers and letters.

·       Reading every bit of print they see around them (in books, manuals, signs, and notices).

Signs of Hyperlexia:

Caregivers of Child care Covina CA have noticed certain other symptoms of Hyperlexia in children. They are as follows:

·       Difficulty in responding to ‘wh-question’ like ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘why’, ‘where’, etc.

·       Great interest in maps, letters, numbers, or other visual patterns.

·       Can remember sentence structure or sentences, without knowing the meaning of those sentences.

·       Irrelevantreiteration of words spoken by a person nearby.

·       Experience difficulty in mingling with others.

·       An extreme need for uniformity and to keep routines or ritualistic behaviors.

·       Selective listening skills, and may reach a point that they seem deaf to many people.

·       Self-stimulatory behavior such as rocking, jumping up-down, hand clapping, or flapping.

·       A normal development or growth until around 18 to 24 months, then a regression.

Despite having certain learning disabilities, children with Hyperlexia are often intelligent and academically gifted. Parents and teachers need to be extra careful and develop appropriate strategies to support Hyperlexic children so that they also have a healthy development.