Re: Re: Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how to address?

[Guest guest]

Inez:I have to chuckle at your rules because we have the same rules as your first two. doesn't get car sickness, though, so we're okay there. He carries a headlamp with him everywhere in case he needs to read in the dark. We also had to set a firm lights-out time, otherwise he would read all night. has the option of going to bed at his usual time and reading for half an hour, or going to bed half an hour earlier and reading for an hour. Another rule we have is no carrying more than two books at a time. The second book is in case he finishes the first book when we are not at home. Without the two-book rule, he would carry half a library in his backpack out of fear of running out of reading material.PattiFrom: inezyv <inezyv@...> Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 8:37:36 PMSubject: ( ) Re: Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how to address?

We have a few firm rules that evolved over time, easier to set them early before these practices become habits! BTDT.

No reading while crossing parking lots or streets. No reading at the dinner table, no reading while the car is in motion (causes carsickness).

I'm reading the responses to this thread with interest, since those are our only firm rules.

Inez

[Guest guest]

My ds would "pull" anywhere, not just at school. We got used to standing by the emergency exit waiting for the manager so I could explain and apologize.

Roxanna

"I

predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them." - Jefferson

( ) Re: Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how to address?

My son is hyperlexic. He read at age 2. His ability to read words is much better than his ability to understand what he's read. He comprehends things like instructions or that have to do with inanimate objects but because stories require some ability to understand people he has trouble comprehending what characters are doing or what they might do.

also has vision problems that I think all spectrum kids should be checked for. Tracking and convergence are both problems for him. He is much better now that he has had vision therapy. His ability to track (move his eyes to follow an object or to read lots of small print on a page and still find the beginning of the next line) has improved immensely. He got stuck on Curious in 4th grade and didn't really get out of that until 6th grade when we went to an optometrist skilled in eye movement and eye teaming issues. If you need help with finding someone, let me know. now reads books appropriate to his age. He read the whole Percy and the Olympians series (lightening thief, etc.) in a few weeks last year. He's reading a series called Pendragon right now. The print is super small and there are no pictures. Suddenly, it was like switching on a lightbulb, he could read anything put in front of him. His comprehension improved partly because he wasn't bogge

d down in finding the next line or reading the same line over and over. He still doesn't always get the motivations of characters, however.

One of the best thing about 's hyperlexia is that he seems to remember things he sees in print extremely well. We used social stories with words from when he was about 3.5 years old. He loved seeing words and seeing his name typed on paper. He also took written words as being ordering him to do things. This wasn't great when he saw a fire alarm with the word PULL on it. Yes, he did pull it. Fortunately, he was in an early childhood program that was for kids with disabilities. They understood.

Miriam

>

> Does anyone have a hyperlexic child and discovered that there are issues with reading comprehension and academic problems (or any other related problem)? What did/do you do to address these issues?

>

> My son is 4 1/2 and is hyperlexic. Although he can read at the level of lower elementary school kids, comprehension is a problem.

>

> I heard from some people that hyperlexic kids may start to have academic problems (which then affects other areas, such as self esteem, start to dislike/hate school, etc) around the 3rd or 4th grade and it's scaring me. Anyways, I want to avoid or minimize these potential problems and am asking for your insight and experience on what you did to address the problems.

>

>

>

> Thank you,

>

>