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

December 13, 2010

Hi :My son (8) is also hyperlexic. It's kind of a double-edged sword. People will say "Oh how great, your five-year-old is reading the Harry Potter books!" But of course it's not that simple. Having a hyperlexic child doesn't mean you can just sit back and let him read anything he wants, and it doesn't mean he's going to breeze through school either. It sounds like you are already aware of that, so you are ahead of the game!What I have found is that we have to be diligent about what reads, because even though he can read at a high-school level, he is not socially or emotionally ready for all of the subject material at that level. Some comprehension problems can come from his psychological unreadiness for the material he is reading. For example, he is not psychologically ready to read about the Vietnam war even though he is "able" to, so he is certainly not capable of truly comprehending what he is reading. We found that if he read things he was not psychologically ready for, he would very upset and his anxiety skyrocketed, resulting in a lot of mood swings and unhappiness both at home and at school. So at home and at school all of his reading material is carefully evaluated for appropriateness.However, also did have a lag period where he was reading more than he was comprehending, even when his reading material was age-appropriate. He could zip through a book in no time, but not really "get" the story or the topic. We spent a lot of time (still do) reading WITH him, talking about what he was reading, etc. Often I would interrupt his reading session and just

ask "Hey, what are you reading about?" That used to result in a blank stare and he would tell me the book title, so we'd start a dialog about the story. I would also ask him to read aloud to me and ask questions like "Why did he do that?" so he would have to stop and think about what he was reading.Over time began to read more slowly, giving himself time to think and absorb what he was reading. Now if he comes across a word he doesn't understand, he doesn't just read it and move on, he will ask what it means. My best advice to you would be to stay very involved in your little guy's reading and trust your instincts if you think things aren't quite right. I believe that hyperlexia can be embraced and turned into a positive thing, but it requires parental guidance until the child is old enough to manage it him/herself. I also found this website to be helpful:http://www.hyperlexia.net/Stay positive and know that you are doing a great job!PattiFrom: melody_autumn06 <melodyh2006@...> Sent: Mon, December 13, 2010 1:43:59 AMSubject: ( ) Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how to address?

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,

December 13, 2010

Hi Patti -

I read your reply to 's question about hyperlexia with great interest,

because my 3 year old is also hyperlexic. I could not open the link that you

sent to the website - are there any other resources online that you have found

to be useful?

Thanks,

Bridget

>

> Hi :

>

> My son (8) is also hyperlexic. It's kind of a double-edged sword. People

will

> say " Oh how great, your five-year-old is reading the Harry Potter books! " But

> of course it's not that simple. Having a hyperlexic child doesn't mean you

can

> just sit back and let him read anything he wants, and it doesn't mean he's

going

> to breeze through school either. It sounds like you are already aware of

that,

> so you are ahead of the game!

>

> What I have found is that we have to be diligent about what reads,

> because even though he can read at a high-school level, he is not socially or

> emotionally ready for all of the subject material at that level. Some

> comprehension problems can come from his psychological unreadiness for the

> material he is reading. For example, he is not psychologically ready to read

> about the Vietnam war even though he is " able " to, so he is certainly not

> capable of truly comprehending what he is reading. We found that if he read

> things he was not psychologically ready for, he would very upset and his

anxiety

> skyrocketed, resulting in a lot of mood swings and unhappiness both at home

and

> at school. So at home and at school all of his reading material is carefully

> evaluated for appropriateness.

>

> However, also did have a lag period where he was reading more than he

> was comprehending, even when his reading material was age-appropriate. He

could

> zip through a book in no time, but not really " get " the story or the topic.

We

> spent a lot of time (still do) reading WITH him, talking about what he was

> reading, etc. Often I would interrupt his reading session and just ask " Hey,

> what are you reading about? " That used to result in a blank stare and he

would

> tell me the book title, so we'd start a dialog about the story. I would also

> ask him to read aloud to me and ask questions like " Why did he do that? " so he

> would have to stop and think about what he was reading.

>

> Over time began to read more slowly, giving himself time to think and

> absorb what he was reading. Now if he comes across a word he doesn't

> understand, he doesn't just read it and move on, he will ask what it means.

>

> My best advice to you would be to stay very involved in your little guy's

> reading and trust your instincts if you think things aren't quite right. I

> believe that hyperlexia can be embraced and turned into a positive thing, but

it

> requires parental guidance until the child is old enough to manage it

> him/herself.

>

> I also found this website to be helpful:

> http://www.hyperlexia.net/

>

> Stay positive and know that you are doing a great job!

>

> Patti

>

> ________________________________

> From: melody_autumn06 <melodyh2006@...>

>

> Sent: Mon, December 13, 2010 1:43:59 AM

> Subject: ( ) Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how

> to address?

>

> 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,

>

December 13, 2010

Hi Bridget:I have found these websites to be the most helpful:www.hyperlexia.orgwww.hyperlexia.netThe SLP at 's school has worked a lot with hyperlexic children. She taught us to treat it as a gift that he's not quite ready to control on his own. PattiFrom: bridget

<beanniferj@...> Sent: Mon, December 13, 2010 1:52:18 PMSubject: Re: ( ) Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how to address?

Hi Patti -

I read your reply to 's question about hyperlexia with great interest, because my 3 year old is also hyperlexic. I could not open the link that you sent to the website - are there any other resources online that you have found to be useful?

Thanks,

Bridget

>

> Hi :

>

> My son (8) is also hyperlexic. It's kind of a double-edged sword. People will

> say "Oh how great, your five-year-old is reading the Harry Potter books!" But

> of course it's not that simple. Having a hyperlexic child doesn't mean you can

> just sit back and let him read anything he wants, and it doesn't mean he's going

> to breeze through school either. It sounds like you are already aware of that,

> so you are ahead of the game!

>

> What I have found is that we have to be diligent about what reads,

> because even though he can read at a high-school level, he is not socially or

> emotionally ready for all of the subject material at that level. Some

> comprehension problems can come from his psychological unreadiness for the

> material he is reading. For example, he is not psychologically ready to read

> about the Vietnam war even though he is "able" to, so he is certainly not

> capable of truly comprehending what he is reading. We found that if he read

> things he was not psychologically ready for, he would very upset and his anxiety

> skyrocketed, resulting in a lot of mood swings and unhappiness both at home and

> at school. So at home and at school all of his reading material is carefully

> evaluated for appropriateness.

>

> However, also did have a lag period where he was reading more than he

> was comprehending, even when his reading material was age-appropriate. He could

> zip through a book in no time, but not really "get" the story or the topic. We

> spent a lot of time (still do) reading WITH him, talking about what he was

> reading, etc. Often I would interrupt his reading session and just ask "Hey,

> what are you reading about?" That used to result in a blank stare and he would

> tell me the book title, so we'd start a dialog about the story. I would also

> ask him to read aloud to me and ask questions like "Why did he do that?" so he

> would have to stop and think about what he was reading.

>

> Over time began to read more slowly, giving himself time to think and

> absorb what he was reading. Now if he comes across a word he doesn't

> understand, he doesn't just read it and move on, he will ask what it means.

>

> My best advice to you would be to stay very involved in your little guy's

> reading and trust your instincts if you think things aren't quite right. I

> believe that hyperlexia can be embraced and turned into a positive thing, but it

> requires parental guidance until the child is old enough to manage it

> him/herself.

>

> I also found this website to be helpful:

> http://www.hyperlexia.net/

>

> Stay positive and know that you are doing a great job!

>

> Patti

>

> ________________________________

> From: melody_autumn06 <melodyh2006@...>

>

> Sent: Mon, December 13, 2010 1:43:59 AM

> Subject: ( ) Hyperlexic kids: what problems do you see and how

> to address?

>

> 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,

>

December 14, 2010

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 bogged 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,

>

December 14, 2010

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

December 16, 2010

Thank you to all on your incredibly useful and helpful feedback. It's giving me

a better understanding of hyperlexia and also ways to address the comprehension

issues.

I am wondering, have any of you done any programs (i.e. mood Bell, etc) to

help increase comprehension? Or is there anything else out there that may help,

in addition to working one on one with your child to promote the comprehension?