Hyperlexia: symptoms, causes and treatment of this syndrome

This syndrome is linked to a precocious ability to read, and appears in both boys and girls.

Hyperlexia is a syndrome with two main characteristicsOn the one hand, it implies that the child has a precocious ability to read, and on the other hand, that he/she presents certain difficulties in understanding and using verbal language, which causes problems in social interactions.

In this article we will analyze the difficulties of this syndrome and its relationship with autism. In addition, we will know its causes, symptoms, and ideas to promote learning in these children.

Hyperlexia: what is it?

Hyperlexia is a syndrome characterized by the fact that the child feels a great fascination with letters, numbers or both. In addition, is added an advanced reading ability for the child's age, compared to children of the same age.compared to children of the same age.

Children with hyperlexia may begin to read words as early as 2 years old.

Comprehension difficulties

Even if a child has hyperlexia and can read much earlier than children of the same age, the fact is that he/she also has some difficulties in understanding what he/she also have some difficulties in understanding what they read, or in using theor to use oral language correctly. This means that these children do not speak in the same way as other children who have learned to read at normative ages.

How do they learn?

But... how do children with hyperlexia learn to read and speak? They do not do it following the usual or considered normal procedure (as other children do), consisting of learning first the sounds, then the words and finally the sentences.

Hyperlexic children, on the other hand, use memory; thus, what they do is to memorize words, phrases, sentences (or even entire conversations) through what they hear or read on a daily basis, whether from adults, the media, advertising, books, television, etc.

Thus, when they are able to create sentences, it is because they have previously learned to memorize and dissect what they have read or heard, and then create their own original expressions.

Symptoms

The typical symptoms of hyperlexia are diverse.. On the one hand, there is an advanced and precocious reading ability for the age of the child (in comparison with other children of the same age), together with a difficulty in understanding and using verbal language.

Another symptom that appears is a very good capacity to memorize, together with the learning of language through it.. In addition, they are children who think very concretely and learn mainly through visual stimuli.

As for the difficulties they present, there are problems in processing what has been said verbally, and in answering questions about "who", "what", "where", "when" and "why". Difficulties also appear in social skills (e.g., initiating or maintaining (e.g., initiating or maintaining conversations, or respecting turns of speech).

Finally, children with hyperlexia also manifest certain insecurities, related to changes in their routine.

Other characteristics of this syndrome

Children with hyperlexia generally have very good visual and auditory memories. This implies that they are able to remember what they see and hear quite easily and very accurately.. In addition, they use this memory to facilitate their language learning.

On the other hand, hyperlexic children may present echolalia (repeating words or phrases they hear from the interlocutor, without understanding what it really means). Echolalia can be immediate (repeating the word or phrase at the moment of hearing it) or delayed (repeating it hours, days or even weeks later).

These alterations or peculiarities in speech can cause communication problems, and make it difficult for them to start sentences or conversations spontaneously.

Other disturbances

In addition, children with hyperlexia may also present other disorders, such as sensory integration dysfunction, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD), motor dyspraxia, seizure disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression, among others.

Causes

The causes of hyperlexia are still unknown. However, it is suspected that the fact that it appears in the context of another developmental disorder (if so), may reflect a different neurological brain organization than the normotypic one..

Relation to autism

It may happen that hyperlexia appears as a symptom within autism. However, we must remember that 75% of children with autism also have an associated intellectual disability (mild, moderate or severe).

In the case that hyperlexia appears together with autismthe aforementioned symptoms will continue to be manifested together with those of autism, and will mainly involve difficulties in socializing, communicating, expressing oneself, etc.

In addition, the symptoms typical of autism will appear, such as ritualistic behaviors, fixation on objects or parts of them, language alterations (e.g. echolalia), restrictive interest patterns, hypo- or hypersensitivities, etc.

Treatment: educational strategies

The treatment of hyperlexia will be focused on solving the child's difficulties in relation to learning and the way he/she relates and communicates..

It will be advisable to enhance their strengths, such as memory, and take advantage of them to create tools and materials that can facilitate their learning. For example, since they are usually children who learn better through the visual system, we can choose to use visual material as a support.

Another technique we can use is to adapt the teaching to their way of learningFor example, since children learn to read by memorizing, we can choose to break down what they read or what they say into shorter phrases or words, and explain to them what it means (or help them discover what it means). Gradually, we will withdraw the aids, so that he can finally generalize the learned procedures and follow his learning in an increasingly autonomous way.

Bibliographical references:

• Martos, J. and Ayuda, R. (2003). Autism and hyperlexia. Revista de neurología, V Curso Internacional de Actualización en Neuropediatría y Neuropsicología Infantil, 36(1): 57.
• Roldán, M.J. (2018). What is hyperlexia and how to detect it. Self-help resources.