Re: Hyperlexia Help Needed

[Guest guest]

Hi ! Talk about twilight zone. I've never heard of hyperlexia, but my

four year old must have had it. She could recite all of her letters and numbers

at age two, but still has very little communicative language. We are just in

week three of our first medication, so it will be interesting to see how this

" obsession " plays out. I know how you feel about connecting with her though.

I've taught her to read some sight words and it really makes her excited. I

feel and her speech therapist agrees that learning to read may make it easier

for her to re-enter our world. Keep me updated! Shona

>

> Wrom: XOEAIJJPHSCRTNHGSWZIDREXCAXZOWCONEUQZAAFXISHJEXXIMQ

> Date: 2002/12/31 Tue AM 10:51:25 EST

>

> Subject: Hyperlexia Help Needed

>

>

[Guest guest]

Brain,

I can not tell you how will help your kids, since I have not

see Dr. Goldberg yet. The only thing I can tell you is my experience

with my son and this so called " hyperlexia " . In all respect, I did

not give any thoughts to " hyperlexia " . If I can turn the time back,

I would do Floortime therapy to help him on social language very

earlier. has Asperger. His sensory issues are appearing at

about three.

When my son was about 13 month, he started to talk, and his first

letter was " B " . I remember said " B " in his sleep. Then " A " . In

about 16 month, I remember he said " C " when he see " COKE " on a coke

machine in side way. When he was 18 month old, he knew all the

letters except 2. one of them is " W " . He would turn it around and

say " M " . When he was 2 years old, He know all the letters, spell

some words such " stop " , " apple " , and the three letter words, he also

count up to 100 in Chinese and English. He loved signs too. We used

to say he is the only child in the world would prefer watch Phonics

video, Raining Day Number Show, Learn to Read and etc. He can read

more than two syllables words at three.

I was not worry about he can read at that age, since he enjoyed it,

It was fine with us. He was as perfect as a child can be. When he

was around three, we moved to California, he lost his good friend;

Milpitas is not best place to raise a kid environmentally with two

garbage dump within three miles. He started to tune out, and choose

not the play with other kids. If I had known better, I would have

started Floortime right then. My point here is that I do not think

my son's problem got anything to do with he reads earlier than other

kids. When your child start kindergarten, you will meet some other

children can read before enter the school too. Many of them are

as " normal " as any child can be.

Did he go directly to read big books, no. He liked science fiction,

and science books. He did not like fiction. When he was in

kindergarten, he told me he did not like reading, so I forced him to

read one Magic Tree House book a day. He did not like Pokemon, after

a little girl who like Pokemon befriend with him, he loves Pokemon.

He did not like Lego, after I signed him on Lego class, he loves

Lego. I forced him to ready Box Car Kids and other age appreciated

books for social skills, according to teachers suggestions. Now he

is in third grade, he said he like two things most in school,

reading and recess. The road will not be strait as you imaged; he is

going to be distracted for whatever reason, you going to have to

redirect him all the time.

Yes, since he was in kindergarten, I have been told by his teacher,

he is a good decoder, not a good reader. His math is not good, and

etc. He had a CAT test at October, I was prepared for all the

excuses if his test results is not good. It turns out, his reading

was 99%, language is 98%, and Math is 97%. Over all he is in 99%. I

call tell you, this is not bad thing at all.

I cannot tell you how lucky I felt that he has good academic basics

earlier on, he feels good about his school work. With all the

therapies, all those extra redirections for him to do his home work,

all those missed instruction because his concentration issue, he

still can do well, is really a blessing. It buys you time to work

out issues; hopefully, we can help him resolve most of them with Dr.

Goldberg's help before he goes into Jr. High.

If your child has problem with speech, work with speech therapist,

if he has social language problem, find a good Floortime therapy

(who helped my son greatly), and sign him up in social language

group. Let him read as much as he wants as long as he enjoys.

Redirect him as you see fit.

By the way, my daughter who is four also started to read this year.

She also started do addition. I can tell you, she is a very typical

child.

Good Luck

Jin

> Another too-long post. Someday I'll learn to be concise...

>

> Hello everyone --

>

> I'm be very interested in hearing from anyone who has experience

with

> a hyperlexic child and how that child's behavior was affected by

the

> protocol. Did the child's interest in letters remain? I'd

be

> grateful if you would post your experiences and/or e-mail me

> privately at Gurwitz@c...

>

> Our son (24 months) has always shown a huge fascination with

> letters. I remember when he about a year old, he was mesmerized

by

> some legal notices posted on the bulletin board at his daycare. He

> can spend lots of time holding up his little magnetic toy letters

for

> us to see, so that we tell him what each of the various letters is

> called. Even at his zoniest worst several months ago, he would

> practically snap his head around when we walked past a sign while

> holding him.

>

> He has little in the way of verbal language (though he is

improving),

> but his best verbal skill is watching while we point to letters or

> write them on his Magna-Doodle, and then making the sound

associated

> with the letter. His enunciation is far from clear, but he can go

> through almost all the letters in the alphabet. It would not

> surprise us at all if he starts to read soon, before we can have

any

> sort of conversation with him.

>

> A few days ago, he started looking under the kitchen chair while

> repeatedly making an " H " sound. We had no idea why he was doing

this

> until my wife said he was looking at the H-shaped shadow on the

> ground made by the chair legs. I didn't believe her, but then I

> asked him " Where's the H? " and he immediately touched the shadow.

> (Touching something in response to a question is significant for

him

> in and of itself, and shows us this is a way to connect with

him.)

> This morning, while reading Hyperlexia information on the Web, I

> nearly fell out of my chair when I read an article that said

> hyperlexic children are so visually/symbolically oriented that

they

> can look at chair legs and see the letter H! Reading that was

almost

> creepy; my own little Twilight Zone moment for the day.

>

> It seems that using letters and words is the best way to get him

to

> learn. For example, his eye contact is still horrible, and we're

> trying hard to get him to look at us when we say, " Look at me. " A

> few nights ago I wrote the phrase out and touched my eyes each

time I

> read it to him. It actually seems like I may have caught on to

> something; he seems more responsive to those words now.

>

> Most of the hyperlexia sites say that parents of non-hyperlexic

kids

> envy a child's early reading ability. They do so until they

realize

> that this is often considered a " Spectrum Disorder " (yuck) and

that

> children with these skills usually have severe language problems.

> One article talked about a 3-year old who was able to clearly read

> from a college-level science book even though he showed almost no

> receptive or (meaningful) expressive language skills at all.

>

> At this point, I just feel grateful that there is something we can

> use to capture his attention and allow us to interact with him

more.

> As Maurice ( " Let Me Hear You Voice " ) once told Marcia

> Hinds, we should use what the kids like to help them learn.

> Nevertheless, I've read some caution against doing anything to

> contribute to the " obsession. " This goes against all of our

> instincts. Obviously, we have no intention of helping him to

> perseverate with letters, but I feel strongly that using the

written

> word will be the best way to help him reenter our world.

>

> Any thoughts from those who have been there would be appreciated.

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

When I asked to read one Magic Tree House book a day, he has

already it before, and I know he would enjoy it. It took him about

20 minutes to read it again. It was also over summer break. The only

purpose was to let know that reading is fun.

If your young children enjoy learning letters, why stop him. There

are more " typical " children can read before entering kindergarten

than you think if you are in a neighborhood full with professionals.

had two classmates read well when enter kindergarten. They

happen to be well rounded people too.

Help him where he is lacking if you are concerned. knows what

he is good at, that makes him feels good about. He is also working

very hard on over overcoming his difficulties too.

It is not bad thing to learn earlier if he enjoyed. It will help him

in long run.

Help this helps.

Jin

> > Another too-long post. Someday I'll learn to be concise...

> >

> > Hello everyone --

> >

> > I'm be very interested in hearing from anyone who has experience

> with

> > a hyperlexic child and how that child's behavior was affected by

> the

> > protocol. Did the child's interest in letters remain? I'd

> be

> > grateful if you would post your experiences and/or e-mail me

> > privately at Gurwitz@c...

> >

> > Our son (24 months) has always shown a huge fascination with

> > letters. I remember when he about a year old, he was mesmerized

> by

> > some legal notices posted on the bulletin board at his daycare.

He

> > can spend lots of time holding up his little magnetic toy

letters

> for

> > us to see, so that we tell him what each of the various letters

is

> > called. Even at his zoniest worst several months ago, he would

> > practically snap his head around when we walked past a sign

while

> > holding him.

> >

> > He has little in the way of verbal language (though he is

> improving),

> > but his best verbal skill is watching while we point to letters

or

> > write them on his Magna-Doodle, and then making the sound

> associated

> > with the letter. His enunciation is far from clear, but he can

go

> > through almost all the letters in the alphabet. It would not

> > surprise us at all if he starts to read soon, before we can have

> any

> > sort of conversation with him.

> >

> > A few days ago, he started looking under the kitchen chair while

> > repeatedly making an " H " sound. We had no idea why he was doing

> this

> > until my wife said he was looking at the H-shaped shadow on the

> > ground made by the chair legs. I didn't believe her, but then I

> > asked him " Where's the H? " and he immediately touched the

shadow.

> > (Touching something in response to a question is significant for

> him

> > in and of itself, and shows us this is a way to connect with

> him.)

> > This morning, while reading Hyperlexia information on the Web, I

> > nearly fell out of my chair when I read an article that said

> > hyperlexic children are so visually/symbolically oriented that

> they

> > can look at chair legs and see the letter H! Reading that was

> almost

> > creepy; my own little Twilight Zone moment for the day.

> >

> > It seems that using letters and words is the best way to get him

> to

> > learn. For example, his eye contact is still horrible, and

we're

> > trying hard to get him to look at us when we say, " Look at me. "

A

> > few nights ago I wrote the phrase out and touched my eyes each

> time I

> > read it to him. It actually seems like I may have caught on to

> > something; he seems more responsive to those words now.

> >

> > Most of the hyperlexia sites say that parents of non-hyperlexic

> kids

> > envy a child's early reading ability. They do so until they

> realize

> > that this is often considered a " Spectrum Disorder " (yuck) and

> that

> > children with these skills usually have severe language

problems.

> > One article talked about a 3-year old who was able to clearly

read

> > from a college-level science book even though he showed almost

no

> > receptive or (meaningful) expressive language skills at all.

> >

> > At this point, I just feel grateful that there is something we

can

> > use to capture his attention and allow us to interact with him

> more.

> > As Maurice ( " Let Me Hear You Voice " ) once told Marcia

> > Hinds, we should use what the kids like to help them learn.

> > Nevertheless, I've read some caution against doing anything to

> > contribute to the " obsession. " This goes against all of our

> > instincts. Obviously, we have no intention of helping him to

> > perseverate with letters, but I feel strongly that using the

> written

> > word will be the best way to help him reenter our world.

> >

> > Any thoughts from those who have been there would be appreciated.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

My son was hyperlexic, too. He still loves to read. He is now in second

grade testing (in reading) at the 6th grade level You are probably aware

that your child may already be able to read some words.

When my child was about 18 months old, we took him to a Dr. appointment and

since he was bored, we let him have a pencil. He wrote " A B C " in very

shaky handwriting. I could scarcely believe it, but there it was in front

of me.

He used to have screaming " fits " and we would try to talk to him about why

he was upset and he would just keep screaming. One day I just couldn't

stand the screaming anymore and I put him in his room. Then I thought " What

do I do now? " . It occurred to me to write him a letter (this was when he

was maybe 3 1/2 or so and could write very well) , so I wrote one (saying

pretty much what I had been trying to tell him verbally). I slid it under

his door, and he read it and immediately stopped crying. Then he wanted to

write me a letter!

From then on, for a long time, when he became upset, he would cry " Write me

a letter! " . We would slide letters back and forth under his door until the

problem was resolved. It was a great relief to both of us!

I believe now that my son couldn't really comprehend what I was saying, but

could understand what he was reading. This ability was a great gift... it

allowed us to communicate at a level beyond what we had been doing.

Reading was how my son began to make sense of the world. I agree with

you... If your child is hungry for words, I would teach them to him so he

can use them. He is trying to use them as a tool to get a grip on things.

If he is going to obsess, he is going to obsess. If you take one thing from

him, he will just obsess on another, or be very frustrated that something

very important to him has been taken. I think that words are a pretty

useful thing to be interested in (many kids obsess on the Tank

Engine, and that isn't nearly as helpful, I think you will agree).

There is a video I'll bet your child would love. It is called " Letter

Sounds " Phonics for Beginners (By Rock 'N Learn). You couldn't pay my other

kids to watch it, but the hyperlexic one LOVED it... begged for it! It

basically shows the letters, and then gives the sound for that letter (to a

rock beat). The ISBN# is 1-87848-978-x.

By the way, my son's older 4th grade brother (NT) just scored the highest

reading score in his whole elementary school. Good readers run in our

family. My guess is that your child was probably going to be a good reader

anyway. He's just using that gift early.

Anyway, I wish your family all the best.

Caroline

[Guest guest]

I think that words are a pretty

useful thing to be interested in (many kids obsess on the Tank

Engine, and that isn't nearly as helpful, I think you will agree).

***Hey all --

I agree that words are one of the most useful things for a kid to be interested

in, and one obsession will just be replaced with another, but, don't despair if

your child is a fanatic!! My son obsessed for a loooong time on

the Tank Engine. I actually found it to be very useful. is a great tool

for teaching social skills, feelings, and later, morals and values. The videos

are easy for kids to process, because they're basically just facial

expressions, slow-paced narration, and simple action. Plus they're TRAINS. )

Although he hasn't given up just yet, my son's interests have finally

expanded to Tonka trucks, tools, dinosaurs, Monsters, Inc., The Lion King...plus

he's teaching himself to spell and read (thank you, hyperlexia <grin>). So do

use whatever your child is interested in to expand his horizons.

Donna

[Guest guest]

Donna,

I'm glad you posted that. After I sent my post I was thinking about what I

had said and I think you are right. These kids use what they can to make

sense of the world. One might NEED letters and another might NEED the

facial expressions, etc. of . Some kids (like yours), may utilize

both things at different times.

I remember my Dad trying to help me with my math in high school, and he kept

turning all of the story problems into airplane problems (he's a pilot). I

couldn't have been more tuned out because (forgive me, engineers) I find

machines downright boring (bless his heart, he really was trying to help!).

Now, if he had used horses or gymnastics (my loves at that time), he might

have gotten somewhere! I was really trying to understand, but thinking

about airplanes was quite sedating to me. Of course, my Dad found them to

be THRILLING!

It all goes back to how unique our kids are from one another.

Caroline

> On 1/2/03 2:16 AM, " Donnaaron " <donnaaron@...> wrote:

> I think that words are a pretty

> useful thing to be interested in (many kids obsess on the Tank

> Engine, and that isn't nearly as helpful, I think you will agree).

>

> ***Hey all --

> I agree that words are one of the most useful things for a kid to be

> interested in, and one obsession will just be replaced with another, but,

> don't despair if your child is a fanatic!! My son obsessed for a

> loooong time on the Tank Engine. I actually found it to be very

> useful. is a great tool for teaching social skills, feelings, and

> later, morals and values. The videos are easy for kids to process,

> because they're basically just facial expressions, slow-paced narration, and

> simple action. Plus they're TRAINS. ) Although he hasn't given up

> just yet, my son's interests have finally expanded to Tonka trucks, tools,

> dinosaurs, Monsters, Inc., The Lion King...plus he's teaching himself to spell

> and read (thank you, hyperlexia <grin>). So do use whatever your child is

> interested in to expand his horizons.

>

> Donna