Guest guest Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 > --- Dana, > This really has my mind very boggled. my so who is a HFA has > difficulty when givin oral instructions at home and at school. Most > everythig has to have a visual in order for him to undertand. My son had this problem also, altho he started out very low functioning. Anti-fungals, anti-virals, and B12 were especially helpful. There was a time, for both #2 and #3, when they could not answer the question " what is your name " orally, but they could write the answer. I have a lot of examples of hyperlexia issues for my two most-affected kids. Their language development at those times was at the age of 12-24 months or so, but they were much older chronologically than a child given a hyperlexia dx. >>He was > a late diagnosis (last year and he is 7). He is a very strong reader, > can write. He is an amazing speller....but his comprrehension is low. > He takes books on a reg. occasion and writes them into whatever > notebook he can get his hands on. He does this word for word, and on a > very rare occasion draws the pictures to match. He will also write them > in to my computer ( this part happens everyday. I think that he does > it in order to understand the book. This is exactly like both my #2 and #3. B12 was VERY instrumental in moving this process along. So were the anti-virals and anti-fungals. I did not focus so much on the possible dx, but I focused more on the exact issues and what it might take to keep the intelligence and correct the issues. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Tammy, I don't read/post much to this group but I wanted to reassure you about the hyperlexia because it caught my eye while I was sifting through emails. My son is currently 14 and suffered with global dyspraxia which is getting better with the removal of metals, tons of therapy, etc. My son did not read any earlier then most kids but when he did..... BAM! He took off and could read, decode words at an alarming rate. He was reading books very quickly and could flip through pages and pages, absorbing information and literally devour books. Books that take other kids weeks to finish.... my son can read in a day or two. Keeping him in books is a real challenge though! He was considered hyperlexic because it was felt that while he could decode material, he was not comprending material. When he was 11, I took him to NACD (www.nacd.org) who evaluated his auditory sequential processing (short term memory) to be that of a 5 year old. We did a lot of work to normalize this and when we brought it up to normal, his hyperlexia was considered resolved by the school system (they indicated that he 'grew' out of it!) and that he was now considered a gifted reader. At the end of grade 6, after we had normalized his auditory processing, my boy tested out in reading and reading comprehension at the college level! That is the last time he has been tested and was promptly dismissed from the special education setting he was in and has been successfully mainstreamed ever since. Auditory processing relates to reading comprehension in the way that when we read, we use our eyes visually but we speak the words inside of our head to make sense of the material. When you catch the auditory processing up to the visual processing, the hyperlexia component dissipates and is eliminated. Why are our kids hyperlexic? Well, it has to do with hyper-periferal vision and the way the eyes are able to catch the 'edge' of the word and thus the child is able to read and decode much faster then us regular people. My son can read upside down, sideways, etc. with ease. If you give him a long word to spell backwards, he can just close his eyes, visualizes the word in his read and literally read it backwards to you from his mind's eye. While this hyper-periferal vision impedes his visual motor function in many ways, it does have it's odd gifts! People 'said' that my son was not comprehending the material that he was reading when he was little. But I don't believe them for when we discuss some of those old books today, he can describe them perfectly and can tell you exactly what the book was about and why he liked it. Why do we take every gift that our children have and turn it into a deficit? The true deficit was in the area of auditory sequential processing but the hyperlexia itself, turned into a HUGE gift for my son. It was something he could hang his hat on in life and be proud of. ......and while his lousy ears were creating delays in his life, his ability to read both fiction and non-fiction served him well..... allowing him to develop a core knowledge base of understanding our world that his ears would not allow him to access. So...... give your son a TON of books, lots of variety and allow him to develop interests and pursuits. Work on the auditory sequential processing and get some help in this arena. Find out where his ears are at, normalize them and you will see significant progress in all areas of life. It is hard work but well worth it. Oh..... and when they tell you he grew out of hyperlexia, smile and nod..... but don't believe them! Janice Mother of Mark, 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 When he was 11, I took him to NACD (www.nacd.org) who evaluated his auditory sequential processing (short term memory) to be that of a 5 year old. We did a lot of work to normalize this and when we brought it up to normal... How did you do this? Is there a program? Exercises? TIA for any info you're willing to share. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 ----- Original Message ----- From: Janice ===>Just a few points as I know Janice from another board and find she is not only a great Mom, but an expert on NACD. I only know what I have heard about NACD as we did no outside therapies, only chelation. We did no therapies because ours detested/protested/refused any form of therapy. We did do outside activity classes such as gymnastics, swimming, piano, ballet, etc. NACD has some valid therapies and I like their parent/therapy approach vs the ABA/RDI professional therapy approach, but it is a big committment. It would work out best for someone whose child was young and/or homeschools. It would be difficult to do NACD and appropriately chelate with the low/frequent dose protocol, along with Biomed. NACD has a primarily antichelation stance, although that would not stop you from doing it. Although it's always best not to put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how good that basket might be, prioritizing sometimes becomes necessary. Tammy, I don't read/post much to this group but I wanted to reassure you about the hyperlexia because it caught my eye while I was sifting through emails. My son is currently 14 and suffered with global dyspraxia which is getting better with the removal of metals, tons of therapy, etc. My son did not read any earlier then most kids but when he did..... BAM! He took off and could read, decode words at an alarming rate. He was reading books very quickly and could flip through pages and pages, absorbing information and literally devour books. Books that take other kids weeks to finish.... my son can read in a day or two. Keeping him in books is a real challenge though! He was considered hyperlexic because it was felt that while he could decode material, he was not comprending material. When he was 11, I took him to NACD (www.nacd.org) who evaluated his auditory sequential processing (short term memory) to be that of a 5 year old. We did a lot of work to normalize this and when we brought it up to normal, his hyperlexia was considered resolved by the school system (they indicated that he 'grew' out of it!) and that he was now considered a gifted reader. At the end of grade 6, after we had normalized his auditory processing, my boy tested out in reading and reading comprehension at the college level! That is the last time he has been tested and was promptly dismissed from the special education setting he was in and has been successfully mainstreamed ever since. Auditory processing relates to reading comprehension in the way that when we read, we use our eyes visually but we speak the words inside of our head to make sense of the material. When you catch the auditory processing up to the visual processing, the hyperlexia component dissipates and is eliminated. Why are our kids hyperlexic? Well, it has to do with hyper-periferal vision and the way the eyes are able to catch the 'edge' of the word and thus the child is able to read and decode much faster then us regular people. My son can read upside down, sideways, etc. with ease. If you give him a long word to spell backwards, he can just close his eyes, visualizes the word in his read and literally read it backwards to you from his mind's eye. While this hyper-periferal vision impedes his visual motor function in many ways, it does have it's odd gifts! People 'said' that my son was not comprehending the material that he was reading when he was little. But I don't believe them for when we discuss some of those old books today, he can describe them perfectly and can tell you exactly what the book was about and why he liked it. Why do we take every gift that our children have and turn it into a deficit? The true deficit was in the area of auditory sequential processing but the hyperlexia itself, turned into a HUGE gift for my son. It was something he could hang his hat on in life and be proud of. ......and while his lousy ears were creating delays in his life, his ability to read both fiction and non-fiction served him well..... allowing him to develop a core knowledge base of understanding our world that his ears would not allow him to access. So...... give your son a TON of books, lots of variety and allow him to develop interests and pursuits. Work on the auditory sequential processing and get some help in this arena. Find out where his ears are at, normalize them and you will see significant progress in all areas of life. It is hard work but well worth it. Oh..... and when they tell you he grew out of hyperlexia, smile and nod..... but don't believe them! Janice Mother of Mark, 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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