By - Charlotte Miller
The language, learning, and behavior characteristics a young hyperlexic child has
are often very distinctive. The precocious, self-taught reading at a young age, or
fascination with letters, numbers, and patterns, along with the language-learning and
communication difficulties, are unlikely to be missed by parents and others who have a
young hyperlexic child in their lives.
By the age of six many of the language difficulties that are so noticeable in
younger hyperlexic children are much less obvious. Primary or grade school hyperlexic
children are often highly verbal, and are able to converse for lengthy periods of time on
subjects that are usually beyond the interests of most children their age. Remarkable and
intense interests in computers, mathematics, science, or other subjects, along with extensive
vocabularies and remarkable amounts of memorized facts on their subjects of interest,
often bring these children to the attention of educators and others as having the typical
characteristics of giftedness. Often the language difficulties and learning differences of
these children are forgotten or given little heed in light of the remarkable abilities they
exhibit.
Although older hyperlexic children are often quite gifted academically, the
hyperlexic learning style is at times at odds with the presentation of materials in the
classroom. Hyperlexic children are highly visual learners, often processing much more
effectively materials presented to them in visual formats. Visual methods of organizing
materials or note taking, such as the use of Mind Maps or Word Webs, which allow the
child to organize materials spatially instead of linearly, and the use of Story Maps for
teaching reading comprehension, are often highly effective for the older hyperlexic child.
Social skills may at times be an area of difficulty for older hyperlexic children.
The intensive language demands of social situations, along with difficulty understanding
more verbal forms of humor, and an often more concrete understanding of language,
sometimes lead to difficulties for these children. Attention should be focused within the
language therapy setting toward assisting these children with social skills goals, as their
difficulties in this area are due to the language and learning difference of hyperlexia. Small
groups of children under the direction of a speech and language pathologist are the ideal
setting for assisting hyperlexic children with social skills.
Hyperlexic children are intelligent, often highly-gifted individuals. They have an
intense curiosity and interest in learning. Older hyperlexic children may often be highly
verbal and obviously academically gifted. These gifts at times may be so obvious that little
attention is paid to the language difficulties of hyperlexia, or to the very nature of the
hyperlexic learning style. Only through an understanding of these language difficulties,
and the visual and gestalt processing style of these children, can we help them to maximize
their potential.
This Web Site was created by Charlotte Miller. I welcome your comments and feedback. Please write to me at
Hyperlexia@GeoCities.com