Hyperlexia in Children: Early Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatments

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Increase Talking &
Decrease Tantrums

in Young Children with

Autism &/or Speech Delays

My book, Turn Autism Around, and this podcast, focus on helping parents identify and turn around early signs of Autism. Hyperlexia is a hyper-fixation and focus on letters, words, and sometimes early reading. Often parents mistake this hyperfocus as giftedness and high intellectual ability, but if paired with low language skills, Hyperlexia is often a sign of intellectual disability and Autism.

My First Experience with Hyperlexia

My son, Lucas, was very hyper-focused on letters but did not have the language skills that matched. Alternatively, I worked with an older child, Nick, who was in 6th grade at the time. My first meeting with him I observed him reading a passage with precision. However, he crucially lacked understanding and comprehension of the words he was reading. Even though he could read very well, his VB-MAPP score was still at a level two or three, meaning his language was as a sixth grader, at the skill level of a three or four year old. This increased skill with words and letters led to being able to read, but the receptive language was way below where it should be for a child his age.

Diagnosing Hyperlexia

According to Web MD, 84% of children who have Hyperlexia, have Autism Spectrum Disorder. Of the total children who have Autism, only six to 14% have Hyperlexia. So it’s not super common, but it is still a trait to be aware of. If you notice these hyperfixation on letters or words, in an obsessive way, and they aren’t functionally talking; it’s important to pull back on teaching and exposing these things to your toddler and preschooler. A child with Hyperlexia is more likely to get a diagnosis of Autism, not less.

Working with Kids with Hyperlexia

You can use the focus on the letters and other signs that come with Hyperlexia to your advantage when working with other behaviors. For example, I worked with a two-year-old, who only ate gluten-free crackers and almond milk out of a bottle all day. We used seeing the letter and holding letter puzzle pieces as reinforcers for bites of different foods and were able to change this behavior. This strategy can be used with many different behaviors you want to change, like aversion to getting ears checked or refusal of haircuts. However, you don’t want to only expose these children to letter puzzles. Exposure to animal puzzles and the shoe box program are staples of development with these children.

In general, I would not focus on pre-academics with toddlers and preschoolers. This includes numbers, letters, words, colors, etc. If they are reading, only focus on it if they’re at least four years old, and be sure to put the focus on comprehension. Be sure that they can answer questions and understand. The key is to learn what to teach and in what order. Resources and information on this can be found in my new book Turn Autism Around. The first few chapters lay out how we can use Hyperlexia to increase articulation and improve behaviors like eating.

Your next steps for working with a child with Hyperlexia can be found in my book, in my toddler courses, and several of my video blogs!

You’ll Learn

What is Hyperlexia?
Hyperlexia as an early sign of Autism.
How to work with children with Hyperlexia.
The importance of comprehension for children with Hyperlexia.
Where to find resources for working with children with Hyperlexia.

Resources