Hyperlexia in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

We compared the reading-related skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who have hyperlexia (ASD + HPL) with age-matched children with ASD without HPL (ASD - HPL) and with single-word reading-matched typically developing children (TYP). Children with ASD + HPL performed (1) better than did children with ASD - HPL on tasks of single-word reading and pseudoword decoding and (2) equivalently well compared to word-reading-matched TYP children on all reading-related tasks except reading comprehension. It appears that the general underlying model of single-word reading is the same in principle for "typical" and hyperlexic reading. Yet, the study revealed some dissimilarities between these two types of reading when more fine-grained cognitive and linguistic abilities were considered; these dissimilarities warrant further investigations.

A Comprehensive Examination of Reading Heterogeneity in Students with High Functioning Autism: Distinct Reading Profiles and Their Relation to Autism Symptom Severity

“…This subgroup has been frequently reported in prior studies of reading with individuals with ASD (e.g., Brown et al 2013;Jones et al 2009;Nation et al 2006;Newman et al 2007;Huemer and Mann 2010;Wei et al 2015;Zuccarello et al 2015) and shares characteristics with a language subgroup reported by Rapin et al (2009) whose members demonstrated adequate phonology and vocabulary alongside linguistic comprehension deficits. Grigorenko et al (2003) noted disagreement in the literature as to whether hyperlexia is synonymous with a reading comprehension disorder, or whether it is a unique condition characterized by an almost obsessive interest in letters and words, precocious and unprompted emergence of word decoding, and an extreme degree of discrepancy between word recognition and other cognitive skills that emerges between 3 and 5 years of age (Healy 1982).…”

“…Individuals in this profile demonstrated strong phonological awareness, decoding, and word reading skills; it is possible that some of the children in this group may have been considered hyperlexic earlier in their development. We do not have data depicting the sample's early reading development prior to age 8, but even if some of the children demonstrated a precocious and circumscribed interest in word reading and decoding when very young, they are now functioning in the average range, similar to findings reported by Newman et al (2007).…”

“…Similar to the subtypes described by Catts et al (2003) with a typically developing reading sample, many samples with ASD have displayed profiles comparable to poor comprehenders, or hyperlexics, who demonstrate adequate word decoding alongside poor language and reading comprehension (e.g. Brown et al 2013;Jones et al 2009;Nation et al 2006;Newman et al 2007;Huemer and Mann 2010;Wei et al 2015;Zuccarello et al 2015).…”

Aeschylus : Prometheus Bound

“…These are all deficits in the sociality of language, and they also include the pragmatics of subtle social meaning (Rapin and Dunn 2003). By contrast, literal verbal processing and memory -the mechanical syntax and phonology of language, are relatively preserved, or even enhanced in such skills as hyperlexic reading (Newman et al 2007). …”

Autism and Related Disorders

“…Like the broader syndrome of ASD, savant skills have been theoretically linked to decreased long range connectivity and enhanced local connectivity (Hughes, 2010). Many individuals with autism display outstanding facility in decoding letters and numbers, or hyperlexia (Newman et al 2006). In Asperger's disorder, overt verbal skills are preserved, though communication, especially the social facets, is often affected.…”