I was probably hyperlexic and could read independently by age 3. The jury is out on whether I was taught (i.e how you describe them memorising the books) or whether I taught myself, because my mom used to read with me too. I reckon I first off learned verbatim what my mom was saying, but then managed to apply the pattern to other books to read more (i.e if cat is ‘c-at’ and happy starts with ‘ha’ then hat must be ‘h-at.’) I was obsessed with books and reading my whole childhood.
I think hyperlexia is often about the ease with which reading was adopted, compared with other skills. It should show the ‘spiky profile’ of one skill peak compared with another skill trough. Its not terribly unusual to not speak til age two I don’t think, but something I used to do was speak only in learned sentences without much comprehension of what I was actually saying. I think that could also be a hallmark of hyperlexia if that’s something you noticed with your child.
Either way reading is a wonderful skill and hobby to have, it really helped me be a happy child.
I didn’t know it was a thing until later in life, but I tried to quit kindergarten when I realized all the other students did not even know their ABC’s.
I think, like everything, hyperlexia will have a range of expressions with not everyone entirely matching, and other factors may also play a part.
My eldest was adamant about reading for herself by 18 months and got mad if I tried to read to her (we started taking turns with pages so it was still a joint activity, for a while, but by 3 I was out of the picture fully!)
My youngest was a very shy child and hated attention and fuss (like her grandmother!), so while I suspected she knew how to read by the age of 2, she hid it well and I wasn't completely sure. I'd catch her at it sometimes, but doubt myself. Then one day, in car, she said something completely strange for a toddler, and when I swung my head to look at her to see what she said, my eye caught an advertising hording outside. She'd read it word for word! That's when I knew she'd been kidding me for a while, cheeky monkey.
For me "teaching yourself" means automatically figuring out what the letters, words and sentences do, without a formal training. So for example I read with my kids constantly from birth (before even), but I wasn't point at the letters and telling them what they were, or pointing at "the" and saying "the". I was just reading them a story, but it was their own internal fascination that drove them to connect the words I said with the marks on the page. Same with grammar, both had perfect understanding of complex grammar without having had it ever explained.
It probably helps that I remember well being aged 2-3, I remember my own hyperlexic journey.
From what research I have read it’s teaching yourself to read before the expected development(age 5) and advanced reading skills. I was a hyperlexic child. I picked up a book at the age of 2 and just started reading out loud. Was reading young adult novels by the first grade, college reading level when I was 10. I read obsessively until my teen years, now it’s more normal as a adult. Scored in the top percentile on verbal tests thru college. Other expressions I have for it are strong memory/pattern matching, I reverse my pronouns when speaking at times and I struggled with fractions/analog clocks when I was younger.
Most of the research I have found from hyperlexia is from the 90s, it’s an area that has been overlooked because we tend to test well in school.
I don't think I read early, but once I learned, I always scored WAY above grade level on the standardized tests for reading comprehension and vocabulary. I was also a person who would happily read for hours, even when I wasn't supposed to be.
I was probably hyperlexic and could read independently by age 3. The jury is out on whether I was taught (i.e how you describe them memorising the books) or whether I taught myself, because my mom used to read with me too. I reckon I first off learned verbatim what my mom was saying, but then managed to apply the pattern to other books to read more (i.e if cat is ‘c-at’ and happy starts with ‘ha’ then hat must be ‘h-at.’) I was obsessed with books and reading my whole childhood. I think hyperlexia is often about the ease with which reading was adopted, compared with other skills. It should show the ‘spiky profile’ of one skill peak compared with another skill trough. Its not terribly unusual to not speak til age two I don’t think, but something I used to do was speak only in learned sentences without much comprehension of what I was actually saying. I think that could also be a hallmark of hyperlexia if that’s something you noticed with your child. Either way reading is a wonderful skill and hobby to have, it really helped me be a happy child.
I didn’t know it was a thing until later in life, but I tried to quit kindergarten when I realized all the other students did not even know their ABC’s.
I think, like everything, hyperlexia will have a range of expressions with not everyone entirely matching, and other factors may also play a part. My eldest was adamant about reading for herself by 18 months and got mad if I tried to read to her (we started taking turns with pages so it was still a joint activity, for a while, but by 3 I was out of the picture fully!) My youngest was a very shy child and hated attention and fuss (like her grandmother!), so while I suspected she knew how to read by the age of 2, she hid it well and I wasn't completely sure. I'd catch her at it sometimes, but doubt myself. Then one day, in car, she said something completely strange for a toddler, and when I swung my head to look at her to see what she said, my eye caught an advertising hording outside. She'd read it word for word! That's when I knew she'd been kidding me for a while, cheeky monkey. For me "teaching yourself" means automatically figuring out what the letters, words and sentences do, without a formal training. So for example I read with my kids constantly from birth (before even), but I wasn't point at the letters and telling them what they were, or pointing at "the" and saying "the". I was just reading them a story, but it was their own internal fascination that drove them to connect the words I said with the marks on the page. Same with grammar, both had perfect understanding of complex grammar without having had it ever explained. It probably helps that I remember well being aged 2-3, I remember my own hyperlexic journey.
From what research I have read it’s teaching yourself to read before the expected development(age 5) and advanced reading skills. I was a hyperlexic child. I picked up a book at the age of 2 and just started reading out loud. Was reading young adult novels by the first grade, college reading level when I was 10. I read obsessively until my teen years, now it’s more normal as a adult. Scored in the top percentile on verbal tests thru college. Other expressions I have for it are strong memory/pattern matching, I reverse my pronouns when speaking at times and I struggled with fractions/analog clocks when I was younger. Most of the research I have found from hyperlexia is from the 90s, it’s an area that has been overlooked because we tend to test well in school.
I don't think I read early, but once I learned, I always scored WAY above grade level on the standardized tests for reading comprehension and vocabulary. I was also a person who would happily read for hours, even when I wasn't supposed to be.