OOPS! WHEN “” ISN’T AUTISTIC DISORDER HYPERLEXIA AND EINSTEIN SYNDROME

WHAT IS HYPERLEXIA?

Success Stories

Follow Up Survey 2017

• Males: 90 percent • Females: 10 percent • 66 percent were in speech therapy by age three • 45 percent were in occupational therapy by age three • 5 percent had a family history of hyperleixa: parents/extended family • delays, DD and ASD more likely in extended family • 60 percent preferred giving affection and interacting with adults • 30 percent preferred giving affection and interacting with peers Follow Up Survey 2017, cont.

• Formal Evaluation: 80 answered “yes” – 76.25 percent

• Interventions • Speech- language: 80 percent • Occupational therapy: 64 percent • ABA services: 41.3 percent • ESDM: 3.45 percent • Desensitization: 15.52 percent • Medication: 18.52 percent • Physical therapy: 12.86 percent • Nutrition: 33.9 percent Follow Up Survey 2017, cont.

• Highest level education for child: five college degrees

• Highest level of education for parents

• Bachelor’s Degree: 46 • Master’s Degree: 25 • Doctorate (unspecified, M.D., J.D., PhD) :24 Follow Up Survey 2017, cont.

Reading Identificatio Identification Identification signs books Reading with n of letters of numbers of shapes and/or labels and/or magaz comprehension ines 0-5 months 5% 5% 6% 2% 0% 0%

6-12 months 18% 18% 16% 5% 4% 1% 13-23 48% 42% 39% 28% 11% 6% months 2 years 16% 18% 27% 2 years 36% 45% 14%

3 years 4% 6% 4% 16% 20% 3 years 34%

4 years 1% 2% 1% 2% 6% 13%

5 years 0% 0% 0% 1% 2% 8%

6 years 0% 0% 0% 0% 2% 2%

7 years 0% 0% 0% 1% 0% 0%

8+ years 0% 0% 0% 0% 1% 1% Unable to 1% 1% 1% 1% 4% 13% answer No Response 7% 7% 7% 7% 5% 6%

“Dear Darold – I totally agree with your categories of Hyperlexia. I have talked to parents where the child is affectionate and social and has an autism diagnosis.” - A First Person Success Story

• “I am 15 and after all these years of being patronized and convinced to believe I’m something I know in my soul I’m not I can honestly say that type 3 describes me to a T. I know myself more than other people and I know I was never autistic in the first place. The school system treated me like someone who is ‘slow’. • “It was like I found the last piece of the puzzle, like the dots were connected and the mystery was solved” • “Now how do I go about losing the autism diagnosis?”

Appropriate Interventions Hyperlexia 2 or 3 Einstein Syndrome

• The first step in treatment is to make the correct diagnosis

• Speech and language therapy

• ABA or Early Denver Start therapy

• Occupational therapy—desensitization

• Social group involvement

• Using ability to read as a teaching tool

• “When in doubt, write it out” BOTTOM LINE: When you see a child who reads early or speaks late, be very cautious about assigning an diagnosis. RESOURCES http://www.hyperlexia3.com

Hyperlexia III: A Journey with a Hyperlexic 3 Child https://www.facebook.com/groups/54414454685

Hyperlexia Parents Network on Facebook (closed group)