OOPS! WHEN “AUTISM” 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 • Language 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 Reading 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.” - Temple Grandin 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 autism spectrum 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)