My son will be five in one month and I can't believe the progress he has made this year. Phyllis Kupperman, who is the leading expert on HL, wrote to me and told me about the "language explosion" between the ages of four and five. When my son turned four, he was still only saying two to three word sentences. As the year went on, his speech literally took off. Now he speaks all the time in varying lengths of sentences. As HL3's tend to do, he mixed up his pronouns quite a bit for awhile, but even that is ten times better. And yesterday, he asked his first "why" question, which is huge because the question words are tough for HL's because they are not concrete. #mysonisHL3 #somuchprogress
My son has some transitioning issues and when I read up on HL, I read about how visual schedules can be very beneficial for them because they need to read it to understand it completely. My son understands everything he hears, but he it doesn't always sink in. So the visual schedule helped tremendously when going from a preferred activity to a non-preferred activity.
A Hyperlexic 3 child may have an autistic like trait of avoiding the camera. My Frankie would never smile for the camera. I always had to catch him by surprise, but look at him now! He was enjoying a ball game with my daughter and took a great selfie with her. Frankie has just turned five.
This was Frankie at one years old in Music Class! Later he was diagnosed as non-social! Hyperlexic children may seem non-social when speech problems occur, but they are not non-social children! I wish the professionals would get their facts straight! Dr. Darold Treffert did! Thank you doctor!
Update from Mema (maternal grandmother) on Frankie. Aug 2015
Hi Everyone who is interested in some stories of children getting older with Hyperlexia 3. My grandson Frankie turned 5 this past July 24th. That is still considered young as far as more hyperlexic traits fading but things are getting much better. My only disappointment is he still has to be in a very small class rather than the larger kindergarten class because he has some problems with transitioning. He is ahead of the children in what they have to do but behind in wanting to do what he is told.to.He loves the smart board and can answer the questions and go to the smart board to write the answer down this is when he is most interested in the classroom. He is still wonderful in his reading skills and is comprehending the stories more each day. Last year he would not go on the school bus but is coming home every day in one now without a problem. His vocabulary was always a large one but now his sentences are blooming just like Dr. Darold Treffert believed they would. He understands everything and always did but there are still times that certain words throw him off as far as an answer goes. One of those words are DO. What did you do today and he will answer I was good. But we are working with him on that. All in all in this past year Frankie has made amazing progress with speech. This year I sit and have conversations with him and he calls me Mema when he needs me. If for any reason your 2.3.4. year old hyperlexic 3 child hasn't reached the speech skills yet don't despair. like Frankie it is right around the corner! But don't forget let him read as much as he wants, let him echo if he does. All of that is helping him get to the next step of success. Talk again very soon. Good Luck!
November 2015
More updates on my Frankie a hyperlexia 3 child:
Things are getting better and better each year as Dr. Darold Treffert told me they would when he wrote to me about a year back. He has taken all of his experiences through the years and used them to help parents and grandparents alike to understand more about this very confusing and rare syndrome. Frankie is in kindergarten now and his 1st parent teacher meeting at his school was a very positive one. He is much less resistant to transitioning himself from one subject to another. He is really enjoying the company of his classmates. He is going on the school bus now like there was never anything wrong with it. He is going into larger classes for Social Studies and Science and doing extremely well with both subjects.This year he actually gave Trick or Treating a chance and had a great time. His speech has grown to where conversations with him are going on all the time. We are extremely happy! We want to give our heartfelt thanks to Dr. Treffert and Ms. Kupperman for teaching us how to help Frankie with his amazing skill in self taught reading at such a young age, and how to use it to help him grow in such a way that we now know nothing is impossible in a hyperlexic world.
Jan 2016
Feb 2016 (5.7 years old)
I just came back from a sick visit for Frankie's little brother and I had to post. I can't believe how outgoing and most importantly, talkative Frankie is. He was talking up a storm to this doctor he had never met before. When I told her he was speech delayed and didn't talk in full sentences until he was four, she literally looked shocked. He wouldn't be quiet lol he talked about school and his brother and his favorite shows,all without being prompted. This reminds me why it's so important to spread the word about hyperlexia3. It's a matter of proper diagnosis. It's about helping parents be able to properly help their children. It's not a matter of separating from autism. It's about knowing what your child has and knowing how to help them and what to expect. It's about knowing so we can teach the schools that hyperlexic3 kids shouldn't just be put into the spectrum as ASD. I used to think Frankie would never catch up. I used to worry he would never be able to function on his own. But he is a smart, friendly and talkative kid who is really advanced in so many ways and catching up in the others.
Feb 2016 (5.7 years old)
To say I've had frustration dealing with Frankie's school is an understatement. I never feel that they take his hyperlexia seriously. Everything always goes back to autism when he is clearly not. If it was, then so be it, but it's not and schools have to understand the difference. As a teacher myself, if I was reading an IEP and saw high functioning autism, it would be completely misleading when one, the children considered high functioning differ so dramatically it's like calling lung cancer the same as brain cancer simply because it's cancer. It had to be treated differently. The same goes here. It had to be narrowed down and went fight parents on having a hyperlexia diagnosis when that's clearly what it is. If I hadn't educated myself, thanks to Dr. Treffert and Ms. Kupperman, Frankie would be further behind because of misplacement in his school. I'm tired of having to educate these people about what Frankie has and to be ignored or just pushed aside because they think I am just trying to fight the ASD diagnosis that I was forced to put on his IEP because they refused to acknowledge what he really has. I'm gearing up for his IEP meeting this month for his placement next year. I will keep you all posted.
May 2016
Frustration...and guilt. That's what I felt yesterday when I was screaming at Frankie because he refused to cut his hair. He is turning six in July and he was getting better with it. I even do it myself now, to not have to drag him into a place thinking this would take some of the pressure off of both of us. But for some reason, he screams how he hates the noise of the razor. I try every tactic I can think of. He won't budge. He screams, then I scream. I threaten to take his toys away. I can't stop this frustration and irrationality that comes along with his fears. Frankie never really had sensory issues, although his school would argue that he does have them at times because of his reluctance to go to the gym. But why in that gym and not every other one? I guess I try to look for sense where there isn't any. I don't think I would think into as much either if Frankie was just...typical. I was a nervous wreck as a kid. I had fears I still can't explain. I was afraid of the shoe salesman. Who screams at the show salesman?? But I spoke on time and I didn't read early and therefore, this was something I outgrew.
I find myself thinking about when Frankie was two, before I knew what hyperlexia was, never mind hyperlexia 3. I remember yelling at him after he "refused" to repeat a word he had only just repeated hours before. Or he just wouldn't say hello. I think back to my frustration and talking to him and then yelling at him. And I feel guilt.
I sit with Frankie every night until he falls asleep. I told him I was sorry that I yelled at him. He told me he was sorry he didn't want a haircut. I wanted to cry. Sometimes I get confused when he is just being a stubborn kid or when he really can't help the things he does.
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I just came back from a sick visit for Frankie's little brother and I had to post. I can't believe how outgoing and most importantly, talkative Frankie is. He was talking up a storm to this doctor he had never met before. When I told her he was speech delayed and didn't talk in full sentences until he was four, she literally looked shocked. He wouldn't be quiet lol he talked about school and his brother and his favorite shows,all without being prompted. This reminds me why it's so important to spread the word about hyperlexia3. It's a matter of proper diagnosis. It's about helping parents be able to properly help their children. It's not a matter of separating from autism. It's about knowing what your child has and knowing how to help them and what to expect. It's about knowing so we can teach the schools that hyperlexic3 kids shouldn't just be put into the spectrum as ASD. I used to think Frankie would never catch up. I used to worry he would never be able to function on his own. But he is a smart, friendly and talkative kid who is really advanced in so many ways and catching up in the others.
To say I've had frustration dealing with Frankie's school is an understatement. I never feel that they take his hyperlexia seriously. Everything always goes back to autism when he is clearly not. If it was, then so be it, but it's not and schools have to understand the difference. As a teacher myself, if I was reading an IEP and saw high functioning autism, it would be completely misleading when one, the children considered high functioning differ so dramatically it's like calling lung cancer the same as brain cancer simply because it's cancer. It had to be treated differently. The same goes here. It had to be narrowed down and went fight parents on having a hyperlexia diagnosis when that's clearly what it is. If I hadn't educated myself, thanks to Dr. Treffert and Ms. Kupperman, Frankie would be further behind because of misplacement in his school. I'm tired of having to educate these people about what Frankie has and to be ignored or just pushed aside because they think I am just trying to fight the ASD diagnosis that I was forced to put on his IEP because they refused to acknowledge what he really has. I'm gearing up for his IEP meeting this month for his placement next year. I will keep you all posted.
Published by
· May 18, 2016 ·
Field day started badly for Frankie. He refused to wear the school shirt. How far do you push him is what we keep asking ourselves. We don't want him to get his way but we also want to choose our battles wisely. He gets to the point where he is so frustrated he is screaming and we just don't know how far to push. And once he is twisted, then he goes into talking the opposite. We say the sky is blue, he will say it's green. We say be good and he says he wants to be bad. This may sound like any other stubborn, spoiled, but Frankie has hyperlexia, therefore, he will be scrutinized. And then I feel worn out. Luckily today ended well. He didn't wear the shirt on the field, but he did have a great time. So I remind myself to stop and breathe. I tell Frankie the same thing. And pray
Frankie showing off our new car magnets to spread the word!! The ribbons proved perfect and appropriate because Frankie spotted it immediately and had to have one! Loves his letters! #hl3 #hl3awareness #hyperlexia3awareness #hyperlexia3
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· July 10, 2016 ·
Baseball game today. Frankie was such a good boy. He played with all of the kids, listened to us when we needed him to and loves to have his picture taken. He is such a funny guy.
These pics and videos are from 2019-Jan 2022
2020 during remote class
Age 10
2019
Frankie 9 Years old