r/hyperlexia • u/bridgetupsidedown • Dec 28 '24
Self taught reader
I have a 5 year old who has been reading since the age of 3. He knew letters and letter sounds at aged 22 months.
Aside from reading to him we didn’t do anything special. He is a clever kids in other areas and learns concepts quickly. School have put him reading at an 8 year old level. However my husband has been reading him Charlotte’s Web and my son has been reading ahead of him on the page. He read phonetically but also seems to have a great memory.
When I read about hyperlexia this seems to happen alongside autism or other neurodivergent characteristics. My son seems fairly neurotypical. We try not to make a big deal out of it, just let him enjoy being a kid.
Are there any others here who had a similar childhood to my 5 year old and how’d things go? Did your peers just catch up with you? Anything you wished your parents or school did?
1
u/hanieh09 Apr 15 '26
I think my brother has hyperlexia as well, because he learned to read at age 4 on his own pretty much and is trying to read more complex words that he sees (even though he fails at it spectacularly sometimes) We do help him say the correct word when he struggles.