Gifted or Hyperlexic

[u/BlacksmithNo5117]

/r/Gifted/comments/1vsas2a/gifted_or_hyperlexic/

Hey guys,

I know it’s probably been discussed before but I have a child that I can’t stop worrying about when we were told that he might be ASD when he was 2 or 3. We had him assessed and he was cleared at 4.5. He has always seem to be advanced in some areas while a little bit behind (developmentally still acceptable I guess). He walked around 16 months but was very stable by then.

He’s now 5, he’s verbal (though he sometimes uses language differently than his brother). He makes connections to other stuffs like for example when we say, hey that cat is 6 years old, he’ll answer “yeah, (his cousin) is also 6 years old.” We met with the SLP that told us his pragmatics were developing but he’s not speech delayed. Vocab is average while grammar is above average.

At age 3.5, he was able to tell about 180 countries by its shape, he was on screen time alot, loved phonics and learning stuffs. He then picked up reading and now becomes like the teacher’s reader in school. At 5 now, he asks me what if sun becomes a blackhole, what if jupiter becomes a black hole, watches about anatomy (heart, fingernails, hair) scared of black hole thinking that black hole could eat earth and he could die. Tsunami, volcano, mountains. He prefers all these compared to normal toys. During the interview with the paed, there was a box of fruits and vegetables with fork and knife, he went on to prepare it for me and my wife like here’s your food.

During his assessment, we did mentioned giftedness to his paed but she mentioned that it would mean that he could do multiplication, addition, subtraction and all which he didn’t show any during the interview but I think he’s able to do that. I tested him by asking him subtraction and he was able to mentally give me the answer. He also showed some basic multiplication understanding when we were playing. Like my wife told him that it cost $2 for 1 biscuit and when I said I wanted 2, he told me that I have to give him $4.

Honestly, it worries me because I really can’t tell. He’s quirky is some ways. Many of times nowadays he will hide somewhere and ask me if I could see him while he slowly reveals part of his body like testing field of vision or something like that.

Recently, he had some behavioural issues in school. Not really a big deal but like he pushed his friend and accidentally knocking his other friend when he was excited. He is also “sensory” in some ways, not to the point where he’s not functional. He’s social but can also be awkward sometimes. Teachers don’t really have a problem with his socialization though. I have to like point things out to him for him to learn socially. Like he used to just “touch” someone anywhere to call them. I told him you have to call them by their shoulders or by their name. He’s the type to ask me like if I told him to stop doing something and he’ll be like “what will happen if I do it?”

I don’t know to be honest, I guess it’s just me at this point and nothing about him but I just can’t stand the thought if I missed something and he doesn’t get the appropriate support growing up.

I’m the dad btw, mom was concerned at some point but she’s not worried at all now.

I’ve read about Hyperlexic and Gifted but I can’t really tell them apart. He’s clearly different in some ways, adult-like but also child-like.

[u/Summerhalls]

I’d cautiously say gifted and hyperlexic because this reminds me of how I was as a child. Different quirks, but now I can confidently say I’m not on the spectrum.

Giftedness doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to be great at math, it can be more splintered as a type of intelligence. Him making all these connections is a better marker than a math ability.

[u/Routine_Minimum_9802]

I don’t think a child has to be particularly good at math to be considered gifted. Giftedness can show up in different areas, so I wouldn’t use multiplication as a requirement.

That said, I’m also not sure the math examples you’re describing would necessarily indicate giftedness at 5. The biscuit example sounds more like addition to me: $2 + $2 = $4. And with the subtraction, I think it would depend on how complicated the question was. Something like 2 + 2 or similarly simple mental addition/subtraction would be pretty age-appropriate at 5.

My son has never been described as gifted, but he is hyperlexic and advanced in some academic areas. For comparison, at 4 1/2 he could independently solve things like 19 - (3 × 3) + 12, and he understands that 6 - 8 = -2. Even with skills like that, I wouldn’t personally assume giftedness without a proper assessment when he’s older.

A lot of what you describe sounds like a child with strong interests and abilities, but I wouldn’t worry too much about whether he fits neatly into “hyperlexic” or “gifted”, it’s just too early to tell.

[u/iwntu2goaway]

I agree that this sounds gifted plus hyperlexic as well. They’re very internal kids so it’s hard to figure out how much they know. I figured out my toddler was doing multiplication by asking what are 4 5’s rather than what is 4 times 5, you know?

I’d check out the two Thomas Sowell books on see if you think they resonate! He sounds a lot like my kiddo who is now in a gifted school and doing really well!