Does anyone suffer from, or know much about Hyperlexia?

['Butterflies']

Over the last 6 months or so I've found my life being affected by AS much more than at any time in the past. That's led me to think about my condition in a way that I've never done previously.
When I was little I was told I had mild Asperger's Syndrome. I've looked at the diagnostic criteria for AS and also took a couple of tests and I've came to the same conclusion. According to those I should only have very mild AS. I am clearly effected more seriously by something, I'm just not really sure what.
My social skills and communication appear to be disproportionately poor compared with my relatively mild AS. This has been upsetting me recentkly and so I've done a bit of searching around the internet to see if I could find some answers.
I stumbled across Hyperlexia, and the symptoms appear to fit me perfectly. In fact, the symptoms seem to fit me far more than the symptoms of AS. The information that I was able to find did say that it effects almost entirely males and that peopple tend to grow out of it with adulthood. Obviously I'm an adult female, so I'm not sure if that rules me out.
Does anyone here have experience of the condition? Does anyone know if it's even possible that I might have it?

[Callaway]

I don't know a lot about it.  I have read a little, though.

Apparently it is sort of the opposite of dyslexia.

I think that almost all hyperlexics are somewhere on the autism spectrum.

['andersom']

I heard of a little girl being hyperlexic, so your gender should not be a counter indication. Of course, if a researcher believes only boys can be hyperlexic, he will not recognise it in you.

['Butterflies']

I heard of a little girl being hyperlexic, so your gender should not be a counter indication. Of course, if a researcher believes only boys can be hyperlexic, he will not recognise it in you.

I don't know a lot about it.  I have read a little, though.

Apparently it is sort of the opposite of dyslexia.

I think that almost all hyperlexics are somewhere on the autism spectrum.

I'm not worried about gettting a diagnosis. In general my life is very good and I wouldn't want to start getting involved with psychiatrists. It all seems like too much hassle. It's really just curiosity on my behalf. I just don't feel that my official diagnosis really explains the severity of my social problems. I deinately feel as if I have another problem as well as mild AS.
When I found the symptoms of hyperlexia it just seemed to describe me perfectly. I find it almost impossible to translate slightly complex thoughts into language. I also find it very hard to follow anything that's being said or written, either to me, or on tv.
I know that it just sounds like I'm probably very stupid, I wondered myself if that was my problem, but I have a reasonable vocabulary and I know what the words mean. I've taken all of the IQ tests I could find on the internet and they all give me an IQ of around 121. I can't think of any other reason why I struggle so much to understand both written and spoken language. I'm certain that I do have a pretty major communication disability. I'm just not sure what it is.

["couldbecousin"]

I heard of a little girl being hyperlexic, so your gender should not be a counter indication. Of course, if a researcher believes only boys can be hyperlexic, he will not recognise it in you.

I don't know a lot about it.  I have read a little, though.

Apparently it is sort of the opposite of dyslexia.

I think that almost all hyperlexics are somewhere on the autism spectrum.

I'm not worried about gettting a diagnosis. In general my life is very good and I wouldn't want to start getting involved with psychiatrists. It all seems like too much hassle. It's really just curiosity on my behalf. I just don't feel that my official diagnosis really explains the severity of my social problems. I deinately feel as if I have another problem as well as mild AS.
When I found the symptoms of hyperlexia it just seemed to describe me perfectly. I find it almost impossible to translate slightly complex thoughts into language. I also find it very hard to follow anything that's being said or written, either to me, or on tv.
I know that it just sounds like I'm probably very stupid, I wondered myself if that was my problem, but I have a reasonable vocabulary and I know what the words mean. I've taken all of the IQ tests I could find on the internet and they all give me an IQ of around 121. I can't think of any other reason why I struggle so much to understand both written and spoken language. I'm certain that I do have a pretty major communication disability. I'm just not sure what it is.

Whatever the reason for your communication difficulties, you're definitely not stupid. 

['Butterflies']

Whatever the reason for your communication difficulties, you're definitely not stupid. 

Thanks . Although I do have my moments of real stupidity.

[Callaway]

Have you ever looked into Nonverbal Learning Disorder as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_learning_disorder

['Butterflies']

Have you ever looked into Nonverbal Learning Disorder as well?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonverbal_learning_disorder

I've read a few pages on NVLD and apart from the lack of sense of humour, and a problem with non-verbal problem solving it does seem to describe the problems that I have. My biggest problem does seem to be more along the lines of NVLD or hyperlexia than to mild AS.

["couldbecousin"]

Whatever the reason for your communication difficulties, you're definitely not stupid. 

Thanks . Although I do have my moments of real stupidity.

Well, me too! That's what keeps me interesting! 

['andersom']

Whatever the reason for your communication difficulties, you're definitely not stupid. 

Thanks . Although I do have my moments of real stupidity.

Well, me too! That's what keeps me interesting! 

Never a dull moment. 

[Peter]

I heard of a little girl being hyperlexic, so your gender should not be a counter indication. Of course, if a researcher believes only boys can be hyperlexic, he will not recognise it in you.

I don't know a lot about it.  I have read a little, though.

Apparently it is sort of the opposite of dyslexia.

I think that almost all hyperlexics are somewhere on the autism spectrum.

I'm not worried about gettting a diagnosis. In general my life is very good and I wouldn't want to start getting involved with psychiatrists. It all seems like too much hassle. It's really just curiosity on my behalf. I just don't feel that my official diagnosis really explains the severity of my social problems. I deinately feel as if I have another problem as well as mild AS.

I felt the same way after getting my initial diagnosis of AS, and I've found that it's just one of a bunch of issues that I have, and not even the most troublesome of them.  I'm still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but I've come a long way towards understanding myself, and I'm glad I made the effort.

When I found the symptoms of hyperlexia it just seemed to describe me perfectly. I find it almost impossible to translate slightly complex thoughts into language. I also find it very hard to follow anything that's being said or written, either to me, or on tv.
I know that it just sounds like I'm probably very stupid, I wondered myself if that was my problem, but I have a reasonable vocabulary and I know what the words mean. I've taken all of the IQ tests I could find on the internet and they all give me an IQ of around 121. I can't think of any other reason why I struggle so much to understand both written and spoken language. I'm certain that I do have a pretty major communication disability. I'm just not sure what it is.

I don't think you'll learn much from internet IQ tests.  After I was diagnosed with AS, I was referred to an autism specialist who gave me a battery of tests to measure various aspects of my IQ in detail, and the results were 'highly unusual' according to the specialist.

See page 2 for the interesting bit:

['Butterflies']

I felt the same way after getting my initial diagnosis of AS, and I've found that it's just one of a bunch of issues that I have, and not even the most troublesome of them.  I'm still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but I've come a long way towards understanding myself, and I'm glad I made the effort.

That's pretty much how I feel. I do agree with my original diagnosis. I know I have AS. I just don't feel like it's my biggest problem. I'm pretty sure I'm OCD, but God knows what else I've got.

I don't think you'll learn much from internet IQ tests.  After I was diagnosed with AS, I was referred to an autism specialist who gave me a battery of tests to measure various aspects of my IQ in detail, and the results were 'highly unusual' according to the specialist.

The results do look unusual. I feel like I'm in a similar position. I reckon if I had a proper test done myself I'd be reasonably high in some areas and very low in others.
I know internet IQ tests aren't totally accurate. I was just in a position where where I was begining to worry that my problem was mental retardation and at least I think I can rule it out. I do know that my performance IQ is probably very low.

[Peter]

I felt the same way after getting my initial diagnosis of AS, and I've found that it's just one of a bunch of issues that I have, and not even the most troublesome of them.  I'm still putting the pieces of the puzzle together, but I've come a long way towards understanding myself, and I'm glad I made the effort.

That's pretty much how I feel. I do agree with my original diagnosis. I know I have AS. I just don't feel like it's my biggest problem. I'm pretty sure I'm OCD, but God knows what else I've got.

I don't think you'll learn much from internet IQ tests.  After I was diagnosed with AS, I was referred to an autism specialist who gave me a battery of tests to measure various aspects of my IQ in detail, and the results were 'highly unusual' according to the specialist.

The results do look unusual. I feel like I'm in a similar position. I reckon if I had a proper test done myself I'd be reasonably high in some areas and very low in others.
I know internet IQ tests aren't totally accurate. I was just in a position where where I was begining to worry that my problem was mental retardation and at least I think I can rule it out. I do know that my performance IQ is probably very low.

If it would put your mind at ease, that might be reason enough to pursue further evaluation, and you'd probably find out some interesting things about yourself.  It might turn up something that's treatable, and could lead to an improvement in your quality of life; I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years after my AS diagnosis, and the ADHD meds that I'm on now have made things a bit easier for me.

It takes a fair bit of effort to bounce around between various specialists and undergo testing, and I've needed to make a pain in the ass of myself to be taken seriously by doctors and psychiatrists; they haven't usually come up with ideas for tests, referrals and treatments on their own initiative, and it's been up to me to do my own research, make my own recommendations and generally crack the whip to get things done, but it's been worth the effort.

[earthboundmisfit]

If it would put your mind at ease, that might be reason enough to pursue further evaluation, and you'd probably find out some interesting things about yourself.  It might turn up something that's treatable, and could lead to an improvement in your quality of life; I got diagnosed with ADHD a few years after my AS diagnosis, and the ADHD meds that I'm on now have made things a bit easier for me.

It takes a fair bit of effort to bounce around between various specialists and undergo testing, and I've needed to make a pain in the ass of myself to be taken seriously by doctors and psychiatrists; they haven't usually come up with ideas for tests, referrals and treatments on their own initiative, and it's been up to me to do my own research, make my own recommendations and generally crack the whip to get things done, but it's been worth the effort.

   Well said.

[renaeden]

Peter's right, you might find out something interesting about yourself.

I don't know much about hyperlexia except for what is on wikipedia and it  would be hard to diagnose in an adult, I think, without knowing the childhood history.