Hyperlexia?

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Is/Was anyone here hyperlexic?

After what my mother told me, after seeing how most children learn reading and after somebody on the boards recently mentioned Hyperlexia, I have the strong suspicion I was (am still a bit) hyperlexic. I just don't know if I understood all these medical descriptions quite right.

Maybe someone can read and tell me whether it sounds like Hyperlexia. Or whether they can relate a little.

What I think sounds like Hyperlexia:

1. I 'read' before school. By 'reading' I mean I could recognise, spell known and pronounce unknown words. I didn't get the meaning of the words though. It took me until the end of first grade to understand and be able to keep up in reading classes.

2. I learned the language through writing. I also mainly learned my second language through writing. When I started to write stories as a child, my language level improved extremely. I still can't speak as well as I can write, though my speech improved a lot.

3. I have a horrible auditory memory for speech. Actually, its safe to assume I have no auditory memory for speech. An awesome one for music though.

4. (I go to a German school.) And despite having a good vocabulary in German and very eloquent German writing skills, I seem to use language in a way that few else use it. I usually fail any language-exams because of this.
I was told that's due to my ASD, but... why are other aspies and auties are not like that then?

What I think doesn't sound like Hyperlexia:

1. I read that many hyperlexic children have delayed speech and rely heavily on echolalia. I know I didn't. Echolila only a little.
I spoke on time and developed a huge vocabulary. I would use words wrong when I'd want something often, I'd say lots of words like 'mommy, want... orange, stairs, kitchen, drink, instead of 'want juice'. I wasn't sure which word was the exact one. But I learned to correct this really really quickly with my mother.

2. I also understood spoken language about fine. Means, I always got the gist of what was being said. I didn't understand in Kindergarten and playgroups though. That was the only time when I was echolalic too.
But when my mother talked, I always understood some of it. So I must have understood receptive language. I think I just didn't understand when someone was talking because of CAPD.
It got better when I was about 4-5. I could understand most people by then and talk to adults. Before this - nope.

Not sure whether this is related to Hyperlexia:

1. I have a above average visual memory. I can scan book pages and then read them later in my head. I can still separately read and keep words in mind without giving them a meaning.

2. I score better on visual/spatial parts of IQ tests than on the verbal part despite being diagnosed as AS. The gap is small now (about 10 points). I haven't been tested as a child, but I assume the gap would have been bigger. How to explain words I don't understand?

So... does this sound like Hyperlexia? Anyone (personally) experienced in Hyperlexia?

Unfortunately, hyperlexia is poorly understudied in Asperger's Syndrome, so all the stuff you read about Hyperlexia being linked with early language problems is when Hyperlexia occurs with Autistic Disorder or PDD-NOS.

I'm no diagnostician, but what you described does sound very similar to other Asperger hyperlexics. Some show your profile (early reading without comprehension), while others had precocious readings skills as well as early comprehension skills.

But yes, your description sounds hyperlexic to me, for whatever that's worth.

My Grandmother was a school teacher and made sure that my reading was up to snuff. All through grade school only one girl at my grade level could beat me at spelling bees with any consistency. And there are things I figured out myself, like pronouncing the tion suffix.

I'm not sure what the diagnostic criteria for hyperlexia is, but I definitely engaged in compulsive reading for a while. I didn't read particularly early, but once I started reading, I moved into adult literature very quickly, and by late elementary school I was reading 200+ pages a day of fantasy books. The thing is, though, that it was more compulsive than anything else. I read quickly, and although I did comprehend what was going on, I would forget the names of the characters, plots of the books, etc. very soon after I finished. I wasn't engaging very much at all with the literature - it was more like a meditative act for me, to stare at the pages and to let the words wash over me. There was also a major "completist" component to it. I felt like I had achieved something with each page I read and with each book and series I finished, kind of like how you get a rush from leveling up your characters in an RPG.

I suspect that I am/was hyperlexic. I read before age 4, and I read quickly and far above my age level. I did understand much of what I was reading because I was fairly intelligent, but when I didn't, I could still read the word and either break it down for meaning, or just read it and not worry about the meaning.
I, too, learn through writing and have a hard time keeping my spoken/listening skills anywhere near my written/reading skills.
I'm not so good with remembering verbal instructions, though if I convert them in my head to an image or written data set (as in, hearing a phone number and converting it to a picture or written phone number), I can remember it.
I developed a massive vocabulary as a child, but I was still scripting/echolalic. Not all of the time, and often people couldn't tell because I had so many more sources for echolalia (had read so many more books, for example) than your average child. But I still do it so much that I know I must have done it all the time when younger.

Edit: I also recall that I was pretty much a perfect speller - probably due to being widely-read. Until I grew out of spelling tests somewhere during elementary school, the teachers would have me choose my own words for the tests. It never really made a difference. I tried for the longest words I could find (maybe I was showing off), but I could always spell them. I mean, I knew what they were going to be. How could I not spell them?

I don't know if I'm Hyperlexic. I started reading sometime before I was 3, I think probably around 2.5 which is how old my son is and he's now started recognizing words. I can write down words and he'll say/sign/or does something else like quack when he reads duck to show he recognizes them. I know I was definitely reading by 4 and knew my alphabet and could write it backwards, when my cousin was born when I was 4, I would read her stories. I was always advanced when it came to reading. I haven't read a whole lot about Hyperlexia, though.

*Edited for a typo.

I think I was hyperlexic because I started reading stuff when I was 3. Then I was always ahead in pronouncing words since then (at 7th grade I could read and spell college words) but now I ain't as good in reading at least I don't think so. I suck at reading out loud and mess up on simple words like "it" and "the." I actually forget what things say because I am under pressure. Its almost like I have dyslexia now instead of hyperlexia. I always reverse things, especially numbers.

I was an early reader, but I didn't have a speech delay. My reading scores were always well above average.

I am hyperlexic.