Anonymous wrote:I think dd sees a word once and memorizes it. We’ve accidentally discovered this on a road trip. We started with easy words. Then we were like “but can you spell castle?” Yes. Water, said, eight, knee, climb, menu, Mrs., people, beautiful, because… we have a really difficult time stumping her. I’m wondering if it’s because we use closed captioning.

Is this ridiculously advanced?

She can write the words or rattle off the letters, but she does the letter sounds which can be confusing. I’ve heard of early reading but not early spelling. It’s kind of a worthless skill in this day and age! Our little Prek-5th grade school doesn’t even do a spelling bee. So she’s just going to be able to ace spelling tests in kindergarten probably.

This is cool! Have her practice (verbally) in the spelling be format for a little bit each day, and see if you can get her school or participate in Scripps once she's in K or 1st

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

+1 this was my level 1 ASD DS, phenomenal memory and love of patterns. Was recommended for magnet programs beginning in late ES, now at a WASP and doing very well. I don't know that the spelling facility translated into any particular giftedness with language, more of a STEM kid in the end. But that was where his particular interests lay and that's essential for ASD kids (if your kid is in fact ASD).

Op: That is very interesting. She also likes numbers. DD was speech delayed (articulation) and has/d intermittent hearing loss. ASD was a concern last year, but this year everything is looking to be an effect of the speech/hearing. That being said I’m not ruling anything out. She’s doing really well in the more academic prek. She is social and makes eye contact now. Speech has really come along and helped with connecting to peers. Her teachers this year have no concerns.

Also Re: phonics. She actually loves phonics. That might have actually been the first clue. She learned those rules fast. I think she likes codes. I’ve noticed she is always trying make rules to explain the way the world works.

There is a strong correlation with hyperlexia and autism and that's fine! It sounds like she has other behaviors that were flagged as possible signs too. It's called a spectrum for a reason and i don't think it's always black and white of "you have autism" and "you don't have autism". You can have some beahviors and signs of it without having others and therefore not meeting the exact diagnostic criteria. Either way, enjoy this skill and hopefully she becomes an early and avid reader like my similar son did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

I knew this was coming. DCUM moms are so quick to cry "autism" when they're jealous that somebody else's kid is better at something than theirs.

Omg there is nothing wrong with having autism. The only beef I have with the above response is that they used "warning sign" as if it was a sign of cancer. Just saying "early sign" would have been sufficient.

I was like this and not autistic. I am a writer. I understand words, grammar and punctuation and always did. I also was good at spelling words in the foreign languages I studied. I also have a good memory for details. I tested high in spelling and grammar as a kid but not as well in reading comprehension, but I got better at that. I was not good at math and it took me a long time to understand it. I think some people just have this ability to understand words. I would say that I love words. I have a child who could never understand spelling rules and one who did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

I knew this was coming. DCUM moms are so quick to cry "autism" when they're jealous that somebody else's kid is better at something than theirs.

Are you not aware that autism and hyperlexia are indeed linked? That doesn’t mean all kids with hyperlexia have autism, but there is DEFINITELY a link.

Anonymous wrote:My kid could do this as well. He's not autistic fwiw.

It's important not to read too much into this as word recognition and spelling is just part of an overall literacy picture. Sometimes a kid who's great at pattern recognition like this can miss out on something like phonics because they have their normal shortcuts.

Keep reading to her, talk about plots, letter sounds, etc. Sounds like she's doing great, keep nurturing it.

It is an unusual trait. Most four year olds can’t spell words with silent letters like might or castle. They would usually spell casel or something. And I’m sure the op understands the whole literacy picture.

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

My niece also had hyperlexia, she could read anything. At three years old we would give her NYT articles to read for our amusement. It was so cute! But it didn’t help or harm her in any way.

Maybe she has an amazing memory.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

I knew this was coming. DCUM moms are so quick to cry "autism" when they're jealous that somebody else's kid is better at something than theirs.

Washington is the epicenter of IVF in the states. There are in fact a very high concentration of autistic children in DC.

Correlation isn’t causation. Almost certain that parental age is playing a component here.

In any case, DC, Maryland, and Virginia aren’t even the top states for autism prevalence. The National Children’s Health Survey doesn’t even put these three states in the top 10. That prize goes to Florida, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

My natural spelling abilities are crazy too! Just inaccurate.

Op: She was not really an early reader. She could not read in preschool. At the first preK parent-teacher conference last fall, I went in really worried about behavior, her ability to focus, and social skills. Her teacher said she thought she was very bright. I had taught her letter sounds for speech therapy just before school started, so I chalked the comment up to that. But her teacher also brought up dyslexia of all things! I will say this preK do a great job of teaching all letter sounds and some digraphs. But she still picked up reading fast. She can read anything now. She’s been into this pillow globe recently and somehow knows how to pronounce these obscure country names.

I’m not sure learning to read at four is hyperlexic?

“Guard” came up today after school (guardians of the galaxy). No problem. I’m just like how?! I barely remember there is a u in guard. I think if she’s seen the word she knows it. But otherwise memory is completely normal. She’s actually not very good at any of those memory games. But maybe we should try those games again. Her focus has improved so much in a year.

Anonymous wrote:Scripps National Spelling Bee

+ 1
Just sounds highly intelligent. My guess is your child might also be very gifted in music. I don’t think we really understand what makes prodigies, but o find them fascinating. I have two very smart but not highly gifted kids, but my brother was highly gifted verbally… his case wasn’t so happy bc of later onset mental problems, but he graduated hs and college early and breezed through school and tests.

To all the kids with hyperlexia and other cerebral differences, who are not diagnosed with autism... if they were evaluated today in 2026, they might qualify. The bar for mild autism has rigid criteria, but is overall quite low.

If they present as normal, there is no need to go out of your way and pay money for a diagnosis that won't make a difference. But don't go through life thinking that they don't have autism!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

I knew this was coming. DCUM moms are so quick to cry "autism" when they're jealous that somebody else's kid is better at something than theirs.

Washington is the epicenter of IVF in the states. There are in fact a very high concentration of autistic children in DC.

Anonymous wrote:They don’t have spelling tests anymore. In fact, they don’t even teach spelling. They let kids write phonetically. It’s terrible. Good for you for teaching her young.

My 4th grader had a spelling test last week. 10/10. MCPS

Anonymous wrote:My dd had hyperlexia. Its an early warning sign for autism.

Two kids with hyperplexia (reading at 2), neither has a diagnosis. I checked one of them. But it isn't a bragging point - I describe it as a condition