Reading Comprehension and the Hyperlexic Kid

Some youngsters start reading prior to they are able to hold a conversation. In a sense, they begin to read before they can even talk. How is that possible? Reading can be broken down into 2 different procedures: (1) decoding the composed symbols into words pronounced by the vocal apparatus and (2) constructing out the significance of the discourse through an analysis of the material in view of the context.

Kids with dyslexia have trouble with the the first process. Youngsters with hyperlexia have trouble with the second. In the most severe cases, a hyperlexic child can read any text, of whatever level of problem, with perfect fluency but no understanding.

This center will handle the essence of hyperlexia, and will go over techniques to enhance reading understanding when the issue isn't reading-- it's understanding.

The word hyperlexia is a little a misnomer, due to the fact that it seems to imply that the issue is that the child reads too well. Therapists may desire to minimize the level of activity if a child is hyperactive. If a youngster suffers from hyperthermia, you may desire to decrease his fever. If a child suffers from hyperlexia, you do not want his ability to read to be diminished. One can never read too well!

In hyperlexia, a kid's fluency in reading stands in raw contrast to the failure to understand. If the ability to read and to understand were balanced, then we would have a normal developmental pattern. If the youngster comprehends much better than he can read, then the child is dyslexic. If a kid checks out better than he comprehends, he is termed hyperlexic. It is not that any certain degree of fluency in reading is undesirable. It is the way fluency contrasts with understanding that makes it hyperlexia. Some educators might reason that a person way to reach a normal developmental pattern is to downplay reading ability. It would not be in the child's best interest to try to fix this problem by reducing the ability to read. A better technique would be to enhance understanding.



Improving Comprehension compared to discovering how to specify words

Most moms and dads and teachers concur that the pedagogical objective with a hyperlexic kid ought to be to improve comprehension. There are diverging viewpoints about how this ought to be done. One particularly naïve take on the problem is that hyperlexic children need to memorize meanings of composed words so that if they have trouble comprehending what they read, they will constantly have a definition of each word in mind.

For instance, if we are studying a list of four letter English words of Anglo-Saxon origin, the child may be asked to memorize these two definitions:

deck-- 1) the floor of a ship or boat; 2) a raised outdoor patio attached to a house 3) a pack of playing cards.
luck-- accident, chance or fortune.

One issue with this method is that it assumes that a child who doesn't understand the definition of each word being defined will be able to understand it by ways of other words that are no less challenging.

Consider this: if a native speaker of English does not comprehend the principle of "luck", or what the word luck refers to, is he most likely to comprehend "chance", "mishap" or "fortune"? It so takes place that "chance" "mishap" and "fortune" are of latinate origin, and that "possibility" is the French word for luck, instead unless the hyperlexic youngster speaks French, or some other latinate language, how could this potentially assist?



Envision yourself attempting to discover a foreign language by memorizing for each new word a definition of that word which is written totally in the international language you are attempting to master. For functions of this mental exercise, choose a language that uses an alphabet you are already familiar with however that is not related to any language you understand.

Here is a meaning in Turkish of the Turkish word bahtiser:
- talihli, şanslı, iyi yazgılı.


Having read the definition, do you now understand exactly what bahtiser indicates? Well, if you don't, then how is a hyperlexic youngster who does not understand exactly what it indicates to be fortunate supposed to discover the meaning of luck from the meaning "possibility, accident or fortune"?