Hyperlexia is a syndrome where children have difficulty communicating, understanding, and assessing verbal language, yet are able to read beyond their age level.

They have difficulty learning cause and effect behavior, and prefer rituals and routines without variation.

Another symptom is difficulty understanding verbal language, including questions such as "what," "who," "why," "where."

The child has trouble socializing and relates inappropriately to people.

When under stress the child reverts to reactionary behavior and may act out, having a hard time 'listening' to reason.

On the bright side, there are success stories to read about, both from children and adults, in the links below.

Resources with a brief synopsis:

The Hyperlexic Learning Style
Informative article by Susan Martins Miller on understanding how the child learns and ways to help, such as when a child is having a temper tantrum hugging may be the most effective method of calming.

American Hyperlexia Association
Comprehensive site on symptoms and links to resources.

The Hyperlexia Parents Network
Articles, forum and accounts from parents on success stories.

For offline reading

Free to Move, Learning Kinesthetically - Comprehensive guide to teaching kinesthetically in a 90 page fully illustrated text, outlining body placement, rhythms, large motor skills, dynamics, creative movement, mini-lessons, and detailed master lesson plan for elementary school kids. Available here at BellaOnline as an Ebook

Article by Susan Kramer

About the article author
Susan Kramer has been a dance specialist to students of all ages and abilities for more than 30 years, and maintains a bank of articles for teaching at the Kinesthetic link at susankramer.com