Unlocking Hyperlexia: A Guide for Parents to Support Their Child at Home

In the UK, it's estimated that around 90,000 children are both hyperlexic and autistic, highlighting a significant yet often overlooked group within our educational system. Hyperlexia, characterised by an early and intense interest in letters and numbers, often leads to children reading well beyond their expected age. However, this advanced reading ability can mask underlying comprehension and communication challenges, especially when these children are placed in higher phonics groups without adequate support.

As a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) with experience supporting hyperlexic children, I've observed first hand how these children can be misunderstood and 'slip through the gaps' in educational settings. Their ability to decode words fluently often leads educators to overestimate their comprehension skills, resulting in a lack of necessary support. I also have two hyperlexic nephews who could read anything and everything by the age of 3, but struggled with their understanding and comprehension of it. This blog aims to shed light on hyperlexia, its types, and provide practical strategies for parents to support their hyperlexic children at home.

What is Hyperlexia?

Hyperlexia is not a formal diagnosis on its own but rather a term used to describe a specific learning profile: children who have an advanced ability to decode written words, but often struggle with language comprehension and social use of language.

The Three Types of Hyperlexia

• Type 1: Children who are neurotypical but display an intense early interest in letters and numbers. They decode well and usually develop comprehension skills on track.
• Type 2: Children with autism who have a fascination with letters and numbers. They often struggle with social communication and understanding language in context.
• Type 3: Children who have social and language difficulties similar to autism but who do not meet the full criteria for an autism diagnosis.

Why Hyperlexic Children are Overlooked at School

Because of their strong decoding skills, hyperlexic children are often placed in higher reading or phonics groups than their comprehension levels can actually support. This can result in:

• Frustration when asked to discuss or write about what they’ve read.
• Difficulty understanding figurative language, jokes, and idioms.
• Challenges following class discussions that rely on understanding of the story or the author’s intent.

Hyperlexia is a significantly under researched area of education, and many teachers either do not know it exists, or know about it but have received no training on how to effectively support hyperlexic children in their class. Another difficulty is that teachers are already differentiating planning and learning for so many needs, children who are less able and need the most support are often those who are prioritised because of lack of time, and staff. 

Supporting Your Hyperlexic Child at Home

While schools may not always be able to provide the targeted support these children need, there’s so much you can do at home to help bridge the gap between decoding and understanding.

1. Talk About What You’ve Read
After reading together, ask open-ended questions like:

• “What happened in the story?”

• “How did that character feel?”

• “Why do you think they did that?”

Encouraging your child to retell the story in their own words can strengthen their comprehension and language skills.

2. Use Visual Supports
Draw simple story maps together or use picture cards to help your child sequence the story’s events. Visuals can make abstract ideas more concrete and accessible.

3. Explore Advanced Vocabulary and Nuanced Language
Many higher-level reading books include words and expressions that go beyond everyday conversation. Hyperlexic children might decode these words perfectly but not understand their meaning in context. Talk about any new or tricky words, like idioms, descriptive adjectives, or figurative language, and help your child use them in their own sentences.

For example, if your child is reading a book with words like exquisite, melancholy, or outrageous, discuss what these words mean and how they make the story more interesting. This builds not just vocabulary but also deeper comprehension.

4. Discuss Humour, Sarcasm and Figurative Language
Higher-level books often include jokes, sarcasm, and other subtle forms of humour that can be difficult for younger hyperlexic children to grasp. Take the time to explain why something is funny, or why a character might be using sarcasm, irony, or exaggeration. This helps your child understand the tone and intention of the text, which is essential for full comprehension.

Tip: Pause while reading together to ask questions like, “Why do you think that’s funny?” or “What did the character really mean by that?” This encourages your child to think critically about language and its many layers. This applies to text and illustrations (if there are any). Understanding a picture is an important reading skill.

Two Strategies I use with My Own Daughter

Although my own daughter isn’t hyperlexic, I use two strategies to build her language and comprehension skills that would also benefit a child with hyperlexia.

• WOW Words: Whatever she’s currently interested in, I pick 3-5 high-level words and we talk about what they mean, how they’re used, and try to use them in our own conversations. For example, during a Cinderella phase, we discussed words like “carriage,” “midnight,” and “gown.”

• Joke Books: We share jokes regularly, and I explain them so she understands the humour. She’s started picking up on jokes in stories, which makes reading even more fun and engaging for her.

These activities are simple yet powerful ways to help any child develop deeper language understanding, especially hyperlexic children who need that extra support with comprehension and social language.

Supporting Hyperlexic Children with Writing and Phonics

Although hyperlexic children often excel at decoding words, many need extra support with writing and phonics skills. Because their reading abilities can overshadow their writing struggles, it’s essential to give these areas the attention they deserve.

Building Writing Confidence

Hyperlexic children may find writing challenging for several reasons, including difficulties with fine motor skills, letter formation, and spelling. Supporting your child’s writing at home starts with building confidence and making writing enjoyable.

Here are some ways to help:

• Start Small: Encourage your child to write in short bursts, using simple sentences or labelling pictures.

• Use Visual Supports: Offer letter formation charts, word banks, and sentence starters to give your child a scaffold for their writing.

• Celebrate Progress: Praise your child’s effort and improvements, no matter how small, to keep motivation high.

Teaching Phonics Foundations

Even though hyperlexic children can read advanced texts, they often need explicit phonics instruction to strengthen their spelling and writing. Focus on:

• Segmenting Sounds: Practise breaking words into individual sounds (phonemes) and blending them together.

• Sounding Out Spelling: Help your child apply phonics skills to their writing by sounding out words as they spell them.

• Tricky Words: Explicitly teach tricky words that don’t always follow phonics rules.

Why Multisensory Approaches Matter

For hyperlexic children, a multisensory approach (using touch, movement, sound, and sight) can make writing and phonics more accessible. One fantastic way to integrate these senses is through songs and movement.

I’ve created Sing to Write, a mini course that teaches letter formation through song. By singing a song specifically written to remember the shape of each letter, children engage their kinaesthetic memory, making it easier to remember how to form each one. This approach builds confidence and reinforces the connection between sounds and letters in a fun, memorable way.

⭐ Sing to Write launches on Friday 20th June ⭐

Final Thoughts

Hyperlexia is a unique and often misunderstood learning profile. With the right support at home (like focusing on comprehension, using visuals, teaching WOW Words, and explaining jokes) you can help your child bridge the gap between reading words and understanding them.

Every child deserves to be understood, supported, and celebrated for who they are. If you’d like more ideas for supporting your hyperlexic child at home, please explore the other resources on my website. You’re not alone and together, we can help every child’s language skills shine.

⭐ Click here for instant access to my FREE guide, The Little Reading Reset, written to support stretched thin mums on days they feel overwhelmed - over 50 no-prep reading and phonics games!

⭐ Click here to learn more about the Phonics at Home Curriculum - an interactive, multisensory curriculum that teaches every sound from Phase 2 to advanced Phase 5, reading, writing and phonics skills - all you have to do is press play and follow along with your child.