What is hyperlexia?
Lindamood Bell defines hyperlexia as a condition in which the main characteristics are an above average ability to read accompanied with a below average ability to understand spoken language.
Discovering my hyperlexia
When I was first diagnosed with dyslexia in 1983, hyperlexia was not in the lexicon of those testing. In 2004, I was retested at Lindamood-Bell. Hyperlexia was dominant. In fact, my comprehension was at a Grade Three Level. This was astounding news. And, yes, I do have a little dyslexia.
Example of hyperlexia
Consider this sentence, “The cat has a pink tail that wiggles”. When I was diagnosed as hyperlexic (at age 69) I could read the words but not see images of the words. This same condition presented itself when I heard the words.
Correction Step # 1
I signed up for Lindamood Bell’s Verbalizing and Visualizing training. Those seven weeks were physically and emotionally the most painful in my life, and they produced results. I moved from a Grade Three to a Grade Nine reading comprehension level. Two friends then volunteered to work with me on reading once a week for an hour, so I could continue the Lindamood-Bell training to lock imaging into my system.
Correction Step # 2
I combined my knowledge of my emotional issues with The Masgutova Method and with Brain Gym techniques. Over the next year and a half I overcame much of my disruptive behavior caused by my emotions as I corrected physically my under-developed reflexes. My ability to comprehend increased and I have a new level of inner peace when reading.
I recommend that anyone diagnosed as a dyslexic or hyperlexic identify a Masgutova reflex specialist to check if his or her reflexes are working normally. I am certain my training at Lindamood-Bell would have been less stressful if my reflex corrections had been made before the Verbalizing and Visualizing training at Lindamood-Bell.