I genuinely thought I must have been getting something wrong. My autistic 6-year-old can read at a level far beyond his age, yet he struggles massively with putting pencil to paper in the classroom. None of it made sense—until I learned more about hyperlexia.
H is reluctant to read with me, or with anyone. But when he chooses to read aloud, he sounds like a retiree enjoying the Sunday papers—smooth, confident, and somehow using perfect inflection. You’d think that advanced reading would translate to strong spelling and writing skills.
I made that assumption too.
We all knew H refused to write unless he had direct adult supervision. We put it down to stubbornness or demand avoidance. It never occurred to us that he might be able to read the word petrichor, but not spell the word shirt.
Yet that’s exactly what was happening.
What Hyperlexia Really Looks Like
Hyperlexic children often skip or outright refuse phonics. They learn to read incredibly early—sometimes with minimal or no intervention. But this can mean they’re reading by sight, not by understanding the structure of language.
It’s a bit like a parrot repeating impressive vocabulary without necessarily understanding the mechanics behind it.
H almost never read with adults, but he was obsessed with watching TV with subtitles on—often with the sound turned off completely. After months of this, he suddenly read with confidence that shocked us all, and I let go of my concerns about his reluctance to engage with reading or writing at school.
The Penny Drops
Yesterday he asked to do a “spelling challenge” with me. I grabbed the opportunity to gently work on writing skills. I chose simple words: shirt, shoe, table. Words he could read instantly.
He couldn’t spell any of them correctly.
That’s when it really clicked: reading and writing happen in different parts of the brain. One part can storm ahead—reading like a much older child—while another part lags behind and struggles with basic phonics, motor skills, and language construction.
Even as someone who experienced this myself growing up—advanced vocabulary, but struggles elsewhere—I still missed it in my own child.
A New Plan for Writing Without the Pressure
So today, H and I made a new plan. At home, we’re dropping the demand to write altogether. Instead, we’re focusing on building confidence and language skills in ways that work with his brain, not against it.
💡 Our New Strategy: Speech-to-Text Writing
H can now create stories using speech-to-text software. He dictates whatever he likes (currently, an epic Minecraft saga full of diamond armour and teleportation), and the software turns it into text instantly.
The change in him was immediate.
He was excited. Enthusiastic. Proud. Seeing his own words appear on the screen was magical for him. And because we’ve removed the pressure of handwriting, spelling, and motor skills, his imagination can finally run wild without barriers.
This also means he’s reading and re-reading his own writing—expanding his visual memory of words and sentence structure without realising he’s doing “schoolwork.”
Once he’s confident in what he wants to say, we can support him with the technical bits later.
Why This Matters for Autistic Kids
Autism often complicates or hides the difficulties a child is experiencing. Hyperlexic children—especially those with strong reading skills—can easily have their struggles overlooked because they appear “advanced.”
But reading early doesn’t mean:
- they understand phonics,
- they can spell,
- they can form sentences, or
- they find writing physically or mentally manageable.
Schools adopting flexible approaches—like speech-to-text, typing, or alternative literacy pathways—could transform the learning experience for so many autistic kids.
H deserves that. And so does every other child like him.
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