In the fall of 2010 we made a visit to the Neuro Development department of our children's hospital at the referral of our family doctor, to begin the evaluation process for Autism for our youngest son Mark, 7 years old at the time. He was scheduled for a full screening, including ADOS testing, speech-language, hearing, vision, I.Q testing and physical exam. We knew there was "something" not quite neuro-typical in his communication and some bodily actions, such as sudden large motion movements like skipping across the room back and forth - back and forth, repetitively so, and not being able to express himself well enough or articulate sentences clearly, or make eye contact; being absorbed in play not seeming to notice anyone coming in or out of the room.
Mark first had a speech delay and when he began to talk he sounded scripted, as if he borrowed the words from a TV program or, as we soon came to realize, the written word. He had somehow taught himself to read by age 4, much to our amazement. He had decoded written language and was reading everything from traffic signs, store signs, billboards and worse...tabloid headlines in the supermarket check out, out loud!
Mark was diagnosed with autism, high functioning, and hyperlexia with above average I.Q. He needed speech-language therapy and possibly some occupational therapy. He has done very well in these therapies for many months now. Because we home school, we are able to focus very directly on Mark's deficits and work into our curriculum and daily routine, methods and practices that help him in several areas of processing such as reading comprehension.
While it is all a work in progress, we are very pleased with Mark's improvements, and grateful to have such good professionals, including therapists helping us.
Minerva, OH
