Way Back Then...

In my case my son wasn't talking by 18 months so we started to do the preliminary research. I learned about late talkers. I learned about autism. I learned about all kinds of things that didn't really fit. My child wasn't violent. He didn't have tantrums or bang his head into the wall. He didn't rock. He didn't sort or line up toys. Despite all of these "didn'ts" there were a few things that did fit with autism. He didn't respond to his name. He never pointed and he loved to spin the wheels on toy cars. It was this fascination with spinning things that led me back into the world of autism disorders when, by the age of 2, he still hadn't begun to communicate with us. I still didn't buy the "A" label as there were so many components of that disorder that didn't fit.. not the least of which was that this kid LOVED to be held. Any personal interaction was welcomed with wide open arms. Then one day I stumbled on a page that referred to a disorder by the name of hyperlexia. This seemed to fit. I had never really considered his fascination with letters and numbers as a potential sign as his older sister was a very precocious girl and was indeed reading at the age of 2. She was also talking to us and behaving like a "neuro-typical" child so we had no concerns for her development. But it would seem that in his case it was very important indeed. Thus began the search to learn more about this splinter.