Early Word Reading of Preschoolers with ASD, Both With and Without Hyperlexia, Compared to Typically Developing Preschoo
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Early Word Reading of Preschoolers with ASD, Both With and Without Hyperlexia, Compared to Typically Developing Preschoolers Dianne Macdonald1,2 · Gigi Luk1,2 · Eve‑Marie Quintin1,2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract A portion of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit a strength in early word reading referred to as hyperlexia (HPL), yet it remains unclear what mechanisms underlie this strength. Typically developing children (TD) acquire phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge and language skills as precursors to word reading. We compared these skills across English-speaking preschoolers with ASD, both with and without hyperlexia, and TD preschoolers. Findings indicated that the group with both ASD and HPL (ASD + HPL) exhibited advanced word reading and letter naming skills as compared to the other two groups, but did not demonstrate commensurate phonological awareness, letter-sound correspondence, or language skills. Findings support an alternative, non-phonological approach to early word reading in preschoolers with ASD and hyperlexia. Keywords Autism · Hyperlexia · Phonological awareness · Alphabet knowledge
Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication skills and repetitive patterns of behaviour (American Psychiatric Association 2013). Among those diagnosed with ASD, a number of special abilities or strengths have been observed, including enhanced perceptual functioning (Mottron et al. 2006, 2009; Remington and Fairnie 2017; Samson et al. 2012); enhanced pitch perception (Bonnel et al. 2003, 2010); musical memory (Heaton et al. 1999; Stanutz et al. 2014), and early word reading skills (Grigorenko et al. 2002; Needleman 1982; Newman et al. 2007; O’Connor and * Eve‑Marie Quintin eve‑[email protected] Dianne Macdonald [email protected] Gigi Luk [email protected] 1
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montréal, QC, Canada
Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music, McGill University, 3640 de la Montagne, Montréal, QC H3G 2A8, Canada
2
Hermelin 1994). This strength in early word reading was first referred to as “hyperlexia” by Silberberg and Silberberg (1967), characterized by a range of intellectual functioning from intellectual impairment to typical, along with word recognition skills higher than both reading comprehension and general verbal functioning. Hyperlexia has been found primarily in an atypically developing population and comorbid with a number of neurodevelopmental disorders, including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Tourette syndrome and specific language impairment (SLI) among others (Zhang and Joshi 2019). Yet, ASD remains the most common neurodevelopmental disorder associated with hyperlexia (Ostrolenk et al. 2017). While the prevalence of hyperlexia is estimated to be 6–20% among people with ASD, it is contingent upon the identif
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