The differences between Dyslexia,
Hyperlexia and Perceptual Dyslexia are drastic but often misunderstood,
a Dyslexic person may have:
- Difficulties with reading and spelling
- Difficulties sounding out words
They may have no trouble with:
- Comprehension and conversation
- other subjects such as Mathematics
In comparison signs of Hyperlexia include:
- Excellent reading skills
- Underdeveloped social skills
- Severely Underdeveloped comprehension skills
The differences between the two conditions have often led people to
conclude that Hyperlexia is the complete opposite of Dyslexia and has
been linked with Autism.
What about Perceptual Dyslexia?
Visual Perceptual Dyslexia is a condition which physically stops a
person from being able to read written text. While the brain is more
than capable of interpreting the words a number of visual anomalies may
prevent this from happening by not allowing the images to reach the
correct pathways to the brain. These include but are not limited to:
- Blurry text
- Words move about the page
- Words vibrate violently
- Words jiggle and swirl
- The white of the page is uncomfortably bright
The Irlen method, involving coloured acetate overlays and/or
prescription coloured lenses can reduce or remove the symptoms of
Perceptual Dyslexia all together
