Student Research: Hyperlexia
Alanna Spalsbury ’16 expanded her personal experience as a one-on-one aide for a kindergartener with hyperlexia into a larger research project exploring hyperlexia. She presented her research on at the 2016 OWU Student Symposium.
Spalsbury describes hyperlexia as a disorder often overlooked among the many associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Hyperlexic people often have precocious reading capacity, while lacking the ability to understand and use verbal language.
Because of hyperlexic students' accelerated reading skills, they are frequently labeled as "gifted" and emerged in programs to better challenge them academically, without help for the severe social deficits they face.
Spalsbury explored the multiple facets of social communication deficiencies in children with hyperlexia and strategies for encouraging their social development while nurturing their gift for reading.
Project Title: Hyperlexia: Research and Case Study
Student: Alanna Spalsbury ’16
Mentor: Dr. Katherine Glenn-Applegate