Abstract
A review of the literature on hyperlexia suggests that the disorder is frequently associated with autism, that hermetic readers reach the lexicon via both the phonological and orthographic routes, and that the children derive meaning from print (notably, single words). In hyperlexia, as in other savant syndromes, the skills seemingly arise without a practice period and are not integrated with other areas of knowledge. A theory was advanced to account for the findings: Savants have dysfunctional procedural memory systems, though their declarative memories are relatively intact. The deficit in procedures is reflected in the difficulties savants have with routinized activities and in a dissociation of accessible knowledge from action. A disconnected declarative system manifests itself in the savant skill.
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I wish to thank Dr. Mark Shatz for carefully and critically editing a draft of the paper. Drs. Andrew Maltz and Robert Rothermel stimulated my thinking on autism and idiots savants phenomena.
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Goldberg, T.E. On hermetic reading abilities. J Autism Dev Disord 17, 29–44 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01487258
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01487258