Autism Awareness Hawaii

Hekili is so smart it amazes me. He not only reads hundreds of words, he also knows the first letter of words you ask him. He is also learning to sound out words so if he doesn't know it but it looks similar to another he says it how he knows best. He is 3 years old and I never imagined he would be so advanced for his age. Autism has not hindered his academics at all. In fact Autism has opened up a whole new learning curve.

He counts backwards from 20 which is very cute. He likes numbers but not as much as letters and words. I wonder if he will be a writer when he grows up. Hyperlexia is not a word I was familiar with until his diagnosis. I should have known since he started reading at 14 months of age. His PED said he was just advanced and I should get him into preschool early. She had no idea that it was related to Hyperlexia. She doesn't know much about Autism at all.

Which leads me to warn parents. If you feel that your doctor is not knowledgeable about autism or anything else for that matter don't hesitate to find another doctor. His PED thinks that Hekili is rare in his cognitive ability. He is not. Autism does not mean retardation. This is a common misconception, that sadly even the so called smart doctors conceive. That is a whole different post though.