Is it hyperlexia? Toward a deeper understanding of precocious reading skills in two cases of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Hyperlexia is defined by a precocious and sponta-neously acquired ability to read at preschool age. Hyperlexia appears to be a wide yet not highly studied phenomenon involving different populations and possibly including children with different neuropsy-chological profiles and outcomes. METHODS: We describe two clinical cases of unrelated children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who both showed precocious and spontaneous reading ability. We report the neuropsy-chological assessment they underwent. RESULTS: Both children showed above average IQ, reading skills, and text comprehension, whereas one showed below average comprehen-sion only in oral text. We question whether these two phenotypes can be considered forms of hyperlexia, as defined by the most recent and consistent observations, or a subtype of ASD with hyperlexia. CONCLUSION: We conclude that our patients should be considered hyperlexic ASD, with interesting potential implications for progno-sis and rehabilitation.

Sleep behavior of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder during the Covid-19 pandemic: A Parent survey.

INTRODUCTION: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by social interaction and communication deficits and restricted, repetitive interests and behaviors (1). It is very common for children with ASD to present with several comorbidities, including sleep disorders. During the Covid-19 pandemic, children with ASD have been particularly at risk of adverse effects because of their difficulties in adapting to changes in daily habits and routines. METHODS AND AIM: Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate sleep habits during the Covid-19 pandemic by administering the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ) to parents. RESULTS: Twenty-five children of 28 (89.3%) had a score above 41 during the pandemic. Of these, 11 children also had clinically signifi-cant scores before the pandemic. DISCUSSION: Our data confirm that sleep disturbances have been very common in autistic children during the Covid-19 pandemic and suggest new considerations. In particular, in our clinical sample, sleep habits seemed to improve or not change significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic in a population with a high prevalence of cli-nically significant sleep disturbances. These data confirm that in this particular context, a supportive environment (family, parent training, tele-rehabilitation) is very important for autistic people and a predicta-ble routine can help prevent stress, anxiety, and behavioral problems.