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6 year old still reversing numbers...

5 replies

SeeJaneKick · 16/03/2011 17:20

DD is 6.8 and still reverses some numbers and letters.

School tell me her reading age is 7.9 though and they are very happy with her progress.

they said if she is still reversing when she is 7 they want to ivestigate further.

Can she really be dislexic and have a reading age that is more than a year ahead?

What can it mean for her in the future if she IS?

They also sggested I get her eyes tested (independant school so they dont do it)

Can anyone tell me if it is really uusual to stll reverse at this age??

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Doldi · 17/03/2011 11:13

I don't think that it is unusual, my daughter reversed her b's and d's for ages and had a d in her name! I wouldn't worry.

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Anaxagora · 17/03/2011 11:20

My 7yo was doing it until quite recently, sometimes with letters as well, though that resolved before the numbers did (perhaps because numbers stand alone whereas letters are more likely to be memorised in the context of words? I haven't seen her doing it recently, so I think she's just grown out of it.

She is left-handed, which def makes a difference, but my older right-handed dc used to do it occasionally as well (often you find it's one particular number or set of numbers they have trouble with). Learning joined-up writing can help with the letter reversing.

I don't think it's of any lasting significance, tbh - if the school want to do tests then let them go ahead, but I wouldn't be throwing money at a private Ed Psych assessment unless the problem persisted well into the juniors.

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SeeJaneKick · 17/03/2011 12:05

Thanks people....I think she's fine too...it would be unusual to be dislexic and still be ahead in reading.

I'll get her eyes tested I think.

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sarahfreck · 18/03/2011 22:38

You can be dyslexic and ahead of your age in reading but would probably be showing "dyslexic" characteristics in reading - things like mis-reading lots of the small words like "the" "and" "is" etc, and "look and guess" where they look at the first few letters and seem to guess the rest of the word, even when it would be within their abilities to decode ( so you might get diagonal instead of diagram for example). It happens more with bright children who have mild to moderate dyslexia but have learned a lot of coping mechanisms. Actually if your dd is like this than it is great that the school are noticing as many times they don't and the child ends up getting frustrated because they know they aren't being able to get down on paper what they know is in their head!

If letter/number reversals haven't sorted themselves out by the end of Key Stage ! then it can be a sign of dyslexia. Many younger children do it though and do not have dyslexia and it just resolves itself. That's why you usually wait until year 3 before pursuing it further!