DD(10) STILL mixes up the right word for pillow / cushion and others

[FusionChefGeoff]

its such a specific issue it’s baffling me! She’s bright, articulate and greater depth in most things in school. But she still gets pillow / cushion mixed up as well as fridge / freezer. No matter how many times I tell her and try different tips to remember it just doesn’t stick?!

Shes pretty bad at spelling - will get the word right in one sentence then wrong later in the same paragraph don’t know if that’s linked or relevant??

just wondering if anyone else’s DC had this; if it has a name and if there are any tricks we could try to help her remember?!?

Mine still gets fridge and freezer mixed up too - I haven’t really thought anything of it really. She’s almost 10

Dh does this and he’s in his late 40s!!

he calls shutters windows, pillows cushions etc.

it does my head in

DH confused the heck out of me a few weeks ago when he announced that he'd been shopping and bought some cosmetics. 😂

He meant toiletries, and couldn't grasp the difference, even when I explained it to him. He was adamant the words were interchangeable.

Could she be dyslexic? Look up 'stealth dyslexia'

DH does this, he is 65 🤷

The pillow/cushion thing could be from watching American TV content? They seem to say pillow for what we would call a cushion. I used to get very irritated by my DC coming out with Americanisms but I think it is pretty much a lost cause these days.

DH struggles with this. Pillow / cushion, hairbrush / comb etc. Drives me mad. He’s dyslexic

I don't know if it 'means' anything in regard to your daughter. But I hear adults do it all the time

floor/ground
roof/ ceiling
& yes pillow/cushion

there are others, but I TRY not to think about them or I'll explode!

Another vote for potential stealth dyslexia www.mnneuropsychology.com/articles/Stealth_Dyslexia.html

I’ve got two dyspraxic people in this house who both do this a lot.

Blankets / sheets / quilts. Cupboards/ drawers / wardrobes.

any of those words are used for any of those things

DS is 13, at a grammar school & still mixes up squirrel & hedgehog. I have no idea how or why. Until he was about 6, he muddled purple and yellow. Every person we saw who had anything to do with eyes was quizzed as to whether you could be yellow/purple colour blind and you can’t be. He’d just somehow swapped them.

As a child i remember getting path and pavement mixed up. I found it frustrating that I couldn’t remember which was which but I grew out of it eventually.

My partner does this! It drives me mad! Pillow/cushion, path/pavement, wardrobe/cupboard, blanket/sheet, towel/tea towel, shirt/t shirt.
I think a lot of them are Americanisms, because he was using computers from a young age and I wasn't. He now works in IT. My vocabulary comes from reading books so it is very different from his.

It’s really interesting to hear this!! And that it’s so common and seemingly with the same words.

Ive wondered about dyslexia so that’s an interesting read and a lot sounds familiar. I might get her to read aloud to see how she does. She reads loads but to herself.

You sound harsh.

I'm dyslexic and do this. Also did well in school. If you made me read allowed you'd put me off reading.

Another one with a dh who mixes up pillow and cushion and he calls a side plate a saucer.

Tbf pillow and coushions are basically the same thing so I don't think it's the much of a big thing?

None of my (teenage) children know the difference between a pillow and a cushion and as others have said I put it down to too much US tv. When I mention it they think I am insane.