To be concerned about my DC's writing?

[nanbread]

My DC aged 6 will write whole sentences in mirror writing. He forms most of his letters incorrectly and even when writing forwards he will mirror many letters. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of writing left to right, or top to bottom and struggles with space on the page.

What's within the realms of normal at this age, and what's going on?

Mirror writing is quite common isn't it?

Chat to the teacher.

Dyslexia? The most frequently quoted definition of dyslexia in the Rose report talks about difficulty in developing skills of reading and spelling over time despite appropriate teaching: "Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. ... Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities"

Nothing about mirror writing or struggling to firm letters in that definition of dyslexia. This sounds like a lateralisation issue coupled with a fine motor difficulty, both of which might be attributable to poor visual spatial processing and motor planning. It is much more common in left handers. My lefty son mirror wrote a fair bit in reception, but I think he had it sorted by year 1. If your child is left handed I wouldn't worry too much. Work on letter formation using sand trays, in flour, in chalk on pavements, in water on a wall on a hot day, on whiteboards, etc. You can buy handwriting books or apps no doubt these days which teach letter formation. Practise a little each day. I wouldn't worry about dyslexia unless he also struggles with reading and/or spelling.

My 6 year old sometimes does this, its absolutely nothing to ne concerned about

@Thethuthinang

My lefty son was a true mirror writer. Between age 3 and 6, he consistently wrote right to left and backwards, producing a neat mirror image. He could read a mirror image more easily than plaintext. I ended up learning a lot about it from various therapists and research. This is much more common for lefties in nations where the language runs left to right; in countries where the language goes right to left, it is more common for righties to do it. If a six year old child writes mirror on one side of the page and goes the normal direction on the other side of the page, it is typical for a left-handed child with a bicameral language center. So long as it is consistent, this is not dyslexia; that is, the child is not directionally confused. But it can lead to dyslexia if the child is forced to turn and go in the standard direction before her brain matures. The child will lose confidence in her natural sense of direction and become permanently directionally confused. About 25 percent of kids diagnosed with dyslexia actually do fine if given text or allowed to write text that runs in their atypical direction of choice--upside down, backwards, or sideways. Typically mirror writers will notice when they are older (age 10 to 13) that they are reading/writing differently than those around them and self-correct.

Interesting!

It's not consistent at all, and he is right hand, however he doesn't hugely favour that hand and talks about using his left hand. When younger he used to pick up two pens and draw mirror images with both hands at the same time, what he drew with the left mirroring the right.

Unfortunately I'm pretty sure he won't be allowed to continue doing this until he naturally grows out of it...

@Teenylittlefella

Dyslexia? The most frequently quoted definition of dyslexia in the Rose report talks about difficulty in developing skills of reading and spelling over time despite appropriate teaching: "Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. ... Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities"

Nothing about mirror writing or struggling to firm letters in that definition of dyslexia. This sounds like a lateralisation issue coupled with a fine motor difficulty, both of which might be attributable to poor visual spatial processing and motor planning. It is much more common in left handers. My lefty son mirror wrote a fair bit in reception, but I think he had it sorted by year 1. If your child is left handed I wouldn't worry too much. Work on letter formation using sand trays, in flour, in chalk on pavements, in water on a wall on a hot day, on whiteboards, etc. You can buy handwriting books or apps no doubt these days which teach letter formation. Practise a little each day. I wouldn't worry about dyslexia unless he also struggles with reading and/or spelling.

Thanks that's useful.

He's not a leftie, uses his right hand predominantly although tends a little towards ambidexterity. He does have some processing issues and neuro "quirks" and is behind in reading despite having a high IQ.

It's v v hard to get him to engage with the things you mention for letter formation but I will try!