How do i stop my little man form doing things backwards?

[Athena404]

Recently I noticed my son has been doing alot of things the wrong way round. For example he reads was as saw, draws 5s as 2s, his rs are backwards, and will occasionally write a word like drow. He didn't used to do this and now he's doing it increasingly. Is there something I should be doing to help him stop? I don't even think he realises he does it

Have you spoken to your doctor?

No... Why would I?

He sounds dyslexic and in the nicest possible way as you put form rather than from maybe you are too as it does run in families...
ask his school or nursery if they have noticed too and whether they think he needs a learning needs assessment

It depends how old he is. Is he left handed? This is more common in lefties. If he is less than 6, I wouldn't worry, it's very common. Just keep an eye and ask the teacher what you can do to help. Between 6 and 7, I would be having a word with his teacher more firmly. Over 7, and it's a new thing, I'd be taking him to GP.

How old is he? It's very common for children in KS1 to do this so I wouldn't worry but I'd keep an eye on things.
It's important to reinforce correct letter and number formation (every time he writes a number of letter) make sure he starts and ends in the correct place using the right sequence of movements. Often when children have learnt letters/numbers by copying the shape or tracing over dots or lines they develop bad habits resulting in reversals and if it's not correct it becomes habit.
When writing words I'd ask him to say the sounds as he writes them that ensures he starts at the beginning. I suspect he's trying Write from memory.

For reading I would get him to finger point and if he looks at saw and says was asking him to look and say the first sound ask I
"Is that the first sound in was?" Has he been taught high frequency /tricky words as wholes by sight rather than how to decode through the word?

Reversing letters, numbers and words isn't a sign of Dyslexia even though the myth is well established.

Mrs - yes it is...

It is also a normal developmental phase but doing it to a greater degree than other children and continuing to do it as absolutely one of the symptoms of dyslexia

No twisted it isn't ...it's an old wives tale. In fact reversals are more common in non dyslexic chikdren

Well as a dyslexic myself this was one of my main symptoms - problems sequencing letters - really you don't know what you are talking about

How old is he?

For writing I found that my DD's school taught cursive (joined up) writing from the start and you can't write like that backwards very easily, so that fixed her back to front letters.

The back to front numbers have taken 2 years of school to fix, but reminders from her teachers and the very occasional prod from me has been enough.

I do think being left handed makes a difference and my DD is t left handed.

That should say 'isn't'

DD1 is 6 and if you look through her reception & yr1 maths & English books she still sometimes does this but increasingly rarely. As pp have said - how old is he? I think it's a normal development phase for lots of children, or at least that is what the school told me.

Pretty much nobody really knows what they are talking about regarding dyslexia. It is a pretty ill defined concept. Most psycholgists go with the Rose report definition (failure to develop good reading and / or spelling despite appropriate teaching over time, not purely explained by learning difficulties) whereas dyslexia institute and the like do their own thing about sequencing and memory and that sort of stuff.

If you paid for your diagnosis Twist I'd ask for a refund and point them to the evidence.

My own view is that dyslexia is a useful catch all term but to help properly you need to define the cause. Sometimes this seems related to auditory processing (ability to discriminate sounds clearly), sometimes to visual processing (which would be the sequencing and / or reversing).

Mrs the evidence is that I'm dyslexic - I struggle with sequencing, short term memory, reading time tables, remembering phone numbers, self organization/sorting
Honestly what are you on about? And no of course I didn't pay for my diagnosis my college did

OP: how old is your DS?

How old is your son? I agree with pp that for a 6yo this is completely normal.

Although there is a lot of dyslexia/dyspraxia in the families it seems more like he just isn't thinking it through, going too fast. Like maybe as he's getting more fluent he's becoming less accurate. Does that make sense?

They need a refund

What age is he?

Twist: have a look at executive functioning.

How old is he?

It is quite normal, but whether it is in your DS will depend on his age. Have you discussed it with the school?

I know someone who wrote in perfect mirror image for quite some time. Totally normal, one day it just flipped the right way. She wasn't dyslexic or left handed.

Speak with the school, particularly their SEN co-ord if you believe it isn't normal developmentally.

oldbirdy I bloody love what you've said! Not always a popular view but I'd say you're dead right