Mirror Writing and Dyslexia?

[Luna9]

My dd who is in reception sometimes writes her name from right to left; other times she's does it correctly. She seems to know all the letter phonics and to have good memory however her speech is a bit behind for her age; she has problems with word finding sometimes; she is growing bilingual though. I have an oldest dd who didn't have these issues. I have always worried that there is something not right and she may have dyslexia. nothing has been mentioned at school and there is no history in the family. Any people with experience? should I get her texted or is it too early? ???

it is much too early. most children show mirror writing at some point, and it generally just resolves on its own. if she can do her phonics and remember rhymes and poems, that is great preparation for reading.

If she still does mirror writing at 7 or struggles in other ways, then ask the teachers if they have concerns. But no need to worry in reception.

My 5 year old (year 1 and August birthday) still does letters and numbers back to front quite often. I thought it was reasonably normal? He is left handed if that's any significance. His reading seems to be coming on fine. His handwriting not so great but I hope he'll get there.

My DD is a lefty and does this all the time !!

Hi Luna9,

I am a teacher with experience of Dyslexia and SEN. This is a list of indicators I prepared for another parent to work through. Please look through them and see how they apply to your daughter.

Indicators for Dyslexia - please note that a child may have these and not be Dyslexic and that a child may not have any of these and be Dyslexic. For a concrete diagnosis you will have to consult an E.P.

1. There is a history of Dyslexia in the family i.e. either of the parents or any of the grandparents have trouble with reading or writing.

2. The child's written work does not match up with their verbal ability/intelligence. If your child is described as very bright by teachers but their work doesn't reflect this then it could be an indicator of Dyslexia.

3. Poor phonetic awareness - Dyslexic children typically struggle with Stage 3 Phonics as this is where digraphs are introduced. A good way to test this is through the the use of nonsense words; Dyslexic children don't read, they see symbols (letters) and then remember how to say them and what they mean. This is why they struggle when introduced to new words and spellings because they don't have any strategies for blending or segmenting.

4. Linked to this is the confusion over sound pairs and the reversal of letters. b and d is very common and Dyslexic children find it very hard to distinguish between certain letter pairs. For example the way the sounds z and s are made by the voice box are almost identical. Try it out yourself. The only difference is how you push outwards for z but not for s and your mouth will look the same from the outside for both.

5. Poor reading skills but good at obtaining meaning through context - this is a coping strategy.

6. Mental fatigue (fading out) and complaints of exhaustion. Dyslexic children typically use up 30% more cognitive power than children without Dyslexia, (interpreting all that information and remembering all those words so you can read is hard work), so it isn't uncommon for Dyslexic children to be completely shattered by the end of the school day.

7. Quick to walk but late for other milestones. May have trouble dressing self or tying shoe laces.

8. Poor dexterity and hand eye coordination - accident prone. Not good at sports unless it is practiced a lot. For example, they may seem average at football and therefore not a concern but remember you need to consider how long they practice it as well (even more so with computer games).

9. Poor understanding of rhythm and rhyme. They seem to miss the beat when dancing and cannot clap to a tune. Equally, they may find it hard to keep up with a follow the leader routine i.e patting body (Head, shoulders knees and toes etc).

10. Poor short term memory - they seem forgetful. This can often be contradicted by a good long term memory (remember, they have to remember all those words for reading).

11. Struggles to copy from the board.

12. Struggles with remembering times tables and sequences.

13. May spell/read a word correctly and then misread or misspell it later down the page.

14. Poor handwriting/struggles to hold pen/pencil correctly - this is often linked to Dysgraphia.

15. Poor spacial awareness. Not good at puzzles.

DD dos this as a left hander - see it more in left handed kids