Dyslexia

[Mamabear04]

At what age does dyslexia start to show? DD is almost 4 and a half year and has shown an interest in writing. I haven't taught her very much but she's picked up the alphabet and loves writing her name. On more than one occasion I've found that she's written her name backwards (ie if her name was Katy she would write it YTAK)and all the letters will be backwards too. Is this normal for a preschooler or is it a warning to look out for dyslexia? Are there other things I should look out for? Or other less obvious signs?

Completely normal at this age.

Is she by any chance left handed? I am, and that's exactly what I did when I first started writing. I'm not dyslexic.

My son is dyslexic (and right handed). At your daughter's age he couldn't "hear" rhyming words, or the rhythms of songs and nursery rhymes. He also had very unclear speech and would put a "d" sound at the front of lots of words. He couldn't grasp games like I spy either.

@ApplePippa yes, I actually think she is left handed although flits between both hands. Her memory is brilliant and is very clear in her speech but will still pronounce certain words wrong like "do" for "go" but nothing I've been too worried about....

I'm no expert, but it doesn't sound like you have much to be worried about.

(I can remember my teacher getting me to trace letters and numbers to help me write them the right way round. That was in 1979, and teaching methods have changed a lot since then!)

We've just been told to have DD assessed for dyslexia, none of the assessors will see them before they're 7 because a lot of the signs can be common in those age groups anyway. She doesn't reverse whole words, just letters/numbers, struggles to blend (has learnt by sight rather than phonetically) and cannot spell to save her life!

Struggling to blend and relying on sight word reading is a sign. If she has phonemic difficulties she will find spelling challenging. If her letters are atypical in orientations it is also a flag- would be interested to know the outcome if she was assessed

She is just learning to write and started school about 6 weeks ago. She is still writing her name (and all letters) backwards. I have a meeting with her teacher next week so will ask about it...