Early signs of dyslexia

[MrsMopple]

DH is dyslexic, as are his dad and other rellys on the male side of the family. I mentioned to MIL that ds (nearly 4) will look at the letter b and say 6, or g and say 9. I can completely see why he gets them confused as of course they look very similar, but MIL said that doing this was a marker for dyslexia.
Is this true? Or is she doing her usual of asserting something she's made up?!

She's right to an extent and also wrong. It's true that dyslexic children often do have trouble mixing up letters, but it's also something that many non-dyslexic children do as well. Dyslexic children do tend to persist in doing it for longer though. At nearly 4 I don't think anyone should be putting a label on a child for muddling letters, but if he's still doing it a lot at primary age then it would be worth considering if he has any other dyslexic charateristics too. Dyslexia can run in families so it's probably wise to watch out for it, but there's a lot more to it than just muddling letters.

You may find the following page helpful- Is my child dyslexic?

www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/is_my_child.htm

very common for children to mix up 6/9 and b/d/p and 3/5 at this age. At nearly 4 it's too early to tell