Backwards writing?

[Fel1x]

DS has just started reception. He is just turned 5 and has Aspergers.
he seems to be writing most of his letters and also numbers backwards in his work (we just wrote the numbers 1 to 10 for part of his homework and he wrote 5,6,7,9 and 10 backwards)

Is this normal? part of his Aspergers maybe?because he is left handed?? or a sign of something else? am sure I heard somewhere it could indicate dyslexia but perhaps this is with older children...

I am interested in this too...my DD is just turned 6 and in year 2 she reverses b and d also 2 and 5 ocasionally and sometimes 10...I did read that it was normal but that if she went into year 3 doing it then they should investigate it.

If your son did not have Aspergers i would say not to worry as he is so young...someone with more knowledge thaan I will come on soon I hope.

Apparently this is common in left handed children - don't know much more, but was reading up on it the other day. Not realtd to AS, just the left handed part!

That should be related

Can't help you with the Aspergers or dyslexic aspects, as I have little experience of them, but I'm left-handed and can write perfectly backwards (both block capitals and cursive). To be honest, it is the most intuitive way for left-handers to write. In other words, it's not necessarily connected to any other syndrome, and he might well learn as time goes on what the correct letters should look like.

My DD has just started reception and sometimes she still rights her letters backwards, her words back to front and upside down???!!!! It's kind of like an arabic script, or hyeroglyphics. Looks beautiful, but you need a mirror to read it.

I posted about it a while back and was told that it was quite normal and nothing to worry about. They are now working on letter formation, so I'll let them get through all the letters at school and then see where we are before I start to really worry or ask questions about it.

DS (6) often reverses b and d and 2 and 5.

PS. DD is right handed.

thats really interesting, seems to be linked to him being left handed, i did wonder that!
that puts my mind at rest, thanks

DS has Aspergers and has A* in Maths and Further Maths for GCSE so I don't think the two are connected However being left handed doesn't help and it's still early days yet, some gentle practice ( in sand, bubbles in the bath etc rather than formal writing sheets0 will certainly help but try not to stress to much just yet!

The other thing is that 5 is still very, very young. We're not in the UK and DD2 didn't go into formal schooling until she was 6.3. Before that she was in a Montessori nursery, where they played around with producing numbers and letters, but in a very informal way. What DD produced during that time was outrageous - letters upside down, back to front, all around the side of the paper etc. The nursery was cool about it (very Montessori), and now at 8 she has no problem whatsoever with writing (although neither of my kids are left-handed).

Sometimes I think the educational system in the UK creates all these problems and anxieties by starting school before kids are really ready for it. I don't honestly think you should worry about four numbers written back to front.

"I posted about it a while back and was told that it was quite normal and nothing to worry about"

you should add: Yet

It can be a common mistake at this age. However if still reversing at age 7/8 you should screen for dyslexia. My dd is dyslexic and still reverses (age 8)

My 6 year old ds (not dyslexic) has never reversed

My DD (right handed) used to reverse quite a few letters and numbers and occasionally write entire words/phases backwards. I worried ... till my mum gave me some of my old schoolwork she'd kept, which had a fair scattering of reversals.

It resolved itself, absolutely no problems. It is entirely normal at 5/6

It sounds pretty normal for a child who has just started reception to reverse letters and numbers.

My dd (now in year 1) has a bit of an issue with this. Throughout reception she would write letters and words backwards (she would even write her own name backwards, xilA instead of Alix, most of the time). Her teacher got a bit concerned towards the end of reception and did mention dyslexia. However she's doing well with reading. Now she's in year 1 and no longer writes words backwards, but still has trouble with 'b', 'd' and 'g'. (She's right handed btw)

Can your ds read at all? Obviously if he's just started reception it'll be perfectly normal if he can't read yet, but if he has started making progree towards reading that would be a good sign.

I did this a lot when learning to write, and my ds1 does it too especially with the letters a,i,y,and l.
Both Lefties it will get better with practice, ime.

I really wouldn't worry at this age. It is very common and especially so with left handers. If it hasn't resolved itself after the age of 7, then you could start thinking about whether there are any other problems like dyslexia.

If a child has got dyxlexia I would expect other symptoms as well as letter reversal to be evident before 7.....

I.e. there is no reason to wait until 7 to start thinking about dyslexia if your child has symptoms of dyslexia

However also agree that letter reversal in a child of 5/6 does not indicate dyslexia or anything else.

I did this at school - I remember having to practise at home in copy books. Was just down to left-handedness so don't worry.

As a left hander I used to do this too as it was easier to form letters and numbers that way but I soon learnt to do it the right way As I got older I used to do it to irritate the teachers - a whole essay written backwards was not seen as funny!

My dd is nearly 7, right handed, and doing well in literacy - but she still muddles her b and d on occasion (50% of dh's cards say 'to bab') and several of her numbers are backwards much of the time.

Its getting better, and none of her teachers are worried about it - so I'd say at 5 still very normal.

If you still reverse some letters and numbers at 9 and you are right handed is it anything to worry about? DD is being assessed for ASD but is a very good reader could she be dyslexic?

It really is common for both left and right hand children to reverse letters and I wouldn't scream dyslexia if they were still doing it at age 7 unless there were other concerns. If a child has been taught how to form letters correctly they are less likely to reverse b & d (d starts like an a but goes up tall while b starts like a l) joined handwriting can also help

www.nessy.com/assets/pdfs/funstuff/b_d_nessy.zip

another for the 'lefty child does it quite often' camp.

Serious question about letter formation though - should all the letter formations be the same for a leftie? Eg, how do you form a 'b' ? The way I was taught (like an 'h' and curl under) seems a bit uncomfortable left-handed. And he's doing it like a '6'. Is this OK? Are there any non-standard letter formations which are equally as valid as the standard ways? Like a 'b' as a '6' is one of the ways you can do it joined-up. Just wondering really....

tokengirl only the cross strokes on letters "t" & "f" should be different and they should be made right to left if left handed (so pulling the pen/pencil across the paper rather than pushing a hole in it)

"b" is starts high down to the line up a bit and round to the bottom of the down stroke

Lewis Carroll, a famous left-hander, was able to write a lot of his manuscripts in mirror writing. As an earlier poster has said, it is the most intuitive way to write if a person is left alone to do as they wish with their pen or pencil.

Thanks!