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Primary education

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Original poster

Dyslexia or normal?

14 replies

Normanpriceisnotarolemodel · 30/09/2014 09:44

My 4.1 year old has just started reception. He has known his letters since 3.0 and can read at ORT stage 3 level (his nursery taught him, with us supporting). He knows a fair amount of phonics and can spot sounds within words e.g. ai says A and that kind of thing. However, he has real trouble with symmetrical letters such as b and d. He also sometimes gets to the middle of a word and then starts it again backwards from the end e.g. for cannot he says 'can to'. Have noticed this quite a bit and wondered if this is a common thing at this stage or if it is an early sign of dyslexia? The NHS site specifically mentions b and d as a sign of dyslexia but for 5 years plus. But some of the other signs he is ok with. Not sure if I need to be worried or if there is anything I can do to help him?

OP posts:
Laura0806 · 30/09/2014 12:36

It wouldn't be possible to say as hes so young but my guess is that its just dveelopmental. The things you describe are very very common for children of this age and the fact he is doing so well in his literacy would be grounds for you not to worry at this stage

tigrou · 30/09/2014 12:54

Possibly, if it continues as his reading becomes more confident (this was something my dd did a lot, reading saw for was, had for and, confusing of and for, etc.), but as he's so young and making sound progress, it doesn't sound particularly worrying. Is there dyslexia in the family or any other factors that are making you particularly vigilant?

Redhead11 · 30/09/2014 13:02

if he is dyslexic, he will have other problems, too, like missing out or adding words or lines, but until he is reading securely, i would not be worried. He is still very young

Lonecatwithkitten · 30/09/2014 13:43

Do you have any family history of dyslexia? If not I would watch and wait for a while.
If you do have a family history I would start to make your own investigations school is unlikely to be prepared to consider it till year 3.

Madcats · 30/09/2014 20:52

Don't panic, but encourage.

I freaked out (ever so slightly) in reception with my DD. She had a good spoken vocabulary but it took her at least 6 months to match letters to sounds (you probably nailed this at nursery; ours made a conscious decision to encourage vocal, not reading). Phonics suddenly seemed to make sense around Easter time but she would still easily mistake b'd and p/q and b/p

Fast forward to yr 1: She would happily start reading a sentence and then suddenly a word in the middle would be read backwards. Even she would hesitate because she could tell it was wrong. The school told me not to panic...

Year 2, she waltzed through SATS. I'm glad I "carried on talking" because she is now a fab little reader who devours books.

If there is no obvious history of dyslexia in the family, then just encourage your child to talk and enjoy books.

Thelovecats · 30/09/2014 20:56

He's only just 4. Most children can't read at all. Give him more time please. There are good reasons schools don't assess until nearer to 7 years old.

Original poster
Normanpriceisnotarolemodel · 30/09/2014 22:01

Thank you everyone. Very reassuring.

OP posts:
Doodledot · 30/09/2014 22:17

Way too early. Have the class won't yet be able to write their name . Most get d and b mixed up

halamadrid · 01/10/2014 19:49

Young children get b, d, p, q mixed up because they are the same shape. They just see the shape and write it down any old how. It's just like a doll is still a doll whether standing up or standing on its head and a car is still a car even if it is upside down. Therefore a b is still a b whether it looks like this b or this d or this p and a d is still a d whether it looks like this d or this p or this b etc ! It's a developmental thing at your child's age. Later on it can be one of the signs of dyslexia but other traits will be evident too.

Doodledot · 01/10/2014 21:09

Hala brilliant explanation !!!

halamadrid · 01/10/2014 21:18

Thanks!

Original poster
Normanpriceisnotarolemodel · 03/10/2014 14:54

Halamadrid, that's right, I'd recognised that symmetry was the issue, as d and b are mirror images! Hopefully he'll get it in time. Thanks everyone for your comments.

OP posts:
Ruth10 · 03/10/2014 21:39

I'm a teacher, this is completely normal for LOTS of children in years R to 2. If he is already reading at this level this early in reception it is highly unlikely he is dyslexic, most children at this point in reception know about 6 sounds, he is far beyond that!

Soveryupset · 04/10/2014 07:34

He is way too young and like others say if he learned to read so easily it is unlikely to be dyslexia. My dd1 is 5 and just started reception and doesn't know any letters or sounds, nor do the vast majority of her class, so he is doing well.

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