Is this 'normal'? Strange mirror writing...

[TrisMas]

I have asked for advice on here recently in regards suggestions for reading material for dd and was given some fab ideas. Something else has come to light so I wanted to ask for other perspectives on this...

Dd is a summer born in year 1, she will be six in june. She is in level 10 for reading and seems to be very good with spellings, in her case (and it may be the same for other good readers) it seems to go hand in hand with her reading as she doesn't seem to need to practice them, she just does them without getting them wrong.

She has now started mirror writing. She writes perfectly normally with her right hand but if she uses her left hand, she writes completely backwards like she's writing in a mirror. The letters, punctuation, numbers. Everything is completely backwards. She also reads backwards and upside down, like she's reading a book normally.

I was thinking about dyslexia but because when she writes with her right hand it is all written normally with all letters the right way around, I don't think it can be this. So has anyone got any ideas about this. Hopefully it isn't going to cause problems for her, but I'm wondering if anyone has heard of it before.

Yay, Jingleybells! Glad to know I'm not alone, and lovely to hear the next generation are carrying on this completely pointless brilliant skill. I am totally right handed, OP, I don't think it's much to do with that or being ambidextrous. Apparently that's more to do with spoken language but I can't remember all the details now....

OP that sounds like a pretty neat trick to me!

Also, I recently went to the Blake exhibitionin Oxford recently where I realised that engravers have to draw or write everything backwards in order for the impression to come out forwards, if you see what I mean. Blake had to teach himself to write backwards as many had done before him. It made me think that he probably could do it quite well to start with and perhaps the best engravers are those who share this skill. (And who unlike me can actually draw!) When she's a bit older she might find it fascinating to look at some of the material - tiny weeny perfect copperplate BACKWARDS writing! Made me feel at home.....

I was the same. I didn't settle which hand to usually use (my right) until I was year 2. I can still write pretty well left handed-I used to in lectures because the group I went with had 2 left handers and if I was next to them, it was easier.

My dm reckoned in a left hand world, I would have been left handed.

The dyslexia, there is a form that is connected with ambidexterity I think. My dm used to reckon I had that mildly, but it was never formally diagnosed. I'm not a good speller, with some words I reckon I've done well to get it close enough to be recognised by spell check. And there's a few other things I have issues with that could be mild dyslexia.
And I struggled with phonics. I only got them in year 2. I remember the click when I realised how they worked.
I was a good reader though (look and see). The point I realised how to work phonics was part way through the second book in the Lord of the Rings trillogy. Good thing they hadn't insisted on phonics for me; I would have been incredibly frustrated.

Well, it certainly sounds like this could be a potentially useful skill for her future!

Her spelling seems to be particularly good. She doesn't need to practice her spellings when she brings them home. We test them as soon as she gets them and she already knows how to spell them, but I've assumed that is linked to her advanced reading, but I'm not sure if that's the case or she just has a very good visual memory. She was very slow at crawling/walking as a baby. She sat at 6 months and that's where she stayed until 18 months old. Instead, she started doing puzzles. I'm one of 5 children and my Mum said she's never seen a child do puzzles as well as DD did at 6 months old. I just figure that DD is very visual, she sees shapes in everything, including words. I don't know...

Phonics she never struggled with either. She will have her phonics test this year and since I'm a worrier, I decided to find some examples of tests, she got them all right.

I did wonder about Dyslexia but because of what appear to be good spelling/reading/phonics/writing skills, I've dismissed it, although I guess time will tell...

I remember someone at work being impressed about his nephew's ability to read upside down and back to front. I was less impressed, because I hadn't realised not everyone could do this. It can be a very useful skill in meetings, when they don't realise you can read their notes.

Actually, I didn't realise not everyone could read upside down until now.