Do lots of young children confuse b and d and write numbers backwards or is this a sign of dyslexia

[handlemecarefully]

Dd - aged 5, seems bright in terms of verbal skills, conceptual skills etc. Struggling with reading (still missing some letter recognition) and confuses 'b' and 'd', also 'g' and 'y' and writes the numbers 2, 5 and 7 back to front.

Is this commonplace at the early stages of formal education or could she by dyslexic?

(Back to check later - must go and collect her from school)

its normal I think.

normal as is writing in reverse

Very normal, and quite common in children of this age.

Ok that's good. Just wondered whether I should be concerned or not

Phew - thanks

My ds does this sometimes as well (6 in January) School haven't said anything.. I assumed it was pretty normal.. so will check back after school run too !

Quite normal I think.

DD used to write entire words backwards sometimes when she was going through that stage

HMC -how'd the interwiew go?

big x post

thanks will cross that off the list of things to stress about.

AFAICS it is incredibly common. DS really struggled with b and d for a while, even when reading, and would also read "was" as "saw" but has been over that for a while. But still does those numbers back to front at 6 1/2.

Lots of children get d and b, and p and q, mixed up int he early days AFAIK. DD has known her letters and sounds for ages,is reading very well (seemed to click over summer) and writes very well. However, she still mixes up b and d at times, and is knwon to write the odd letter and number backwards at times, although not consistently. I did ask her teacher last year about it and was told it was a veyr common practise. They didn't seem concerned, and it certainly doesn't seem to be holding her back in anyway.

Hi ggirl

Literally just going out of the door so can't post long post - thanks very much for last night, I 'passed'!

its pretty normal I think when they are little.
Their brain just like rotates them around. My 3 1/2 year old will inter change b,d and p and other similar looking letter when reading them (she can't write many latters) and I did ask about that and apparently it is common.

Yes, and DD has done the writing of whole words backwards too

Apparantly one little girl in the class in last couple of years went through a stage of reading whole pages of reading books backwards! Yet, no learning problems or difficulties such as dyslexia. Just stopped doing as suddently as she started.

God all the time. Im asking about it at Parent's evening. It drives me bonkers! Doesn't confuse b abd d as such, just always puts b instead of d. And s the wrong way round. And c. And 5. And 7. And 9...

bozza - we have the was and saw thing too!

I apparently put b instead of n

I was told that it is very common at that age and that it is not until they are round about 7 that a teacher would be at all concerned about it.

We made DD a book mark with b and d on it, using the mouthshapes after chatting to her teacher last year.

b starts with closed lips, making a straight line - so b starts with the straight vertical line.

d starts with an open mouth, so d starts with an open circle.

I think it's far more common to mix them up sometimes than NOT mix them up, tbh.

DS has been able to write his name perfectly snce he was 3, and has now, at 6, suddenly started to write S back to front, sometimes.

mmmmmmm reading this has made me think, Dd1 is 7 and still confusing d and b, p and q. I think I will speak to her teacher

Very common , even at 7.

Sparkly there's a thread on here at the moment about possible dyslexia, I will bump it for you.

It's very normal indeed, hmc. All three of mine have done it.

Yes, dd used to write about babby all the time.