Mirror writing

[TwoLeftSocks]

This has just thrown me this morning - practicing a few homework spellings with DS1 (7 & a half, ADHD dx), I'd write them them cover and ask him to write them out...

ball - wrote it perfectly, even got the b the write way round,
saw - wrote it out right apart from the s was backwards,
got - spelt it just right, except he wrote it perfectly mirrored, the whole word from right to left. And to him it was just right.

He got a 'well done, great work' from me and went back to playing.

I'm meeting with the SENCO and his teacher next week, and was already going to ask about a dyslexia assessment, but am wondering if anyone knows about this sort of thing.

Are there other things we should be thinking about other than dyslexia, or could this just be a developmental maturity thing? I've not seen him mirror write since Yr1 and it's really taken me aback.

Did he write the word from left to right or right to left?

He wrote it from right to left, starting with the g, and following the path he'd normally follow using cursive script. It looks perfect when I look at it in the mirror.

He's not doing great with his reading or his spelling, so I was planning on asking about that anyway - being able to look away and remember the aw of saw (rather than straight away spell it sor) is an achievement in itself.

I guess the mirror thing might be something he grows out of, but might be linked to general ability to figure out words.

Does he have sensory difficulties / has he had an OT assessment? As I've found out recently, left-right reversals can also be caused by a poorly functioning vestibular system, as that system contributes towards spacial awareness and directionality. Apparently these difficulties are sometimes misdiagnosed as dyslexia as they can look very similar.

My DS (almost 7) has SPD, and will

• read words and numbers backwards e.g. will look at "24" and say "forty two", or read "no" as "on".
• mirror-write some numbers and letters (although not whole words)
• write a sentence from R to L (although each individual word will be written L to R, iyswim!).

Don't worry zzzzz, I hadn't even noticed your spelling :)

I'd made out cards for him before (and I think school have done this too), he's not too bad at building words if they follow some sort of phonic logic, but he still struggles on phemones (think that's the right word) of more than one letter - sh, er, air, ing, etc. He'll struggle to spot them in words too, or to break down words into sounds.

Jacksterbear - for sensory things he struggles with zoning out ambient sound, and has fidget toys and a wobble cushion at school, which help. Are those the sorts of things you mean (still working out what sensory counts as).

Like your DS though, he'll mirror write individual letters, sometimes within the same word, still sometimes writes 3, 5 and 9 backwards, often reads 'on' as 'no', and took a long time to get the hang of two digit numbers.

I'm definitely going to look into that a bit more - do you know if that's something that gets assessed through school or by the peaditatrician?

I mirror wrote when I was 5-6. Whole pieces of work that were absolutely perfect when read through a mirror. This was put down to my severe dyspraxia and I eventually stopped doing it.

You could talk to school about having him assessed for dyslexia or dyspraxia.

The peadiatrician did say, when he got his ADHD dx that he has some dyspraxia traits too, and also the odd autism trait, though I guess not enough to have a stand alone diagnosis.

for sensory things he struggles with zoning out ambient sound, and has fidget toys and a wobble cushion at school, which help. Are those the sorts of things you mean

^ Yes, it sounds like there might be some sensory issues there. And dyspraxia is also closely linked to sensory problems. There seem to be varying routes to getting a referral to be assessed by an OT (we went GP-paed-OT but I've seen other posters refer to different routes) but I guess ask school first of all and then GP.

I'm meeting with school next week so I'll ask, might ask with one of the other mums too who might have been through the sensory side of things for her DS. We have a review meeting with the ADHD nurse in a few weeks so I can ask then too if needed.

Really helpful, thanks.