I Know It's Too Early to Diagnose (Maybe?)

At this age and up to age 6-7 even, it's normal for children to misspell words and see them as correct. If he were doing this at age 10, then I'd look into what the problem might be. He's doing great. Don't worry about teaching him "wrong." There is no right or wrong way. My daughter knew how to write her name at age 4 and when she got tested for a private school, they asked her to write her name and she made a bunch of shapes. The teacher was all indignant and in my face about it but I knew that she had been writing her name well for 2 years. I don't think my daughter appreciated her attitude while testing because she said that she couldn't think straight with the lady being so pushy. =) She's 15 now and doing great! Good luck!

Think about this, a chair is a chair if you hang it upside down. A cat is a cat if you draw it facing the left or right. A b is a q if you change its page orientation, and writing lower case letters is the first time this matters in life. It is a huge developmenat concept, and if I get this right, he is not even in Kindergarten yet, and reversals will still be nothing to worry about through first grade. Additionally, reversals have nothing to do with dylexia. Reversals that continue beyond a typical developmental stage can be a sign of comorbid visual motor and visual perceptual issues (very frequently associated with ADHD.)

Dyslexia is an inabilty to decode sound symbol relationships. He is too young to diagnose this because he is too young to have had, and understood, whole langauge reading instruction (the way most schools teach reading.) About 10% of children cannot learn sound symbol relationships and decoding without direct alphabet phonics instruction, and are dyslexic. All children can learn to read with an alphabet phonics instruction program, so if he has trouble learning to read, once it is actually time to do so, request that he be tought to read with an alphabet phonics program at the first opportunity.

As for ADHD, you do not describe ADHD issues, as activity is really not the biggest issue most children have, but it is a myth that a qualified developmental pediatrician could not diagnose ADHD this early, or earlier, with a full scale evaluation. Brain dysfunction does not kick in when children reach a certain age, it is either there, or not.

Sometimes, trying to get ahead of the curve on learning, really sets kids behind, when we do something out of order, or teach them something that must be relearned correctly later. It is one reason that kids don't really need much more than home enrichment before kindergarten begins, with parents reading to kids, talking, and singing to them all day is enough for them to excell in Kindergarten once they get there.

He has a chance of having these issues, a greater chance than most children, becuase his father has them. You should keep an eye on it, not becuse of the reasons you stated, but for signs of fine motor and perceptual issues (once he gets there) that are associated with the frequently comorbid ADHD issues, which can also stand alone if there is a family history. Bottom line though, he has to get to a point where he is beyond that developmental stage for you to see issues.

M.

Hi AM, my boys occasionally 'forgot' the proper way to write their name (among other basics) straight through 1st grade. I think they learn SO very many new things everyday some things occasionally go by the wayside. Plus, like every other skill, before it's a sure bet they can regress a few times.

I'm happy to report the oldest name forgetting boy is now away at an engineering school on merit scholarships, and the S. name forgetting boy is a hs junior with a 4.0 in his AP classes.

So yes, you're right, it's just too early for real concern.

Cannot believe that this is something that the PRESCHOOL teacher corrected!! You must be in a very academic preschool. And even then-this should not be an issue at all until Kindergarten. All children learn the 'capital' way of spelling first and then when they get a little older and are taught their lower case they are asked to concentrate on doing it correctly. I it were me I would tell the teacher that you do not want to make a fuss with your son on this. Look at the problems it already caused-now you are thinking he may have issues and surely he gets that there is a problem now with his writing-which he was probably SO proud of before. You don't want to turn him off. Keep working with him in caps.
One more thing-children are born with the ability to see in mirror images. As we teach them to read and write we gradually take this ability away and replace it with traditional left to write. So you will probably see many things in the upcoming years that will cause you to think of dyslexia-I know i did. They would flip flop letters, letters would be backwards, etc. Try not to worry too much about this. By S. grade it will shake out better. My first grader still reverses letters and he is way above the curve in his class.

Don't worry about it the writing. That's what Kindergarten will work on. Yes, it's nice to use proper case, but kids learn upper case very easily. Then transition into lower case. My son is in Kindergarten now (he just turned 6). He has known how to write his name for 3 years, but he just started liking to use lower case.

Just as a note, I've noticed quite a few of his letters were backwards (n,d,g, etc), I too being a only child mom, have been concerned about dyslexia with him. I've been told it's perfectly normal for him to write his letter backwards occasionally. He would read backward until a couple months ago. Now he's reading on his own. I was also reassured from all his teachers he was fine.

I wouldn't worry.

I'd also like to add, since this post we had parent/teacher conferences and he is at the top of his class, so there's no need to worry. Your son will be fine.

.

My son is 4 1/2, and in his S. year of preschool (a couple half days a week). Naturally, they work on writing his name, and we dabble at home, although I don't push it. And I'd describe my son a lot like yours, bright, energetic, emotional, etc. etc. And he also mixes up the letters in his name. They are not always written in order, and sometimes the letters themselves are backwards or upside down. Normal for this age. I understand your concern, with your husband's issues, and definitely something to watch for, but as I understand it, it's normal to see these things until about age 6. If it persists beyond that point, I'd look into it.

Thank you Martha for your always informative and well thought out responses. Always nice to get good, sound information from people who know about things.

don't worry about it yet. When my oldest started kindergarten he started mixing up b and d q and p h and y and a few others and on the developmental sheet his teacher gave us it is very common for kids preschool/kindergarten age to switch the letter order in words, mix up letters, etc after they already know them.

Upper/lower case are all different being taught 1 & not the other will trip up kids.When moms say my child knows the ABCs well they may know them but recognizing them is different & being able to point them out saying this is the letter Uu or writing them...
It is too early to diagnose dyslexia I say this because this is what my sons teacher said they are still learning he is in 1st grade knows his letters numbers etc but now writing/reading words is tripping up kids only because it is a normal stage in development same with numbers.She suggested like I already do receit what he reads then writes it if it needs to be corrected know your mistake before continuing.His dad is dyslexia not bad(horrible speller) he does fine reading & writing..
Practice daily writing his name the correct way.I also did teach him to write all letters in all caps I thought why not he needs to learn both ways why not just start somewhere so we did the all caps after those were learned it went to lower case this was during his preschool years didn't have an issue in kindergarten(you have plenty of time to correct the way he writes)he is 4 my kiddo didn't start kindergarten till he was almost 6 late birthday it only gets easier as they get older they are able to understand more of what letters are the sounds the way they look when written etc.

I think that's a pretty picky pre-school and or pre-school teacher!
He's only 3.5/4?!
My son used to do mirror writing--which was freaky--he still does sometimes if he feels like it.
I personally wouldn't worry about it. I'll bet by Kindergarten, IF there are signs obvious to the teacher, they will discuss.

Reversing letters, mirror writing and other mix-ups are very common well into elementary school. If they are occuring regularly after age 8, his teacher may raise the concern. Children don't really establish the concept of left-to-right until they start reading and actively writing.

Is he 4? Please don't worry about this if he's this young. It is far far too early to have him assessed for a learning disability. Dislexia (for the record) has nothing to do with writting in reverse. It's literally an inability to read fluently.

Keep an eye out, but don't stress over it.

My daughter is Anna and she used to do the same thing. Sometimes she wrote Nana, sometimes Anan, sometime even Anna and sometimes she was Naan (I used to tease her that we LOVE the Naan at Indian restaurants, but SHE was a little girl and we couldn't POSSIBLY eat HER!) Anyway, she's in 3rd grade now and spelling isn't an issue. In fact, nothing is, she's doing really, really well. Your little guy is still young - I wouldn't worry about it. And you know what to look for, so if it continues, you'll be on top of it.

Good morning!
Too early to diagnose dyslexia? Since dyslexia is an inherited disorder or difference in learning there are actually many signs early in your child's life that you can notice on your own. Did they learn to talk or walk earlier or later than expected? That's just one way you might early on notice dyslexia in your child.

About 17% of the population is dyslexic; being dyslexic means we have a visual-spatial learning style which scientists say is a result of the rapid way our brains process information. The brain of a dyslexic actually processes up to 2,000 times faster than the rest of the population who are more word thinkers---we are more picture thinkers.

I find it's very common for people to think that reversing letters and confusing words is simply something everyone does. In reality it's a sign of someone who is using the 'creative' part of their brain instead of the parts geared toward academics. About 75% of the population does use this part of the brain at least some of the time, so almost everyone can do things like imagine the letter b as a d. But a 'picture thinker' is more apt to think this way in multiple areas of their life.

You can look at some of the 37 common characteristics of dyslexia here: http://onpointlearning.org/2.html

It is very common and normal when i child learns to write their name to put the letters in the wrong order. All of my children started writing their names backwards for a while AFTER writing it correctly at first. Also I did the same thing with my first son, taught him to write his name in all caps. That was how I was taught in kindergarten.

Relax! It is perfectly normal! If he is cooperative and focused in school, I would not worry. If there are behavior or focusing issues, then I would look at ADHD. His writing skills are normal---schools have so much pressure on them these days with Bush's "No Child Left Behind," that the youngest children are forced to excel beyond their developmental capabilities.
Teachers are required to show that preschool/kindergarten students excel in fine motor, comprehension, etc. These skills normally do not develop in small children (especially boys) until well into the S. grade year. When the changes occured in schools due to the new law, the pressures increased for children and educators. Unfortunately, with the goal for no child to be left behind, the system does leave children behind! It lets our children's childhood and natural development suffer in order to achieve academic success!
Relax and help your child with his name. In time, he will master it. It is NOT a medical or educational deficiency!
Good luck and enjoy your intelligent little guy!