How can I determine whether or not my ds has dyslexia?

[Jackie in NE]

Ds, age 7, often writes things perfectly backwards.... like his entire first and last name.

 

The other day, he made a little comic strip and in the little "conversation bubble" thingy, he wrote the dialogue perfectly backwards from right to left. He writes some numbers backwards consistently. When I point out his errors, he says "Is that backwards?", and then is able to correct it by copying the number from where it is written correctly in the text.

 

When sounding out new words, he sometimes sounds them out from right to left. So, "can" would be "nac", for example.

 

Does this sound like dyslexia? Or is this just 7-yr.-old-boy stuff?

 

If this does sound like dyslexia, where do I go from here? Do I have him tested? Where and how? I know there are techniques that teachers can use that can help mitigate the disorder. Where can I learn about them?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[cathmom]

http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html#contents

 

Unless he has other symptoms, my guess would be that it's not dyslexia.

[Guest Lorna]

Our daughter wrote everything perfectly backwards at this age too. She was reading books such as Andrew Lang's fairy books and had read all the Anne of Green Gables books by this time, so I was pretty certain she wasn't dyslexic. Without us doing anything special with her, her letters came right after a year or so. She soon became an excellent speller and writer - probably due to her love of reading.

I wouldn't be too worried, seven is still very young.

Something that made me feel much better about the backwards writing was going to see a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at about the same time. All Leonardo's notebooks were written in backwards writing and people were marvelling at his genius. I could say, 'My daughter can do that'. Sadly I am not sure she could anymore. I must ask her...

[Jackie in NE]

Our daughter wrote everything perfectly backwards at this age too. She was reading books such as Andrew Lang's fairy books and had read all the Anne of Green Gables books by this time, so I was pretty certain she wasn't dyslexic. Without us doing anything special with her, her letters came right after a year or so. She soon became an excellent speller and writer - probably due to her love of reading.

I wouldn't be too worried, seven is still very young.

Something that made me feel much better about the backwards writing was going to see a Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at about the same time. All Leonardo's notebooks were written in backwards writing and people were marvelling at his genius. I could say, 'My daughter can do that'. Sadly I am not sure she could anymore. I must ask her...

 

What a cute story. Thanks for sharing

[Ottakee]

Is he a lefty? If so, that might be part of it. When a lefty writes, they can't see what they just wrote, where a righty can. I am a lefty and wrote backwards at that age so that I could see what I had written as I went along.

 

I have a very simple thing for the reading words http://www.piperbooks.co.uk/resources.htm Go to the notched card. This is a super simple but very effective way of teaching/training the child to read left to right.

[Brigitte]

The same thing has been going through my mind with one of my 7 y.o. twins. She can write in perfect mirror image. In math today she wrote 99 with one nine facing the right direction and the other backwards. Her reading is very, very good, so that keeps me more at ease. I will definitely check out that website.

 

Ottakee, I often wonder if my dd should be left handed and that is why she makes the reversals. She is exactly like me and I am a lefty. In fact, when she was a toddler, it seemed like she would be left handed, but when it came to her writing she ended up using her right.

[siloam]

Ds, age 7, often writes things perfectly backwards.... like his entire first and last name.

 

The other day, he made a little comic strip and in the little "conversation bubble" thingy, he wrote the dialogue perfectly backwards from right to left. He writes some numbers backwards consistently. When I point out his errors, he says "Is that backwards?", and then is able to correct it by copying the number from where it is written correctly in the text.

 

When sounding out new words, he sometimes sounds them out from right to left. So, "can" would be "nac", for example.

 

Does this sound like dyslexia? Or is this just 7-yr.-old-boy stuff?

 

If this does sound like dyslexia, where do I go from here? Do I have him tested? Where and how? I know there are techniques that teachers can use that can help mitigate the disorder. Where can I learn about them?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

Sounds like a possibility to me. Seven can still be borderline and kids can grow out of a lot of issues in the next few years. My oldest reversed a lot of letters till around 8, then stopped and it hasn't been an issue since. But she didn't read words backwards or spell backwards. I have other children that do that. :001_huh:

 

Generally dyslexics learn best from multi-sensory methods. This is largely because dyslexia is a processing issue, so using multiple ways of processing the information helps them overcome it. Try having him write his letters in sand, or to avoid having him make the backwards make cards (just write on a 3x5 card in glue, cover in sand and shake off) for him to trace with his finger. You can also have him trace his letters instead of copy them, and have him say the sounds at the same time. These sort of exercises can't hurt if he is not dyslexic and if he is it will help.

 

Heather

 

[Guest]

We are quite "aware" of the possibility that our kids could be dyslexic. The list of things that lead to dyslexic tendencies? Yeah, we cover all of them. I talked to my pediatrician one time and asked him some questions and he said that I could always take the kids to the school district and they would be tested for free. Now, I haven't ever pursued this, since ds isn't really old enough for me to be concerned, so I don't know if you have to go to the public school or how it works. Just thought I'd throw it out there since no one else mentioned anything.

 

As a side note, my in-laws spent a ridiculous amount of money on my husband when he was younger to have him continuously tested and "treated" and it did squat for him. (Just saying to be very careful before you go spend a lot of money.) They went to some fancy neurological clinic. DH says that was the biggest waste of money.

 

But maybe you can call the school district and see if they offer anything, providing it doesn't compromise your homeschool status or anything funny like that.

[gamommy]

I appreciate everyone's insights. I'm struggling with the same concerns with one of my dd's who will turn 7 in a couple of weeks. Coincidentally she's my first lefty. One of my olders reversed a couple of letters sporadically until sometime in 2nd grade but this little reverses letters and numbers both orally and in her writing almost constantly. Reading and phonics have also been tough.

 

I've been wondering what my next steps were too.

[mktyler]

Unfortunately, dyslexia is a catch-all term that doesn't really apply to specific characteristics, it just means "can't read well." Even if you had your child tested and labelled dyslexic, the testers probably couldn't give you much information about what to do.

 

Often the best approach is to go through the component skills of reading and work on them. For left to right tracking issues, I would suggest:

 

1. Marking the left side of the page or a word to clue what side to start, and have your son slide his finger under the letters as he reads. For my daughter, I also put an arrow from the end of one line to the beginning of the next to help her eyes continue moving in the right direction.

 

2. Make up a sheet of numbers, letters, syllables, or words and have him work through them in the correct order. The emphasis isn't on understanding reading, just practice tracking correctly over and over again.

 

3. Something I'm just making up on the spot, print the first letter of each word in red as it will draw the eye to the left and give a clear place for the eye to jump to. For especially difficult letters, write the left side in red, the right in black.

 

4. While working on these issues, minimize book reading with pictures. The pictures draw the eyes away from the text and it can be difficult for children to return their eyes to the right spot. This then compounds the problem as they try to search for where they were.

 

These activities and modifications are designed to keep the eye moving appropriately across a page. The eye is controlled by muscles that can be trained.

 

Good luck,

Melissa

Minnesota

Reading Program Junkie

dd(10) dd(6) ds(4) ds(1)

[Stacy in NJ]

Writing backwards doesn't mean dyslexia. Dyslexia is difficulty processing written language, reading, spelling, writing. Writing letters or whole words backward can be a sign that there are some language issues, but it doesn't preclude completely normal reading.

 

Can he read? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. If not, you need to be aware that he may have more difficulty with language. Usually dyslexics have universal language issues, meaning it effects how they speak, communicate and develop vocabulary. They tend to speak in generalites, "will you give me the stuff on the thingy." They have a tough time pulling more specific vocabulary out of their brains.

 

HTH, Stacy

[EKS]

The book Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz is a great place to get answers about dyslexia. From what I've read, reversals and sequencing problems *by themselves* aren't an indication of dyslexia. The Shaywitz book gives lists of symptoms for different ages.