9yr old son transposing letters... teachers??

[*JoGo*]

My 9.5yr old son is in 4th grade and still transposes b's and d's. He also makes letters the wrong way... he makes 6's from the loop part up to the top, and it looks like a 0. He makes D's in one stroke, down, then the curve up.... and it looks like a O.

He had a multiple choice test in his folder today, answers A-F or something... Except his D's looked like O's and were marked wrong. His teacher wrote that O was not even an option. Dh is mad, the teacher was being a smart-alec.

We did a math problem 5 times last night, resulting in 5 different answers. Between the 0's and 6's, then his 2's and 3's look the same, and his commas look like 1's. And he doesn't line his numbers up. It's a mess.

He also has trouble copying his assignments off the board. I think it's him being lazy, trying to abbreviate words, but he also mangles the spelling.

His eyes have been tested.
Is transposing at this age normal?
What should I be doing?
Should he be tested for something?
He's my oldest. Sometimes I feel like I'm over-reacting, imagining things are wrong... so I forget about it for awhile, then I worry I'm avoiding a problem and making it harder to correct... but I don't even know if there is a problem!

Help.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Has he been tested for dyslexia or dysgraphia?

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

My son still does this occasionally, but only with d and b. He is also 9. His teacher told us that he has mild dyslexia and he is improving.

When he really focuses, he never gets them reversed anymore...

 

[*JoGo*]

My dad was dyslexic. Is it hereditary? Could he have made it to 4th grade w/o being diagnosed?

He can read. But he struggles w/ getting things down on paper.

 

[clarabelle]

Im no teacher -but I think I would see if the school can test him. If nothing else -for your piece of mind.
Go with your instincts

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

My dad was dyslexic. Is it hereditary? Could he have made it to 4th grade w/o being diagnosed?

He can read. But he struggles w/ getting things down on paper.

My wife and I noticed it in our son in the first grade. The schools did not notice it until we pointed it out. I would get him tested if I were you.

Our son worked with therapists for a few years (he also had issues with his fine motor skills), and he has improved greatly...

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Make a request, in writing, to the school and/or district's special ed department to get him evaluated for the reasons you stated here.

I do believe that dyslexia is hereditary. And yes, it's possible to get to 4th grade with undiagnosed learning disabilities. There is a sort of shift at 4th grade in the focus of instruction. Up through the third grade, there is a huge focus on learning TO read; in the 4th grade it shifts to learning through reading.

It's possible he was using compensation strategies in grades K-3 that are no longer working, or no longer working well enough.

 

[mrsv98]

One way to try and narrow down the issue is to have him write a story on the computer. This will take the formation of letters out of the equation and allow you to see if he is making spelling and syntax errors or if it is simply a motor issue. If he still swaps out letters, such as "b" for "d" then you may have a neurological issue like dyslexia. If not, it may be that the trouble lies in his dexterity.

I used to teach 2nd grade and we had a couple of really creative kids with horrendous handwriting but give them a keyboard and the issues went away. Also remember that boys are slower to develop small motor coordination so he may be a late bloomer.

I agree with making a formal requset to the school for testing. It may take a while though, to have the tests done so try the keyboard idea in the meantime.

 

[Macca1111]

My dad was dyslexic. Is it hereditary? Could he have made it to 4th grade w/o being diagnosed?

Yes, and yes. And I was going to say more, but the post above me said what I wanted to.