mirror image writing

[proud_canadian]

Does anyone have experience with a child doing mirror image writing (letters backwards and words right to left), so that when held up to a mirror, it looks correct?

My DD4 is doing this and not even realizing she is doing it. I would really have to think about doing that. We have a call in to our OT, but curious if anyone has any first hand experience.

 

[5lilfish]

Does anyone have experience with a child doing mirror image writing (letters backwards and words right to left), so that when held up to a mirror, it looks correct?

My DD4 is doing this and not even realizing she is doing it. I would really have to think about doing that. We have a call in to our OT, but curious if anyone has any first hand experience.

Is your child a lefty? My niece and my oldest daughter both did this. I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but both of them are left handed. Regardless, they are now 14yrs old and 12yrs old and perfectly fine/normal.

Jess

 

[bellarella]

It's a normal phase, or so I've been told. My children both did it at around that age. Freaked me out the first time. One is left-handed, the other is right handed. It wasn't a persistent thing for them -- just once in awhile I'd get a project that had mirrored writing on it.

 

[Avalon_toon]

My son did this when he was little - he's a lefty. He doesn't do it anymore (although his hand writing is definitely not neat!)

 

[Magpie]

My son had some extensive psycho-educational testing done at 4.

Apparently mirror-writing isn't a big worry at this age, unless the child is switching all over the place.

For instance, my son didn't just mirror-write, he also wrote upside down, backwards, inside-out... and all in the same word. And even when he was trying to write his own name (very simple, just 4 letters)! He has a learning disability that messes with his sense of direction.

Apparently, if he'd just switched to mirror writing occasionally and stuck with it, that'd be fine. If he could copy accurately, with the letters in front of him, that'd also be fine. But he couldn't do either of those. Even tracing was difficult, because his hand would go off in unexpected directions - the doctor said that my son was basically living in a fun-house universe. Imagine if everything you saw was reflected in a mirror and the orientation kept changing without warning. You'd be pretty confused, too!

FWIW, my boy's also a lefty.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My SIL did and ended up having severe Dyslexia because it never resolved itself. If it were me I'd get help right away to prevent that scramble parents have to deal with once stuff surfaces in school. But that's just me, I like to get ahead of things and considering how hard SIL struggled I'd want intervention as early as possible. BTW, she grew up to be a secretary making very good $ in NYC, the letter thing wasn't an issue with keyboards, for her anyway.

 

[Magpie]

My SIL did and ended up having severe Dyslexia because it never resolved itself. If it were me I'd get help right away to prevent that scramble parents have to deal with once stuff surfaces in school. But that's just me, I like to get ahead of things and considering how hard SIL struggled I'd want intervention as early as possible. BTW, she grew up to be a secretary making very good $ in NYC, the letter thing wasn't an issue with keyboards, for her anyway.

I'm all in favour of early intervention, but I'd just like to clarify that your SIL's mirror writing didn't cause her to have Dyslexia. It didn't make her Dyslexia worse, either. Her brain was already wired to be Dyslexic, and the mirror writing was just the first symptom of it. The fact that she didn't get help until later, simply means that no one realized the significance of her particular mirror writing.

I saw an adult woman on TV once who could write normally with one hand and mirror write with the other - at the same time! That was pretty cool to see. She wasn't Dyslexic, she was ambidextrous.

 

[SeaSpray]

I can write (in cursive) mirror-image. It amazes people when I do it. I don't have to practice it; I can write anything that anyone asks me to. Some people thought that I had practiced writing my own name over and over, and that was the only reason I could do it, but that's not the case. lol

I don't remember doing it when I was young, though. I think I realized that I could do it when I was older, maybe even a teenager.

I had bad penmanship when I was young (elementary school), but once I hit junior high, I decided that I wanted to write "nicely", so I made myself do that. lol

I should mention that I am left-handed, but I'm also ambidextrous in many things, especially when it comes to writing.

Please let us know what the OT says. I'm curious about what writing in this way signifies to the medical profession.

Personally I just think it signifies that those of us who can do it, are able to use parts of our brains that maybe others can't or don't.

 

[Liberty Belle]

My oldest son did this. I remember when he was four he wrote "football" on a piece of paper (asking me how to spell it) and he wrote it completely backwards. He's left-handed.

My youngest never did this and he's right-handed.

My husband has dyslexia and my oldest didn't catch on with reading until second grade, so he could have some mild dyslexia, too, but I bet it has more to do with being left-handed.

 

[SeaSpray]

I'm all in favour of early intervention, but I'd just like to clarify that your SIL's mirror writing didn't cause her to have Dyslexia. It didn't make her Dyslexia worse, either. Her brain was already wired to be Dyslexic, and the mirror writing was just the first symptom of it. The fact that she didn't get help until later, simply means that no one realized the significance of her particular mirror writing.

I saw an adult woman on TV once who could write normally with one hand and mirror write with the other - at the same time! That was pretty cool to see. She wasn't Dyslexic, she was ambidextrous.

I agree with this that the mirror writing didn't cause dyslexia. I work in accounting and if I were even slightly dyslexic I wouldn't be able to do my job. Being able to keep large strings of numbers in order, and memorizing strings of numbers, is important.

I'm not sure if mirror writing is a "symptom" of dyslexia though. It might just be a coincidence, or just the way her brain is wired.

 

[JustineMarie]

My daughter also used to do this when she was in preK and Kindergarten and even occasionally in 1st grade. She writes fine now. She's also a lefty.

 

[Mickey527]

I am a lefty and wrote that way in K and 1st grade. the teacher did hold my papers up to the mirror to grade them. I thought that since right handed people start on the left side the left handed people start writing on the right side.
In 2nd grade the NUN told my mother that she had better teach me the right way immediately or the nun would send me back to K.
I still remember having to come home from school and work with the teacher my mother had hired while all my brother's and sister were able to have snack and go outside to play.
Things are easier now in schools but definately correct while you can, it is much harder as the child gets older.

 

[SeaSpray]

I am a lefty and wrote that way in K and 1st grade. the teacher did hold my papers up to the mirror to grade them. I thought that since right handed people start on the left side the left handed people start writing on the right side.
In 2nd grade the NUN told my mother that she had better teach me the right way immediately or the nun would send me back to K.
I still remember having to come home from school and work with the teacher my mother had hired while all my brother's and sister were able to have snack and go outside to play.
Things are easier now in schools but definately correct while you can, it is much harder as the child gets older.

Is your birthday 5/27? Mine is. I know a lot of people born on May 27th who are lefties.... lol

 

[tlbwriter]

Is your child a lefty? My niece and my oldest daughter both did this. I'm not sure if it is a coincidence or not, but both of them are left handed. Regardless, they are now 14yrs old and 12yrs old and perfectly fine/normal.

Yep, my lefty did this too.

I saw an adult woman on TV once who could write normally with one hand and mirror write with the other - at the same time! That was pretty cool to see. She wasn't Dyslexic, she was ambidextrous.

I can do that, but I'm not ambidextrous (though I tried to be when I broke my right arm!)

 

[Magpie]

I agree with this that the mirror writing didn't cause dyslexia. I work in accounting and if I were even slightly dyslexic I wouldn't be able to do my job. Being able to keep large strings of numbers in order, and memorizing strings of numbers, is important.

I'm not sure if mirror writing is a "symptom" of dyslexia though. It might just be a coincidence, or just the way her brain is wired.

I didn't mean to say that it's a proscriptive symptom. As in "all mirror writers are Dyslexic" - obviously that's no more true than saying "all left-handed people are Dyslexic." But Dyslexics ARE more likely to be left-handed.

For instance, my son's mirror writing was a symptom of his overall problem with perception. His brain was turning things around like a mirror, so he couldn't always tell which way was up. He even had problems with concepts like "inside and outside", "above and beneath". Your mirror writing probably comes from a different root cause. Less a problem of perception and more a better integration of both sides of your brain. I'll bet you had no trouble saying whether you wanted some cereal in your bowl, or a bowl in your cereal!

FWIW, my son is actually not Dyslexic.

 

[Nette]

My RIGHT handed daughter did this as well. It's perfectly normal up to a certain age (she was well into first grade when it stopped completely). (My aunt is a PhD child diagnostician, and she is the one who assured us it's not a big deal at all)

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I am a Lefty Dyslexic, and I never mirror wrote, but reversed numbers.

My DD7 is also a lefty, and she did mirror write. From about the age of 4, she wrote perfectly, backwards! I was really concerned, because I am Dyslexic, I was concerned she was too. I was told by several teachers and OT's that mirror writing is not a concern and usually corrects itself by 2nd grade. Sure enough, here we are at the last half of 1st grade, and she doesn't do it anymore.

 

[MichelleVW]

My oldest is a lefty and she did this when she was young, but it stopped when she was in school, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

I saw an adult woman on TV once who could write normally with one hand and mirror write with the other - at the same time! That was pretty cool to see. She wasn't Dyslexic, she was ambidextrous.

I can write (in cursive) mirror-image.

I can do both - they are my party tricks And yes, I'm left-handed.

 

[JayhawkMomma]

I can mirror write with either hand. I decorate our front door windows with sayings various times of the year, I write the words backwards inside so they're reading the correct way outside. I can print or write in cursive without even having to think about it.

Oh yeah, I'm also left handed. I know a few right handed people that can do it but it seems to be way more lefties that can do it naturally.