My 4yr old writes his name backwards!?

Question

Thank god he has an easy name to write ( Max) he writes in capital letters and he writes the individual letters very well except he writes the work backwards. ( X A M ) is this normal or is it a sign of dyslexia. I ask because my husband is left handed and was uite dyslexic as a child and still has terrible spelling and grammer.

any input or opinions welcome.

thankyou.

Answer 1

This is why we used to wait until kindergarten to teach kids to write.It's probably not a serious problem. Try putting a happy face or something like that on the left side of the paper and reminding him to start there. Normally I'd suggest that if he was mirror writing-the letters would look backwards- you might be a little more concerned but he happens to be using 3 letters that can't be reversed. How clever of you to name him MAX. Seriously, because of your husband's history if he is still having these problems by half way through Kindergarten I'd tell the school district you want him evaluated. Dyslexia and the related problems tend to run in families. What you would be concerned about is dysgraphia. My son and his daughter are both dysgraphic and neither had a l**k of trouble with reading.

Answer 2

Don't rush into conclusions, that problem is very common and if that's your only sign, then you should not worry, many children when start writing do that mistake (my son did) and not necessarily mean is dyslexia. Check for  more signs, the problem of writing will disappear with time and practice, if he still have that problem after 5yrs and you see more signs of dyslexia then you should take it to the doctor for a test or in the same school just ask the teacher.

Check the link for signs and symptoms

Answer 3

Celebrate.  The fact that a four year old can make legible letters is enough cause to celebrate.  To young children, the order (or direction, think backwards R in Toys R Us) isn't important.  They don't know how to read, so they are just writing the letters.  Have you ever noticed too that children will make really big things in pictures small and small things huge.  They don't really have the perception yet to make it legible.  

As for dyslexia, it is more difficult for most dyslexic children to learn how to write their letters, so the fact that your young child can write letters is a good sign.  If he still has trouble by the time he is reading fairly well, then I would start to worry (but remember back to kindergarten and how many kids messed up the b, d, g, q, p thing).  He has no reason right now to care which order the letters go in unless you teach him that the M always goes on a certain side.  Usually, if a child starts writing on the R side, they will write backwards, so teach them to always start on the Left.

Answer 4

I wouldn't be too worried at this point . most children goes through that stage . even in grade k .  try to give him one letter at a time ,then add a letter . once he can recognize the the letters he'll be okay . I know from a previous experience . you also could make flash cards ,write his name on paper then play match game . you can't push him ,he may not be ready . read a story to him subtitle one of the names to his and spell  it as you go . you have to watch if he writes the letters  / numbers backwards reverse of the way they are suppose to be . try the match  game  first ,

then let him copy the letters . most of all don't fuss at him it will discourage him .

good luck .

Answer 5

Don't listen to the people claiming it's dyslexia.

He's only 4, and it's only 3 letters. He probably knows the A goes in the center and gets the other two confused. It's probably nothing.

If in a year or two he simply can't get it right then maybe it would be dyslexia, but I seriously doubt it. More likely he just doesn't completely understand the concept of letters and spelling. It's possible all he understands is the letters all have to be there, which he's accomplished.

Answer 6

dyslexia

Answer 7

mister Max might well be dyslexic, or he simply could be writing it that way due 2 the fact it amuses him. Would U describe him as a precocious child?

*is also left handed without dyslexic tendancies*

Timothy

:o)

Answer 8

yes chances are he is dyslexic . and I think  you should have him tested and go from there you know it cannot hurt and it needs to be found out before he starts school . good luck .

Answer 9

I've never given so many thumbs down right away.  It's not a sign of dyslexia yet.  They won't even test for it at this young of an age.

He's just beginning to learn reading/writing.  It is very normal at this age.  But it is also a common question we get from parents.  Give it time.  If he's doing it around age 6-7 still, then start to consider the possibility of dyslexia.

One thing that might help with this is if he is interested in practicing writing, put a red dot on the left side of the paper and tell him to start at the red dot.  If he's not interested in that, let me know and I'll try to think of other ideas.

Matt

Answer 10

Yeah, he has an easy name to write, but writes it BACKWARDS, why is that Thank-God??

For a 4 -year old, probably normal but it might not be.

4 year olds don't really read and write, do they?

Luckily, he is not from The Shining, spelling demonic messages!

Try just getting him to try a few other simple words, such as DOG and CAT, and see how he does with these..

He likely hasn't been trained to read from left to right..

Answer 11

give him some numbers to write and see what he does with them, if he write backwards, you might have a dyslexic child

Answer 12

Some children do this because this is how it looks to them from across the table when someone writes their name for them on a paper.  I had one child that could write their name perfectly- upside down and backwards, since that was how his mother had taught him from across the table!  Weird, but it just takes some practice with Max.  Sit next to him when you practice writing, and make sure to make the distinguishment between the letter arrangement, saying it outloud.  Dyslexia is genetically linked, however, so dont' count that out entirely.  If he is still doing this by the time he enters kindergarten, ask that he be evaluated for dyslexia or other learning disorder.

Answer 13

This is perfectly normal!  

Except for the fact that lots of 4 year olds aren't writing their names yet.   Letter and word reversals are typical through at least age six or seven.  I would recommend that you have Max start working on writing his name using a capital M and lower case a and x.   As a first grade teacher I found it took longer to teach students to switch from writing their names in all caps to the correct form than it took to teach the students who entered with no name writing skills.   Young children seem to see the whole configuration of things such as letters, numerals, shapes, etc. but do not distinguish orientation or direction.   Sometimes they will write from right to left instead of left to right.   Is Max writing the X first and moving from left to right, or does he begin at the right with the M and move from right to left?  Or does he vary them?

If you want to try to encourage him to write his name from left to right beginning with M here's a suggestion:   Make a green (for 'go') dot on the left upper corner of a paper and ask him to write his name.   Remind him to begin with M.  Have him spell his name out loud.

But I wouldn't worry about this particular behavior being a sign of dyslexia.   Watch for difficulties with learning letter names, identifying the sounds that are represented by the letters, blending sounds to form words (kuh-ah-tuh = cat).   He should be starting do do those by age five or six.

Answer 14

That is a sign that he may be dyslexic but it may be that he will outgrow that also.You just have to give it time!Best wishes to you and Max!