We struggled for years (8) with our daughter, teachers, tutors and special classes. After 10 weeks it's as if there never had been a disability. Beacon has exceeded our expectations.

Cathie Grannary (parent)
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Mirror Writing
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TOPIC: Mirror Writing
#41
Mirror Writing 1 Year, 11 Months ago  
We have recently received the following question:

My right-handed four-year-old daughter can correctly write her name in uppercase letters from left to right. On several occasions she has written an exact "mirror image" of her name from left to right, so that "ALEXIS" becomes "SIXELA." Should I be concerned about dyslexia or any other learning/language disability?
Please note: although no board code and smiley buttons are shown, they are still usable.
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#42
Re:Mirror Writing 1 Year, 11 Months ago  
At four years of age, the presence of mirror writing is generally nothing to be concerned about. To understand why, it's important to know how the ability to write from left to right emerges in a young child. A young child first develops what's called laterality. This is an awareness of "leftness" and "rightness," or at least that the body has two sides. This internal awareness then matures into what's called directionality, which is the recognition and appreciation of right-left, up-down, forward-backward, etc. An interesting note: Many of the games we play as children are developmental in that they are designed to improve and practice basic skills. The game Simon says is a good example of a game that helps us develop awareness of where our body parts are in time and space and thus, rightness and leftness. E.g. Simon says, “Place your right hand on your left ear.” The simple act of doing this helps our brain with cross over’s.
Your daughter is still at this later stage, and because it's not fully developed, she can just as easily go from left to right as she can from right to left, and it all feels the same to her. At this stage, she doesn't even realize that she's printed her name in the wrong order. Her young brain just says, "Hey, hand...write Alexis's name for her, okay?" Her brain hasn't learned how the writing is supposed to look yet, and it doesn't much care whether the letters go this way or that. All her brain is concerned about at this stage is the order of the letters. So off goes the hand, and out comes SIXELA. As Alexis and her brain see more models of her name written correctly, she'll first say "Hey, that doesn't look right!" and later, "It's backward!" as the concept develops.
However, if mirror writing persists as she gets to be about six or older, then we might have something to worry about. This is especially true if any close family relatives have a history of learning disabilities. If the persistence of reversals, inversions (upside-down writing), or mirror writing are common when a child is seven or eight, this might be a sign that something may be amiss.
You don't want to make a big deal out of the way Alexis writes her name. Just let it happen and she'll probably self-correct. Make sure she has plenty of opportunities to see her name in print. You might want to get some tracing paper and trace a name that has been printed in the right order. Or you can have her write her name in a sand-filled cookie sheet after you have put the letter A along the left-hand edge. If she displays other signs of an early learning disorder (age-inappropriate word or language usage, excessive motor clumsiness, rapid frustration with simple tasks, etc.) then you might want to talk to a psychologist who specializes in the early identification of learning disabilities.
Please note: although no board code and smiley buttons are shown, they are still usable.
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