a 5 year old who writes letters and numbers backward (sometimes). Is that an early sign of any disorder?

Question

Dyslexia or something along those lines. He'll also sometimes say his address backward.

Answer 1

No....that's pretty normal at first.

Answer 2

No, it's not dyslexia--he's only 5 years old! Is he a lefty?? Sometimes southpaws have a harder time because to them, writing L to R is backwards. If you are right handed, can you imagine writing R to L and backwards?? But still I wouldn't worry about it. Not many 5 year olds can do their addresses correctly and most can't say the alphabet in kindergarten let alone writing the letters or numbers correctly. That's what kindergarten is for.

Answer 3

I wouldn't worry too much about your child being dyslexia. This is an age in when children are starting to read and write more and they can make mistakes. Now when your child gets to the end of first grade or the beginning of second grade I would start getting concerned. I have a son who is 8 and were in the process of trying to figure out if he is dyslexia. In one article I have read children with Dyslexia are brilliant at math. And if your child has dyslexia there are professional out there that can help and hopefully solve the problem. Good Luck!

Answer 4

No. It's rather common for children to write backwards. Here are some warning signs though if you see these there could be something...

• Your child is still writing letters backwards after grade one.

• He also has difficulty memorizing sequences, such as his home phone number, his postal code or the alphabet.

• Your child writes letters or numbers in an unusual way: for example, writing an eight as two circles on top of each other rather than in a continuous line. This might be normal for a younger child, but if it continues after age seven or so, you might want to investigate further.

• He often calls objects by the wrong name — for example, when shown a picture of a volcano, he calls it a tornado.

Answer 5

Nah. Unless it becomes a bigger problem.. like he has more than the usually difficulty reading or is reading entire words backwards or something. Maybe look up on dyslexia to see what signs to look out for.

I did just want to note that I wrote stuff backwards, too, a lot when I was young... and I'm just fine. I think it's just something that kids do while they're learning and remember how things go.

Answer 6

Many 5-year olds write their letters and numbers backwards, however, saying his address backwards may be a sign. You should check with a doctor.

Answer 7

Nope-shouldn't be. You've omitted to say whether he writes with his left hand. I'm left handed and as a child would write letters and numbers backward trying to mimic what my right-handed mother and teacher were doing. My dad's left handed though and eventually taught me to write correctly. Just took a little time.

Dyslexia isn't a problem involving writing backwards though. Its a condition where the brain "scrambles" words and numbers (ie sums) making them impossible for the sufferer to see words etc as they really are, thus making it more difficult to learn. This doesn't make sufferers any less intelligent, and many dyslexics have more artistic skills in art or music for example.

If in doubt though, take him to your doctor to find out if referral to a specialist is necessary. Either way though, I'm sure he's fine. Good luck!

Answer 8

It's normal for a 5-year-old to write letters and numbers backwards sometimes. If he's still writing them backwards in a few years, it could be indicative of a learning disability, but at 5 it's still normal. I still write letters backwards at 20, which isn't normal, and is related to my being dyslexic.

The main symptom of dyslexia that ultimately leads to a diagnosis is failure to read at grade level. That's not generally picked up before the age of 7 or 8 simply because for younger kids, the deficits are virtually indistinguishable from normal variation.

Some of the warning signs of dyslexia in preschool and kindergarten age children are:
-delayed speech
-mixing up multi-syllabic words
-stutterng
-can't learn to tie shoes
-trouble with left/right, over/under, before/after, and other directionality words and concepts
-late to establish a dominant hand
-can't come up with words that rhyme with simple words like caat or seat by age 4 1/2, despite listening to stories with lots of rhyming words
-difficulty learning the names of letters or sounds in the alphabet, and difficulty writing the alphabet in order
-significantly more trouble correctly articulating R's, L's, M's, and N's than other kids their age (they may still be saying "wed" and "gween" for "red and "green" in 2nd or 3rd grade)

Answer 9

Sounds like Dyslexia to me. Usually these kinds of disorders show up quite early. I would get him checked out. Good Luck ♥

Answer 10

you know something, i was the same way, all throughout my early years of school i had the same problem. they labled me as learning dissabled, i guess its true, im also bi-polar,schizophrantic,ans suffer from ptsd, but let me tell you something, i think its remarkable for a 5yr old child to even be able to write a letter or number, let alnoe an address backwards, to me , if you put a word in front of a mirror, what happens?, it is displayed backwords, your child is giving you a mirror imadge of what he/she is seeing. one time when i turned21 i got a dui, the cop told me to recite the alphabet backwards, i could hardly make it past z. im not verry good at spelling but i can read, although i had a hard time but today even with a 5th grade education, i do ok. show your children love, and help them devellop all skills that come to them, dont be critticle or judgementle, and nurture the love that you each have and they will do better than you thought was possible, remember to thank your god as you understand him , for the verry essence of life that you have together!!!

Answer 11

my son did the same thing at 5. I thought it was dyslexia too, but they are just learning there numbers and letters (and sometimes they are backwards) Thats what his teacher said and she was right.... he writes perfect at 6