Student constantly changes hand to write! Advise please.?

Question

I have a student who constantly changes her hand to write. She is only 6 years old.
I was told that she was born left handed and her previous teacher forced her to write with her right hand. Now, sometimes she would change from the left to the right (vice versa) while writing a single word.
She could spell all the words wrongly using her left hand and when i immediately ask her to switch to her right, she got everything correct.
That's not all. Sometimes she writes letters and numbers in the opposite way, eg: N, B, S, 5.
Another amazing thing, she can write a whole list of words in mirror reflection, ie: the words would appear upright in the mirror. - without knowing that she wrote wrongly.

The main issue is: she is very slow in recognising words. Is there a term to describe this kind of behaviour? This is some sort of a gift but how do I make her use only one hand to write? To improve her learning speed?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Get her checked for dyslexia. The other teacher forcing her to use the opposite hand could be a red herring.
Being slow with phonics and late to choose a dominant hand and mirror writing are classic signs.

Answer 2

A lot of left handed children write in mirror image. It is quite normal and tends to correct itself. Additionally, as she has learnt to write with her right hand it will be natural for her to try to write the same letters using the same hand muscles as she has used in her right hand & these muscles in the left hand produce mirror image.

It makes sense that she has the hand-spelling anomaly. If she has been forced to write with her right then she will have learnt to spell using that hand. As a natural left hander her instinct is to use her left now that she is permitted to do so (which is a good thing) but her left hand has some catching up to do. Her left hasn't had the practice with writing that her right has had because of her previous teacher.

The slowness in recognising words may indicate dyslexia & it would be worth checking her for this. Dyslexia is more common among left- than right-handers. However, it isn't necessarily due to this. Which eye is her dominant? If she is a left-hander with a dominant right eye (called "cross lateral") this could cause some problems.

These websites may be useful.
A forum for discussions about left handedness:
http://www.left-handed.com/forum/
A large & very informative site about left handedness:
http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/lspeak.html
Mirror Writing (another handedness forum):
http://www.drspock.com/discussion/message/0,1812,28929,00.html

Answer 3

Talk to the counselor at school to start the paperwork to have her tested. Of course, to do this you will need to talk to her parents, too. She could have an issue to work through, or she could just be confused because she feels like she should write with her left but was taught with her right. Maybe she will be one of the few who can write with both! But regardless, you have to make sure some testing is done to rule out any disabilities.

Answer 4

She may still be muddled, 6 is still very young. There is also a possibility that she is Dyslexic or Dyspraxic. I am very suprised as a teacher you are unaware of these terms, what sort of a teacher are you? I am a mother of 2 Dyslexic children, my Mother is Dyslexic and so am I
Suffolk New College Community Learning Teacher.

Answer 5

Your student needs testing by a specialist who can recommend methods you, as a classroom teacher, can implement to help this child.

Answer 6

I think she is very clever
and have a problem in her mind.
Let her go to a doctor.

Do not put force on her for using any hand.