[**Jenn**]

I'm a little concerned about Liam. When he writes his name he writes it backwards. He writes all the letters correctly and will write it the right way if I write it first. But if I just ask him to write his name he will write MAIL in stead of LIAM. Now if Lochy did this I wouldn't be concerned because he's such a free spirit and does things his own way and I know he'd learn it the right away in time. But Liam is so precise and has to do things the right way all the time it makes me wonder if he's got a little learning disability or something (dislexia?). Should I be concerned or just chalk it up to him still learning?

[alicenwonderland]

my niece is doing the same thing. She is left handed though, we wonder if that infuences it. If instructed she can do it right though.

[Frozendesire]

My husband is Dyslexic. I asked him about this and he said that it could be an early sign.

He's been through alot and would love to offer any support, and answer any questions you have! If your interested just send me a PM! He'd love to help.

We are seeing what we think are very early signs of dyslexia in Curtis as well.

[*krista*]

This may be really stupid of me, but maybe it is because it spells a word backwards? Has he ever been introduced to the spelling of mail? If so maybe when he was it just clicked and he has them confused.

I always associated dislexia with switching 2 letters or numbers at a time, not an entire 4 letter word. Do you have a family history of dislexia?

[~*sierra*~]

i'm not sure about this! i hope it is nothing too serious hun!

[**Jenn**]

Originally Posted by Frozendesire

My husband is Dyslexic. I asked him about this and he said that it could be an early sign.

He's been through alot and would love to offer any support, and answer any questions you have! If your interested just send me a PM! He'd love to help.

We are seeing what we think are very early signs of dyslexia in Curtis as well.

Thank you and tell your husband thank you as well! I very well may take you up on that! He starts preschool in September so I'm going to give it a bit of time and that maybe with some more structured learning he'll get it. I hope so anyway.

Originally Posted by *krista*

This may be really stupid of me, but maybe it is because it spells a word backwards? Has he ever been introduced to the spelling of mail? If so maybe when he was it just clicked and he has them confused.

I always associated dislexia with switching 2 letters or numbers at a time, not an entire 4 letter word. Do you have a family history of dislexia?

We don't have a family history that I know of but who's to say, kwim? He doesn't know that MAIL is an actual word when he writes it, I mean he obviously knows what mail is but he doesn't realize he's spelling that, he thinks hes writing his name. I think I'm just going to have to keep an eye on it.

[Resi]

I'm not sure if it could be a learning disorder or not. If he does have a learning disorder he will be okay with some extra help. I know as a mother we hate for our children to have any kind of set back big or small but he will be okay. My brother and I both were told we had learning disorders (it's funny because I have no clue what and my mom said she was never told a specific name) and we did just fine in life. We just needed a little more one on one attention from teachers when learning things.

[SandKmommy]

dislexia was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that, but I dont know all the signs other then reading and spelling things out of order. Seamus can't write any letters yet(except W, A, and O)

[**Jenn**]

He does sometimes read numbers backwards too, I'd say 25% of the time. He used to do it all the time but has gotten much better with it because that really used to worry me and I would correct him all the time. I hope its just a phase in his early learning but if not I want to get on it as early as possible to help him. We'll see how he progresses in preschool--yet another reason why I'm so glad we decided to send him!

Dh had a really rough time in school combined with parents that weren't there for him and on top of that make him second guess and criticize every decision he/we makes. It's really (negatively) impacted how he feels about himself and how he feels about school. I don't want my kids having to go through that and we're both determined to be so much more vigilant with them because of what dh went through and still goes through.

Actually I wonder if dh is along the same lines as Liam because he's a really smart man but will read things backwards sometimes, especially if its a question/statement that has a double negative.

[..Christine..]

I teach 1st grade- and I wouldn't worry yet....it can be perfectly normal. Don't jump the gun and apply labels just yet......He is still very much learning about letters and recognition. I would try working with him specifically on letter and word recognition and how we read and write left to right....if you want any specific ideas or activities feel free to PM me.

[Frozendesire]

It is labeled as a learning disability but honestly.. it's just the way they think. It's a whole different thought process.

The struggles you explained about your husband reminds me SO much of my husbands.

I don't think there is anything wrong with looking into it more and helping him through it. I really believe that earlier detection is key! It can help to know WHY or HOW they think and this will cut down on alot of frustration.

I wouldn't worry, or even stress about it! Just note it and go from there.

[Nami]

I'm dyslexic but never did whole words backwards, mostly mixing letters and numbers and some letters and numbers them self backwards(Like seeing a d when it's really a b).

If he is reading numbers backwards also he could very well be dyslexic. Sadly they wont test for it until 5 or 6, I think it's different from state to state.. of course that was when I was younger so maybe it changed now?

I hope Liam isn't dyslexic though! It's rough when you're in school, luckily though these days they have wonderful programs to help with things like that.

[~* Helen *~]

I'm really not sure hun .. I think the above ladies have offered you some great advice tho !!!

[IamMom]

Does he start with the M and write them backwards or the L and do the letters in the right order just from the wrong side of the paper? Are all of the letters individually the right direction and everything? If he does start with the L correctly than its most likely normal...its called mirror image writing and young kids do it all the time when they are learning to write. Harrison did it a few times so I googled it. He pretty much writes correctly every time now but every once in a while it is from the wrong side of the paper. If you hold it up to a mirror its perfect.

[**Jenn**]

Thanks everyone. I think because of dh's struggles I'm just more on edge with our kids about it. I never had a rough time in school, that stuff always just came easy to me. But I don't even want to get into dh's struggles which were compounded by parents who weren't there for him physically and emotionally.

I was an early intervention teacher so my knowledge about these things pretty much stops at age 3, not sure what to really expect after that. But I also know from that the earlier you catch these kinds of things the better chance the kid has.

Liam does frustrate easily when we try to work with him and ends up giving up quickly. He's such a smart little boy, I don't want him to hate school or feel like he's failing at it before he even starts! Right now he is sooooo excited to start preschool which I am thankful for. I think over the rest of the summer I'll work with him some more but keep it low key so he doesn't get frustrated. I'll pick up some more preschool activity books and go from there.

Thanks again everyone for the insights and suggestions.

Originally Posted by IamMom

Does he start with the M and write them backwards or the L and do the letters in the right order just from the wrong side of the paper? Are all of the letters individually the right direction and everything? If he does start with the L correctly than its most likely normal...its called mirror image writing and young kids do it all the time when they are learning to write. Harrison did it a few times so I googled it. He pretty much writes correctly every time now but every once in a while it is from the wrong side of the paper. If you hold it up to a mirror its perfect.

He writes all the letters perfectly he just starts at the right side of the paper and works left. He spells his name correctly starting with the L. Holding it up to a mirror the letters would be backwards, of course the only letter that would be clear with would be the L because the IAM looks the same backwards or forwards. Same with our last name.

[♥Ashley♥]

My little brothers used to ALWAYS write words backwords when they first started being able to spell and write things on paper. And neither of them (they are twins) have any kind of learning disability at all! Hopefully Liam doesnt either!

[LuvsPecanPie]

It could be a learn disability, or it could just be his stage of development. A lot of kids, especially younger kids, write letters backwards and confuse the order of words. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but you might want to mention it to your pediatrician the next time you see him.

I hope it's nothing!

[*krista*]

Jenn, I don't think you have to worry about him going through the same struggle as your DH. Liam has two very supportive, loving parents which will help him get through any obstacles he may face. It sounds like your DH was at a major disadvantage because he didn't have that support, which probably caused a lot of his problems in school.

[Mars]

Is there anyone in your area or a centre that could provide some insight? That could offer an early assessment? It's still quite early on but maybe they could still offer some input.