Letter Reversals A Sign of a Dyslexia

Parents and teachers often raise concern when a child reverses letters or words—bs instead of ds, tac instead of cat and so on. The truth of the matter is that most beginner readers/writers will make letter reversals. Its not all that uncommon.   Research Findings Very little research has been done regarding the matter of reversals and it is not uncommon or unusual to see young children of 4, 5, 6, or even 7 years of age making word and/or  letter reversals.  Among the lay public and educators, the impression persists that the key characteristic of dyslexia is visual reversal errors (e.g., was for saw; b for d). Apparently, such errors are not unusual for beginning readers whether or not they have more serious reading difficulties.   It is important to note that  letter and/or  word reversals are, for the most part, due to a weak memory or the lack of enough previous experiences.  There may be a need for some concern if a child continues with letter reversals or mirror reading/writing into and beyond the 3rd grade.   Many myths surround letter  reversals, such as the ones  listed above and lead to parents and teachers wondering whether the child is learning disabled, the child has some type of neurological dysfunction, or the child will become dyslexic.  Dyslexics often have many reading/writing errors including reversals, so this condition is difficult to prove in children. Current Research Early theories suggested poor visual pattern discrimination or recognition but were not supported by careful research, which  suggests that  many poor readers are impaired because of  phonological deficits—where the areas of the  brain  associated with processing the sounds of language cannot  connect the sounds of language to letters. However, a 2016 study published in the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience  studied  and rejected the claim that reversals of letters and letter sequences are caused by phonological deficits. Instead, the study  found that visual movement can detect dyslexia early on and be used in successful treatment to prevent children from not being able to readily learn. What Can You Do? Most teachers have discovered that theres no magic cure for children who display reversals in their reading or writing. Some of the best strategies to use include: Help the child develop a habit. For instance, the word dog begins with a d and they have tails. Therefore the stick is his tail and comes after his body.Use some connect-the-dot letters  to help the child. There should be pictures to accommodate the dot letters.When working on the  connect-the-dot for the letter d, make sure the picture of a dog accompanies the dot letters.If the child has a freckle or mole on one hand or the other, use that freckle to remind him/her that it always points to the stick/circle part of the letter. The good news is that most of the letter reversals will go away once the child starts using  cursive writing. Sources Vellutino, Frank R., et al. â€Å"Specific Reading Disability (Dyslexia): What Have We Learned in the Past Four Decades?†Ã‚  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 45, no. 1, 2004, pp. 2–40.Lawton, Teri. â€Å"Improving Dorsal Stream Function in Dyslexics by Training Figure/Ground Motion Discrimination Improves Attention, Reading Fluency, and Working Memory.†Ã‚  Frontiers in human neuroscience  vol. 10, no. 397, 8 Aug. 2016.Liberman, Isabelle Y., et al. Letter confusions and reversals of sequence in the beginning reader: Implications for Ortons theory of developmental dyslexia. Cortex, vol. 7, no. 2, 1971, pp. 127-142.