Dyslexia in a (Almost) 4-Year-old?

What you are describing is so typical of young children. Their nervous system and eye development are not fully developed and reversing letters and numbers is typical for this age.

Normal. Very, very common at that age!

It is a myth that dyslexics reverse letters. I would not be too worried.

Sounds very normal and common - it's way too soon to worry about it yet.

It is very common at this age to reverse letters... don't worry too much about it right now, or make a big deal of it. Just encourage him to keep trying!

If you write out the letters for him, and have him trace over them, that can help train him to write them correctly.

I work as a school psychologist and do evaluations for pre-school children. Obviously I've never met your child, but I would never say a child has a learning disability like dyslexia based on letter reversals at age 4. That is very typical for a 4 year old, even with letters in front of him to copy from. Just keep practicing and keep it relaxed and unpressured. Also, practicing early phonetic skills always helps with future reading ability, such as working on rhyming, playing with words by breaking them apart, clapping syllables, etc., matching beginning sounds of words, and those types of activities.

My daughter is 11 and is dyslexic. This usually becomes evident by the middle of 3rd grade, since until that time all kids learn by practicing and sometimes reverse things. For learning b and d her teacher taught her "to make the bed": she raised both hands at eye level, keeping the 4 fingers up and together and pointing the thumbs at each others (like a police officer motioning a car to stop with both hands). You imagine the letter "e" in between your hands and then have the left hand making the shape of the b (with the ball of the b=thumb) and the right hand making then d (again ball of the d=thumb). Then you say "bed" and hear the b sound first (left hand) and d sound second (right hand). Hard to describe but easy to show. That way she no longer confused her b and d. HOWEVER, my daughter has a unique way of making her letters, a lower case d is not started like an a and then adding the taller stem, but almost more like ____@____.com also complained from preschool on that she liked all the kids and the teacher but hated "the work". I could never figure out what "the work" was, but now that she is 11 and has been diagnosed for 3 years we know it is anything to do with physically writing. She uses DragonSpeak for essay, I can scribe for her if needed, and she is on an IEP to have tests read to her and if she wants she can take them verbally. Also be aware that Hooked on Phonics, Sylvan Learning Centers and other methods that work for kids who just need a little more help with reading, they DO NOT work for dyslexics. My daughter receives reading instruction per the Orton-Gillingham method at school. The 32 degree Masonic Learning Centers provide free dyslexia tutoring in this method with a valid diagnosis http://childrensdyslexiacenters.org/ (new link other one did not work)
Here is a great website for reading up about dyslexia and its early signs
http://www.brightsolutions.us/

Glad you are feeling better, dyslexia means the child has difficulty reading-- your child should not read yet so this is obviously not the issue. Keep in mind that what he has learned so far (shapes and colors most likely) are not conditional. A square is a square no matter what direction it is. Red is also.. . just read. This may be his first exposure to a concept that is true only if it is in one direction. Letters d, b, q, p will be more confusing obviously. Just explain it concretely and he will figure it out. Enjoy your cutie. N.

Lol! I think it is so cute that you are worried, such a good mommy.

Completely normal. If this continues once he turns late 5 and 6 then get home checked out... Until then, keep at it.

totally normal. my son is 5 and when he was 4 (not long after starting preschool) he was really bad about it. he's better now, but still does it. i used to wonder too because his dad is dyslexic, but i think it's fairly common. they are still learning after all...

It's nice that you are concerned, but it's normal. Just one more thing to think about, is your son left-handed? They thought I was dyslexic when I was going into kindergarten because I was doing the same thing with my letters and my double digit numbers. It turns out that many left-handed people reverse their letters and numbers since the brain functions differently than right-handed people. It worked itself out rather quickly.

Absolutely normal, don't worry. He may soon start writing his numbers backwards as well. All four of my kids did it through kindergarten and they're just fine. As someone suggested, print off some homeschooling papers and have him trace letters and numbers. He will improve his motor skills as well. Good luck!

My sister wrote her name backwards. I was so amazed that she could do that. I would have to work hard to do that! Then someone told me that kids' brains were not wired like an adult's and it's not that unusual.

For the b's, tell her it's like holding a softball bat. If she can remember one, she'll get them both right.

About 3 years from now, she'll stop writing her letters backwards as her brain continues to "rewire".

Dawn

My son wrote his letters backwards until he was nearly 8! (not common but he was not dyslexic and was able to learn to read) It's a maturity thing, most kids get it before 6, some much younger, some much older. As a teacher I'd say dont worry about it until first grade