Special Children with a Special Gift

Your question is very interesting. My daughter has dyslexia, but does not read or write in a mirror image. I have heard about kids doing that. The gold standard teaching for dylexia is Orton Guillingham Method. The method was developed by the doctor who taught Helen Keller to read and write. Orton Guillingham method has been refined since Helen Keller times. The technique has proven to be the most effective intervention for dyslexia. Many knock offs are used in the school system, such as the Wilson Method. In my opinion, not as good. If you would like info on some resources send me an e-mail.

How did you realize that your child was reading and writing in mirror image format?

Wow. I am an educational advocate for kids with special needs, and I have not heard this one before. Are you having trouble with the school seeing this as an LD? Sometimes they have trouble if it is not a standard problem. Is there a national support group for families with Streohosymbolia paschar?

I can only give you advice about navigating the system. The problem will be that SLD is sometimes judged by schools to mean "only the specific LD's they are set up to remediate" Wish I had more help for you. Keep us updated on what you find.

M.

My son went through a phase of writing in mirror image. He's now 7 and hasn't done it in awhile. But he's a very good reader and his handwriting is fair.

Writing in a mirror image format: my daughter is almost 4 and can write the two ways. It is normal and a stage were they go through. If I give her a paper and let her start on the right, she writes the mirror format; if she start left she writes normal. My son never did this, but he waited longer with writing.

I've known kids who've done this. My own daughter was one of them. At least in my experience, the children were left handed and I think that had something to do with it. I know for a fact it's not reflective of lower intelligence by any means.
I just really read a lot with my daughter and had her practice writing her letters and words. She completely outgrew it with no need for further intervention. She has very beautiful handwriting. She's 23 and it hasn't caused her any difficulties. The other kids I knew were older and they were able to read and write correctly. For them, being able to write in mirror image was a bit of a novelty when they felt like showing their friends how they could do it.

I hope you get some great responses.

Wow! How interesting! I'm going to have to look this up and do some research on it.

My daughter did write in mirror image when she as about 4. As in Veerie's case, she once started on the right side of the page and wrote a whole sentence in mirror image. She had no idea she did this! Now that she's in kindergarten, she's doing better with learning how to write things correctly, although she initially wrote all her numbers backwards. Through practice, she's learning to write things the right way. However, after she returned from winter and spring breaks, her tendency to flip things came back. So this is something we'll have to practice over summer, to be sure!

Now, some other interesting tidbits about my daughter...she started reading at 4, so I know she's not dyslexic! When she started reading, she was also able to read upside down. I've seen her draw pictures and write words from an upside-down perspective and do it perfectly! She also happens to be high-functioning autistic/Asperger's. I think this is all related in her case. I think her brain can just see things from many different perspectives, etc. So, it's harder for her to learn to write in the one way that is accepted. With practice, it seems to be working out. I'm going to have to look up Steophosymbolia though! Very interesting!

C.
www.littlebitquirky.blogspot.com