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If your child is, or may be, dyslexic then we have information, resources and training available to help you to ensure that your child is able to reach their full potential.

You can also find information in our Supporting a Child or Young Person: A Guide for Parents booklet on how to support your child at home, working with your school to secure a diagnosis and support, and what support the law entitles a young person with dyslexia to and how to access it.

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Information, resources and training to help parents ensure their child can reach full potential.

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Find out more about dyslexia here, where you will find expert articles and videos.

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Easy classroom tips for Literacy strugglers

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Easy classroom tips for Literacy strugglers

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Letter Reversals...they are a major cause for handwriting concern by most parent's standards. Here we are covering information about writing letters backwards and what is normal for letter reversals in development. We also have some great tips for addressing common letter reversal struggles and even reversal activities that can help with visual perception handwriting struggles. Read on!

Letter b and d reversals: These specific strategies cover letter b and d reversals.

Letter p and q reversals: You'll find more specific letter reversal information in this post on reversing letter p and q.

Also check out these activities to work on backwards letters.

Writing Letters in Reverse

Do letter reversals mean dyslexia? Not exactly! Dyslexia means problems learning to read, spell, and write. However, there is much more to reversals than what meets the eye, and should be assessed before jumping straight to the conclusion of dyslexia. Be sure to read our resource on Dyslexia and occupational therapy for more information.

One creative tool to support the skills needed for this area of development is our new color by letter worksheet. Just print and go and work on letter identification and matching skills.

Check out all of our letter formation worksheets for more free printables to target letter forming.

Letter Reversals Normal Development

Reversals are age appropriate up until 7-8 years of age!

That's right! Letter reversals are normal up to a certain age range. And when kids write letters backwards it is actually typical development in handwriting skills. Working on letter reversals in occupational therapy (and other visual perceptual areas) can be a common occurrence for school-based OTs...but just because kids are writing letters backwards, it doesn't mean there is a true problem indicating a need for intervention.

It takes our brains that long to integrate all the skills needed to form a letter correctly and automatically during written expression. Skills needed range from phonetic awareness, ability to imitate pre-writing strokes, automation of letter formation, and higher level cognitive skills for multi-tasking.

Some kiddo's develop these skills faster than others. Some kiddo's struggle with these skills and may receive support services such as occupational therapy or pull out services with their school's reading specialist before age 7.

Services provided before age 7 are typically preventative and because the child has shown struggles in the foundation skills needed for reading and writing, such as phonemic awareness, challenges with pre-writing strokes and shape formation (visual motor integration), poor fine motor skills, dominance concerns or underlying vision concerns.

What is a letter reversal

The term Letter reversals refers to several things related to reversing letters in reading or writing:

Writing a specific letter backwards, when they replace a letter with another such as forming a letter b as a d or a letter p as a letter q

Writing a letter upside down or flipped, such as forming a u as an n

Reading a letter backwards, as when kids replace a d with a b

Writing letters backwards as when kids write letters h, n, s, z, etc. in a mirror image

Transposing letters or switching the order of letters when writing

Reversing or writing numbers backwards

Common Letter and Number Reversals

So, knowing that it is quite common developmentally, to reverse letters and numbers up until age 7 or 8, it can also help to know which letters are commonly reversed in writing.

Letter Reversals List

These letters and numbers are often times transposed for one another:

It's easy to see why the letters and numbers listed above are often reversed. They all contain similar pencil strokes. For children that are just learning to write, spatial integration can be still developing. Kids are getting the muscle memory in place can replace one letter or number for another.

These letters are often written backwards:

Each of these letters has a starting point at the top and pencil strokes that then go into a different direction. Children that are still developing handwriting skills are establishing the motor plan for direction changes with the pencil. The can sometimes "guess" the correct direction which results in letters being written backwards.

Numbers that are commonly written backwards include:

Each of these numbers also have a direction change which could easily be confused.

In many cases, working on letter and number formation so the muscle memory is established with fix reversal issues. Using multisensory formation activities helps to establish that motor plan.

Phonetic Awareness and Letter Reversals

The current theory among the educational community is that reversals start with phonemic awareness. If a child is lacking phonemic awareness, they may struggle with letter identification and spelling needed for fluent written expression. Similar struggles may also be seen with numbers, resulting in a negative impact on math skills.

In my clinical experience, I have found that children with high rates of ear infections and PE tubes (ear tubes) struggle with sound awareness. If the kiddo is unable to hear the sound of the letter clearly and consistently, it leads to poor sound awareness.

I have also found that children with difficulties with attention and auditory filtering often pair the wrong letter sound with wrong letter. This is important to note in sessions as it may require remediation by a speech therapist or reading specialist if available. Here is more information and activities for auditory processing.

While phonetics play a large role in reversals, many other foundational skills may influence whether a child will struggle with reversals or not.

Hand Dominance and Letter Reversals

Hand dominance is typically fully developed by five years of age. Right at the same time most children are learning and mastering the formation of letters and numbers. It also coincides with the start of kindergarten, or formal education where children who are struggling may be noticed for the first time. Writing with both hands can be a common struggle and an indicator of hand dominance challenges.

Children with handedness issues, whether it's mixed dominance or delayed development of dominance, are more likely to struggle with left versus right tasks.

This plays into reversal concerns as many of these children cannot consistently discriminate left from right, leading to b's and d's, p's and q's being flipped. Often times, they are unable to recognize that they have made the mistake as their brain is registering the letter as they meant it to be.

Letter Reversals and Visual Processing

Vision is can be one of the biggest challenges facing children who struggle with reversals. Chances are, they have had an underlying vision concern that goes unaddressed or unrecognized during the critical learning period of letters and their sounds.

You will find much more information on visual perception in our free visual perception lab series.

(Children in the U.S. typically begin to learn letters and sounds between 3 and 4 years of age when they enter preschool programs. Curriculums now expect children to know their letters, sounds and how to write them upon entering kindergarten.)

Due to their vision deficit, the child may not consistently see the same image of the letter each time, or may not see the letter that is being taught due to "wandering" eyes or poor abilities to focus on the letter. The kiddo now has a poor foundation from which to build on, due to difficulties with recalling from their visual memory what the letter looks like, and pairing it with the correct sound.

To add to vision deficits, vision is not just what we see, or how the eye's work together. It is also a motor task of taking information in with the eyes and reproducing an image, or in this case, letters on paper. This skill is known as visual motor integration and also plays a role in reversals.

Here are free visual perception worksheets that can address a variety of visual skills.

Visual Motor Integration and Letter Reversals

Visual motor integration allows us to write, draw and paint freely. To do all of these things, we go through a set development of producing pre-writing strokes and basic shapes in imitation to freely producing them from our memories and eventually becoming automatic. Here is more information and activities related to visual motor skills.

Most children learn to imitate these strokes and shapes at a young age from top to bottom and left to right. However, some children do not learn it this way or their brains are not "wired" to follow this pattern of development.

Children who deviate from this pattern may have difficulties with reversals as they struggle to learn and integrate letter stroke combinations in the correct order. When this happens, they struggle to write fluently and reversals may begin to appear.

Signs of poor visual motor integration skills that could lead to reversals include:

Segmental Drawing-drawing a shape one stroke at a time instead of integrated

Bottom to top orientation when drawing

Right to left orientation when drawing

Difficulties crossing the midline during drawing tasks

Rotation of the paper to adjust for angle execution

Failed attempts to imitate basic shapes after the child has stated what the shape is

Executive Functioning and Letter Reversals

Executive functioning skills refer to our higher level thinking that includes attention, multi-tasking and memory, among many other skills. Writing requires all of these skills to be working at their best. If a child is struggling with any of these skills, they may demonstrate reversals and poor overall handwriting.

Reversals and poor handwriting may be the result of the child being unable to recall the strokes of the letter, the sequence of the strokes, what the letter looks like, where to start the letter, how big to make the letter, what each letter sound is, how to spell a word and complete their thought.

Oh, and lets add in that they have to remember how to hold their pencil correctly. For a kiddo who is struggling, this is a CHALLENGE.

There are so many more things that go into writing that may lead to reversals then what I have listed, but are too many to list out.

The main concept of executive functioning is that if the child cannot make it all work together, from fine motor to phonemic awareness to visual motor, they are more likely to struggle with reversals in their work.

Letter Reversal INterventions

It is important to recognize that reversals may be the sign of underlying deficits with foundational skills and should be addressed when they are noticed. The sooner that these underlying deficits are addressed the better off the kiddo will be. Once a child has had a long enough time period to practice incorrectly, it will be that much harder to break the "bad habits" and correct the reversals.

You will find many letter reversal interventions in this blog post.

This resource on letter b and d reversals is a helpful read on how specifically to work on these commonly reversed letters. You'll find multi-sensory writing strategies to address b-d letter reversals.

2. Try "building" letters to establish the motor plan needed to create muscle memory. Use different colors to help children see the ways that the pencil moves when writing letters and numbers. This letter construction activity explains more about this process. This letter building strategy, paired with other forms of multi-sensory handwriting and teaching letters in groups based on the ways the pencil moves can make a big impact.

Addressing some of the other co-existing issues discussed in this article can be a start.

3. Address the motor planning in handwriting necessary for letter and number formation. Strategies that develop motor planning skills utilizing multi-sensory approaches can help with letter reversal.

With handwriting practice of letters with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic sensory channels at the same time, the weaker channel may be reinforced (Berninger, 2000).

Multi-sensory letter reversal strategies include:

4. Work on visual perception with toys and games, and activities to address specific visual perceptual skills or visual motor skills.

5. Use cursive writing in some cases. Here are creative ways to teach cursive and our entire cursive writing series.

6. Gain a better understanding of visual processing and all of the "pieces" of the vision puzzle that play into letter reversal and other concerns by joining thousands of other therapists, teachers, and professionals in the Visual Processing Lab.

7. Use this Vision Screening Tool to identify and address specific vision concerns such as letter reversals.

8. Try some of these activities to address visual motor integration and eye-hand coordination.

9. Try rainbow writing.

Have concerns? Talk to your child's teacher or occupational therapist to address your concerns.

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Letter Reversals and How to Fix Them - The OT Toolbox

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Try these letter reversal strategies to help kids who write letters backwards. Understand what's really going on behind letter reversals in writing.

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Free online platform with leaning games about vocabulary and grammar

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Break Down Barriers and Increase Outcomes:

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Vocabulary Ninja was created to offer exciting, time saving and evidence-based learning resources that have impact, particularly focusing on developing, deepening and widening a pupil's vocabulary. Your student's vocabulary is quite simply their key to unlocking the doors to a world of understanding.

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Looking to boost your typing speed? Kidztype.com has got you covered with our exciting collection of free typing games. Unleash the power of your fingers as you enjoy thrilling activities like whacking moles, racing through the jungle, bursting rockets, and competing in races with cars, bikes, and boats. Our captivating keyboard games provide the perfect blend of fun and skill-building, allowing you to enhance your typing skills while having a great time. With Kidztype's tailored-made games, you'll be typing faster and more efficiently in no time!

Fun and Engaging Free Typing Games for Kids: Boost Typing

Advancing Skills through Games:

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Typing Games - Learn Typing with Free Keyboard Games - KidzType.com

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Kidztype Typing Games: Kidztype's keyboard games are the best way to master typing speed and accuracy. Choose a suitable typing game to sharpen your fingers! Check us out and start playing now!

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Learn how to touch type with the BBC Dance Mat Typing game. It’s a fun introduction to touch typing game for kids and covers levels 1, 2, 3, 4.

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A Good Sleep Routine Guide for a young person with ADHD

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A Good Sleep Routine Guide for a young person with ADHD

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Advice from the ADHD Foundation

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Stories and Poems by Young People with ADHD 

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Stories and Poems by Young People with ADHD 

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Dr Max Davie is a consultant paediatrician at Evelina hospital. In this video he shares his views on managing ADHD at home. His tips are also useful for children without ADHD!

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How we can support children with Autism to engage with PE.

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Autism Parenting Magazine has some useful tips for you during lock-down. Take a look here.

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Excellent advice from Temple Grandin, PhD and Debra Moore, PhD, on managing your family during quarantine and how to best prepare for childcare in the event a parent suddenly becomes ill.

1. Routines: maintain the old, create the new

This is the time to maintain usual routines as much as possible, supplemented by new ones created, so your child's day has structure. Even though usual schedules have been disrupted, there are other daily rituals you can stick to.

Get yourself and your children up at regular times each morning, even though they are not at school, and you may not be at work. Get out of PJs and into regular clothes right after breakfast. Take a shower. Keep up your hygiene routines.

Consider playing music to help start the morning. If you have Alexa, ask her to play "Good Morning." You should get a fun, child-friendly, call-and-response song (try it yourself first to be sure you get the right song).

Do schoolwork in the morning when your child is fresh. Give breaks, including breaks for alone time. Have lunch together at regular times each day. Afternoons can be times for your child to read, draw, explore the internet (suggestions provided below), or do small projects with you or siblings.

If your child usually goes to a workshop or other day program, try to incorporate some of his/her usual activities at that site into each day. For example, if your child was learning to fold laundry there, that can be done at home too.

2. Minimize surprises

This is a time of great uncertainty. Do not add to it by throwing surprises at your kids. Surprises scare. They are hard for kids on the spectrum under any circumstances, but they're especially tough when stress levels are already high. For example, if you have to leave the house, give everyone advance notice. If you are getting more deliveries than usual, let the kids know when you're expecting them.

3. Offer simple explanations

Tailor explanations to the needs of your child. Don't let your anxiety drive how much you share. If a child doesn't seem anxious, you don't have to explain about the virus. If he/she has questions, answer them honestly, directly, and without elaboration. You can ask your child if he/she has other questions instead of assuming more information is needed. Keep your explanations appropriate to the child's age and ability to comprehend.

4. Practice good self-care

Your child will pick up on your mood and stress level. Monitor both and take steps to stay focused, positive, and productive. The most basic stress reducer is taking several deep belly breaths at regular intervals during the day. You can set your phone alarm to remind you to do this every hour. Regular stretches are also helpful. You can take free yoga classes online.

Try to eat healthy without too many carbs and sugars, and don't let yourself develop new patterns of alcohol use.

5. Plan each day and use a simple schedule

Replace disrupted routines with new ones. Write out a simple schedule for everyone to see and put it in a highly trafficked area of the house. Include getting up, having breakfast, morning activities and breaks, lunch, afternoon activities and breaks, dinner, evening activities, downtime, and bedtime. Gear it to your child's age-the younger, the simpler.

Consider specifying TV, movie, and online time. If your child is into video games, he/she may want to spend all day playing them. If he/she wants to be online, there are lots of other options. Zoom chats are fine. Online schoolwork or anything where your child is learning is not "screen time." See the end of this post for a list of options and links to websites with fun activities.

Try to get your kids outside for at least part of the day. They can still take walks or ride their bikes. Take them on a "search mission." Write down things you think they will see during your walk and have them check them off. If you're in a city, maybe you write down "store, garbage can, stoplight," things like that. If you live in the country, take a walk in the woods and try to find things like "bird, insect, bush, rock."

Dogs think they've died and gone to heaven during this time! Let your kid join you in walking the dog. Consider teaching other pet care tasks now, like grooming and feeding.

Evenings are times for family dinners and shared clean up. You can designate one evening a week for TV or movie night. Each family member gets to select the movie (or maybe two episodes of a TV series) for everyone to watch. Parents will have to endure some Disney movies and make choices appropriate for kids to watch. When your kids get to choose, they practice empathy and turn-taking by figuring out what other family members might enjoy too.

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6. Reach out to others to keep your kids connected

Your family still needs to communicate with others, just from a distance. You can call relatives and friends, or use any of the online forums for sharing audio or video connections. FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom are the most common platforms people are using. If your kid is into computers, let him/her learn how to use these apps, and then let him/her teach you. Your kids can visit with their friends or relatives, and even play games over Zoom or the other platforms.

If you have neighbors, you can still talk to them from a distance of seven feet or more. You can even have lunch "together" if each family brings their own food and drink, and you sit far enough apart, preferably outside, or in a room where there is good ventilation.

7. Beware of sensory assaults

If you are using hand sanitizer, Lysol, bleach, or other cleaning products more than usual, you could be creating discomfort for your child. Keep rooms aired out as much as possible. Use masking scents if they help. Some kids, for example, love the smell of a little vanilla on a cotton ball. They can keep these in their pockets to sniff as needed. It has a calming effect on many children.

You can also teach children about spices and flavors by doing "sniff experiments" to determine favorites. Just keep the sniffs small, not peppery, and not too close. Some kids love this exercise. If your kid is a compulsive sniffer, this might help channel the obsession into a productive interest in food or cooking, or it could reinforce inappropriate, generalized sniffing. You know your child, so use your judgment.

The thing that helps kids the most is to have some control over sensory input. For example, let them take the cap off the hand sanitizer and put it back on after you've used it. Let them plug in the vacuum cleaner. Having control of some steps helps desensitize kids.

8. Limit stress exposure

Don't have the TV news on constantly. Don't spend all day on your computer compulsively checking the news. Don't let your kids do it either. Be mindful of conversations your children overhear. If you need to vent your stress or anxiety, do it out of earshot of vulnerable children.

9. Increase calming exercises

You already know what calms your child. Use these strategies proactively during this period. Don't wait for a meltdown. Schedule calming activities each day and put them on the calendar. Examples might include deep massage, music, stretching, or playing with a favorite toy.

10. Show your kids positive images

Find positive images and stories to share with your child. This is easy to look up using Google. There are many examples of people helping each other through this difficult time. Find them and share them. Consider creating some yourself. For instance, you and your child can write notes or draw pictures for relatives or friends.

You Need A Plan in Case You Become Sick

While you might want to avoid this, you need to make a plan now in case you become ill.

You need to know who would care for your children and how your children would get into their care. Talk now to the person you would want to watch your children if you are suddenly unable. Make a list of what items your child would want or need to take if he/she had to go to someone else's house. Would he/she have to take any specific food items? Medicines? Give the person a copy of the list now.

Write up an agreement and email it to this person now. Have the person send it back to you with a statement that he/she agrees to it. Make sure to date to the agreement. You do not want strangers caring for your children, even for a brief period. This could happen if you were suddenly incapacitated.

Resources for Family Activities

YouTube: Use the search function and find videos related to your child's special interest (as long as that interest is positive and productive, of course).

Temple's book Calling All Minds: How to Think and Create Like an Inventor lets your child read about famous inventors and has lots of projects for families. You can order the book or read it online.

https://chatterpack.net Go to their blogs and find: "A list of free, online, boredom-busting resources."

https://www.northshoremums.com.au/fun-home-activities-with-kids Search for 115 Fun Activities to do at Home with Kids While Self-Isolating.

http://pandemicdistractions.com This includes links to books, art, videos, museums, zoos, exercises, online volunteer projects, and more.

To see how others handle living in a confined space, you can watch the astronauts on the international space station. Your child will learn how important routines are and how vital hygiene and cleaning is. There are lots of videos from the space station out there. Just Google "life on the international space station."

For kids who love math or computer science, try wolfram.com

For visual thinkers who love science, go to Google and search "protein symmetry" and specifically opt to search images.

Others:

kahnacademy.org. has video lessons for math, art, computer programming, and much more.

https://www.coursera.org/ has classes for older children on all things computer, technical, coding and more.

code.org has fun projects - 78 million! - grouped by age (usually eight years old and up).
Debra Moore, PhD, is a psychologist who worked extensively with children, teens, and adults on the autism spectrum. She facilitates the LinkedIn group Autism Spectrum Across the Lifespan and the Facebook page The Loving Push. Debra contributed two chapters (one co-authored with Dr. Temple Grandin) to The Nine Degrees of Autism (Routledge, 2015). She wrote the chapter Internet and Gaming Addiction in Youth on the Autism Spectrum: A Particularly Vulnerable Population in Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents (Springer Publishers, 2017). She resides in rural Northern Virginia.
If you found this article helpful, please consider sharing it on social media or linking to it from your website to help other parents. You may also want to check out our other resources on coping strategies for autism and COVID-19.

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Top 10 Tips to Support Autism Families During the Pandemic - Autism Parenting Magazine

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Excellent advice from Temple Grandin, PhD and Debra Moore, PhD, on managing your family during quarantine and how to best prepare for childcare in the event a parent suddenly becomes ill. 1. Routines: maintain the old, create the new This is the time to maintain usual routines as much as possible, supplemented by new ones ...

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Feelings of well-being are essential to the overall health of us all. When our children are well emotionally and physically they are better able overcome difficulties and achieve what they want.
Your child's well-being will be affected by your well-being so, it is essential that all parents take time for themselves in this respect.

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iPad apps for Learners with Dyscalculia 

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iPad apps for Learners with Dyscalculia 

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Many children struggle with learning disabilities that can hinder their ability to process and understand information. Dyscalculia is a developmental disorder that involves difficulty conceptualizing and performing mathematics. The following are several practical ways that parents can help a child who struggles with dyscalculia.

Play With Dominoes
Playing games that use dominoes can help a child more easily understand simple math concepts. Specialist Ronit Bird states that a child should learn to recognize the number patterns on the dominoes and dice instead of counting the individual dots each time. Start by using dominoes and dice by themselves so your child feels comfortable with these objects. Next, find a game your child enjoys that uses these items.

Resist Using Worksheets
Whenever possible, parents should play games with their children to reinforce math facts instead of relying on worksheets. Games are almost always more interesting for kids. They present math as fun challenges to solve instead of boring concepts to memorize. If worksheets are used, it may be necessary to highlight important numbers in the instructions and throughout various problems. Allow your child to use a variety of colored pencils when completing worksheets, as it may help them more easily organize their work.

Use Manipulatives
Seeing and handling a tangible object will help a child better understand the abstract principles of mathematics. Legos and simple blocks can be used to teach addition and subtraction. TheSchoolRun.com suggests using a counter when working with children. Actually covering a certain number of counters with your hands will enable your child to more easily visualize different groups of numbers.

Learn the Language of Math
Parents should encourage their child to talk out loud as they work through a problem or new math concept. Children who struggle with math may have good language skills that could help make the mathematical process easier. It's a good idea for children to learn several synonyms for a variety of math terms. For example, when discussing addition problems they could use terms such as "plus," "increase" and "more than." Explain basic terms to your child and allow them to talk about each definition, describing what it means in their own words.

Create Visual Models
While this is similar to using manipulatives, creating visual models can expand beyond working with basic handheld objects. Understood.org advises moving around large objects in a room or drawing pictures to vividly explain aspects of math problems. Even simple household objects such as different colored socks or pairs of shoes can be used to teach addition and subtraction.

Use Accommodations
Accommodations can include everything from circling keywords in math sentences to giving your child extra paper to work out math problems. You should also discuss with your child's teacher accommodations that can be implemented at school. A few include extra time given for tests and access to a math resource room if one is available. The school may also allow a child with dyscalculia to use a calculator when working on daily math problems as well as tests.

Teach Toward Understanding
While learning math can be broken into sections, it's always a good idea to have the end goal in mind. Memorizing facts -- such as multiplication tables -- is a good idea, but simply memorizing facts won't always lead to real understanding of a math concept or process. Start by instructing your child to reason through a problem using logic instead of rote memorization. It's also a good idea to memorize a few basic strategies that have wide application.

While each one of these strategies may not work with every child, finding even a few that do will likely go a long way in helping a child build their math skills. It's important for parents to acknowledge the struggles and praise the progress that's achieved with each new skill that their child masters.

Contact us today to schedule an assessment. You can also view the research and results of the program on the website.

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7 Practical Ways Parents Can Help a Child with Dyscalculia

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Many children struggle to process and understand information. Dyscalculia is the difficulty of conceptualizing & performing math. Here are 7 ways to help!

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Help yourself to help others

If a fear of maths has you hiding from homework, we can help!

With a little help from us you can build your number confidence and skills, and begin to feel more prepared for when children come to you for help, and help pass your confidence onto them.

The free National Numeracy Challenge is designed to help you! It's a free, quick and easy way to check your skills and confidence with numbers, where you can go at your own pace, with learning resources tailored to you and your level. It helps with the maths we come across at work and in daily life - not algebra, or trigonometry. You can get started in just 10 minutes, and join the 390,000 others that have already started their journey to number confidence. Give it a go!

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With a little help from us you can build your number confidence and skills, and begin to feel more prepared for when children come to you for help, and help pass your confidence onto them. The free National Numeracy Challenge is designed to help you!

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The animation shares Erin’s story about living as an autistic young person and the huge impact this can have on every aspect of life.

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Signs that your daughter may have autism

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Signs that your daughter may have autism

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Activities for online intervention support

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Activities for online intervention support

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Activities for online intervention support

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Different techniques that can help children who struggle to write information down

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How to get your device to read documents out loud and type what you say

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What working memory is and exercises to help improve it

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What working memory is and exercises to help improve it

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This booklet consists of the theory and practice of working memory

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Improve kids' executive functioning with 5 minutes of partner games a day