Info about Mirror Writing
Children and Mirror-Writing
Mirror writing is the ability or habit of writing backwards. While it usually done on purpose, such as writing on a surface that will reflect it to read left-to-right, it can be disconcerting when your child begins writing backwards from the beginning. Generally if you have a young child just learning to write, and he or she tends to write backwards or with jumbled letters, it isn’t cause for concern. However when it persists over the next few years when their ability to understand the order in which letters should appear is fully developed, it may be a sign of dyslexia or other medical conditions.
At around four years old, children are just developing the ability to recognize letters and learning to write words and their own names. However, when they first develop these skills, they are in the process of laterality. For a child this young, they are aware of the difference between left and right, but not necessarily which is correct in terms of writing or spelling. Eventually, they will learn directionality, or the correct usage of right-to-left, up-to-down, and front-to-back. At a young age, children can write left-to-right and right-to-left just as easily; the child may know the letters that spell their name, but not in which direction they should be written. She most likely has developed the ability to understand the correct order, but not the difference between right and left.
However at around age six or seven, a child’s ability to understand directionality should be fully developed, so if your child is still writing backwards, it may be a cause for concern. Mirror writing at ages seven and above can be signs of learning disabilities, neurodevelopment immaturity, visual perceptual disorders, visual processing disorders, or dyslexia. If your child also writes left-to-right and understands that right-to-left isn’t “correct” it isn’t a cause for concern as long as you can teach your child the proper wait to write and spell words.
Some children simply have the ability to write easily in both directions. This could be due to an inherited trait from one of your ancestors or a-typical language organization in their brains. It is more common for children that are left-handed to engage in mirror writing, than it is for right-handed children because left-handed children already have the a-typical language centers in their brain that allows them to write with their left hand. If you have a left-handed child who mirror writes occasionally, but also understands that writing left-to-right is what is expected, there is no cause for concern that your child has this rare ability.
How To Write Backwards
Writing backwards, also known as mirror writing is the ability to write letters backwards, where the reflection will make it read left-to-right, such as on a mirror. Some people have a natural ability to write backwards quickly and easily, due to using certain parts of their brains; especially left-handed people. However, writing backwards doesn’t come as easily for everyone, so you may need to begin practicing and following certain techniques in order to learn mirror writing.
Start by writing out every letter of the alphabet on a piece of paper in upper and lower case. Use your neatest and clearest handwriting, and include numbers if you want to learn how to write those backwards as well. Having a sheet in front of you with how the letters look normally, will help you to begin practicing to write them backwards. The writing on the reference sheet should be rather large and spaced out, preferably with letters that are at least ½-inch high.
To practice writing backwards, you will be using a mirror to create a second reference sheet that actually shows how each letter will look when written backwards. This is going to be used for your practice sessions until you get familiar enough with the backwards letters to mirror write without using the sheet. To make the reference sheet, place your first sheet face-up on a flat surface and position a small hand mirror perpendicular to it. Hold the mirror over each letter with your non-dominant hand and with your other hand; write each letter as it looks when backwards. Continue doing this until you have copies all letters, both uppercase and lowercase, and numbers onto your backwards reference sheet.
Now you have the materials needed to practice writing backwards. Start writing them backwards on a fresh piece of paper, with each line of the paper making up one letter of the backwards alphabet. The practice sessions will be similar to when you first learned to write. As you practice each letter over and over again, it will become easier and your hand will naturally form the letters while you eventually will not need the reference sheet to go by. You may find it is easier to write the letters small in the beginning, and gradually working towards writing them in a larger size, such as on your bathroom mirror for others to read. Once you have mastered writing individual letters backwards, you can begin writing entire words and using this “code” for leaving secret messages to your friends or in your diary.