Hello!
Should I be worried if my five-year-old daughter writes certain letters in reverse, like s facing the other way? Or when she writes a b as a d?
Pam
Hello Pam
Thank you for your question.
Learning lowercase letters can be confusing for many children, especially b, d, p, and q. When you think about it, it’s not surprising — most objects don’t change what they are just because you flip them around or turn them upside down!
Letter reversals in young children are often described as “totally normal” until after age seven, with the advice to “don’t worry” unless they persist past second grade. But that raises an important question: if your child said, “I eated my lunch,” would you immediately model the correct grammar, or wait until age seven? If your child wrote “2+3 = 8,” would you correct it or ignore it for a few years? Why treat letter reversals differently?
Reversals of b and d are among the most common problems in reading and writing. If the problem persists, it may point to one of two underlying causes:
1. Visual processing deficits
Reversals of b and d may reflect a visual processing weakness, specifically difficulty with spatial orientation — the ability to perceive whether something is up, down, in front, behind, left, or right. To distinguish between b and d, a child must reliably tell left from right. If they haven’t mastered sidedness, the letters will remain confusing.
Importantly, memory aids don’t fix this. A child confused about left and right cannot rely on mnemonics like “your watch is on your left hand.” It’s like trying to speak a language by only looking up words in a dictionary — it won’t lead to fluency. Instead, sidedness needs to be practiced and reinforced until it becomes automatic.
2. Auditory processing deficits
Sometimes reversals come from auditory processing difficulties, specifically trouble distinguishing the sounds “buh” and “duh.” Auditory processing is the brain’s ability to interpret and make sense of sounds, and weaknesses in this area can contribute to confusion with letter-sound mapping.
The takeaway: Occasional reversals are common at age five, but if they persist, they may indicate underlying visual or auditory processing difficulties. Early attention to these skills helps prevent bigger struggles later.
Warm regards
Sue
More about Sue
Sue is an educational specialist in learning difficulties with a B.A. Honors in Psychology and a B.D. degree. Early in her career, Sue was instrumental in training over 3,000 teachers and tutors, providing them with the foundational and practical understanding to facilitate cognitive development among children who struggle to read and write. With over 30 years of research to her name, she conceptualized the Edublox teaching and learning methods that have helped thousands of children worldwide. In 2007, she opened the first Edublox reading and learning clinic; today, there are 30 clinics internationally. Sue treasures the “hero” stories of students whose self-esteem soars as their marks improve.
