Hoping to hear others with similar experiences
I have a 7 year old son. He is left handed, though he can use the other hand about the same. Diagnosis of hyperlexia at 21 months when he spontaneously began reading, writing and spelling. Around the same time in early toddlerhood he was diagnosed with epilepsy (partial complex seizures, frontal lobe origin)
He began writing words around 24 months and never had trouble with letter reversals, for example no backwards d's or s's. I noticed he could read cursive by 2 1/2. He also did things like reciting the alphabet backwards and would immediately know which letter preceded any given letter. Very into the "code" of language as a two year old, more so than the content.
Now at age 7 (in 3rd grade) his reading level is high and he totally loves the content. He especially likes Greek mythology, The Iliad, etc.
Which brings me to my question........... he mirror writes, frequently, whole paragraphs. Never makes any letter reversals (wrong ways d, for example) and it doesn't seem to be a mistake, it is not mixed in with regular writing - if he does it, the entire piece of writing is mirrored. It happens at school about once a week. He has been doing this since around age 3.
The current teacher thinks it's dyslexia - it's not
The neurologist says it's a "novelty" and he will outgrow it
We have wondered about boredom at school, though he does it at home as well, when he is presumably not bored
In the same vein, sometimes he sit down intending to write in code. He will make a key then quickly write in his code. One day he saw the Greek letters on a sorority sign on campus and he wrote for the rest of the day in Greek letters. He also sometimes on schoolwork will do a jumble pattern to the letters in his words, which is consistent through the piece of writing and appears to be voluntary. When pressed for why he's doing it, I get no real reason.
Any experiences from others whose kids do similar things? He does frequently have seizures, so I do wonder if this is a neuro "problem" in some fashion. I also realize other gifted kids sometimes do this. I have seen very little on why (other than young children who do letter reversals on accident). I would love to hear other experiences. Especially if anyone has a term or resource for what is going on.
edited to add: I say this is a problem because he's doing it on schoolwork despite being clearly told by the teachers to cease and he does not get credit for the work when it occurs. His behavior is always great, so something is pulling him to do this despite the negative consequences of doing so.
Edited by Kincaid - 8/27/12 at 10:08am
we just rolled with it. I always figured it felt more comfortable for them for some reason. I also wrote backward, in codes, with my left hand (I'm a rightie), learned the sign language alphabet, etc. in school, but for me it was boredom in school that made me do it.
Notice this guy is either writing in Hebrew or writing like your son. 
. He's never done it on actual turned in school work, but did it recreationally and *at* school in free time for quite some time. He does, however, still have to think about what direction the "circle" letters go...but that is a separate thing from the mirror writing, which was intentional.
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