Doing Stuff Back To Front

[sherrardk]

Thing 2 has progressed onto more complicated Lego sets (he's nearly 6 but doing sets designed for 10+ year olds). He is having no trouble at all and is doing a beautiful job. However, he is following the instruction diagams but what he is actually building turns out back to front (as a mirror image of how it should be). Anyone know if this is called anything? It's not a big deal but it might shed some light on his speech problems.

[Buenchico]

I've never come across it but your post made me think of Leonardo da Vinci, who habitually used 'mirror writing'. The possible neurological causes are examined in this article from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2117809/
Maybe there's a connection?

[pixie373]

My daughter used to do that. They suspected dyslexia, but she outgrew it at 7 x

[boxtops]

That is really interesting, sher.

Have you ever tried telling someone they have a mark on their face? When you point to it (on your own face, to indicate where it is) they mirror so they point at the wrong side of their own face. Could it be something like that?

[islasmum]

Is he left-handed Sherrard? Iam, and can mirrorwrite, not fluently, but if I practised I could probably do it quite easily - and does he fid it easy to read upside down writing too?

[sherrardk]

Pretty sure he's not dyslexic as he has been assessed for a statement because of his speech problems and dyslexia was not flagged as an issue. They think his brain is wired differently and that is what has caused his speech problems and I wondered if it could be connected to that. He has a lot of additional adult input at school (he has a teaching assistant) so if he were dyslexic he would probably be picked out quite quickly because he gets so much additional help. He's not left handed but I think he is probably cross lateral (as the others are). The whole Lego thing is weird though, he made something that's already tricky for a 6 year old even more difficult.

[puzzled54]

What is cross lateral?

[sherrardk]

Most people are right handed and the left hand side of the brain is dominant but if you are cross lateral you are right handed but the right side of your brain is dominant. Now that I have re-read the stuff about it, I can see that thing 2's speech problems might be caused by this as the left side of the brain is in control of speech (or it could be a load of old hokum).

[puzzled54]

Haven't heard that before - good that he's doing so well with the lego. Which foot is dominant?

[sherrardk]

Not sure, going to have to watch him. Only know about cross lateralism from boy 1 - he had to go to a specialist optician when he was little and it was she that noticed it. It's not usually a biggie but I would be interested to know if it has contributed/caused his severe speech problems.

[Hopkirk]

I think I would call it brilliant - I don't think I could do it if I tried.

[sherrardk]

I check Lego sets as he does them, I had to re-do it as I couldn't get my head round it being back to front to see if it was right or not (the sections fit together so it has to be right - it's a big set of 1300+ pieces).

[mazie]

He's like my grandson...different, but a potential genius..He thinks a lot different to the rest of us...and I love it..I don't know what it's called..I'm not sure I care that much though