Mirror Writing

Mirror writing is a form of reversal. It means that the person is writing backward, from right to left, the letters or words appearing like ordinary writing seen in a mirror.

While mirror writing is considered to be normal during the preschool phase, it should alert parents and teachers if it continues after formal reading and writing instruction has begun. If it continues it indicates a severe visual perceptual deficit, especially with visual discrimination of position in space. More specifically the person is unable to discriminate between left and right, has a problem with the reading direction, and might also be unable to cross the midline. Deficits in other foundational skills might contribute to this problem.