This has happened to me since the late 90s, and it usually comes in waves (a bunch at once, then nothing for a long time).
When I’m writing by hand, I sometimes write not the next letter but the letter after that. So, I might write “cat”: A-(whoops, go back)-C-T.
The weird thing is that I think the next letter but then write the one thereafter. It is truly a perplexing brain fart. I have no trouble reading and no (in my own diagnosis) trouble with dyslexia.
I don’t consider it a real problem, so I’m not asking for medical help. Just ideas as to cause, etc.
I get this when I’m tired, I also tend to write the letter ‘a’ rather than the pronoun ‘I’.
My brain is going too fast for my hands to keep up and I start writing the next word before finishing the first - it happens when typing or writing.
This isa fairly typicale example ofa mistake a would write.
I do the same thing quite frequently, but usually not with the beginning of words. I’ll write “recordable”: R-E-O (go back and squeeze in) C R D A B L E.
I immediately know I wrote the wrong letter, and I’ll just put the one that was supposed to go there in front and continue. It’s always been there, and I don’t see numbers or letters inverted, I’ve never had any reading problems, and I have one of the most highly developed senses of direction of anyone I’ve known (I build 3D maps in my brain that I can navigate as if I’m flying over them.)
It doesn’t happen when I type, only when printing (cursive is error free too).
I’d be curious to find out what the deal is as well…it’s been a puzzle to me my whole life.
I’m curious why you ask these two particular questions. I am plagued by transposing numbers and have had difficulty with left/right most of my life (I’m still not great at it, and I’m 30). On the other hand, I taught myself to read when I was 4, and have been reading voraciously ever since, so I don’t think dyslexia is the culprit.
Huh. It looks like a mild form of dycalculia. It appears I am weak in sequencing, while conceptual/holistic/right brain processing is strong and so are attentional skills. This seems to explain some the odd descrepancies in what I can and can’t do easily in math. (I wouldn’t put it at the level of a learning diability – I did attend a high school for math and science).
Interestingly, I also have trouble with names which is connected to poor sequencing, although I don’t exactly see why.
Also interesting, it is common for students with dyscalculia to be accelerated in verbal skills and language, science (up to the point where it requires lots of math) and the arts. That really describes my interests and abilities well.
If it’s any comfort, this happens to me too, it’s been happening to me for as long as I remember and I’m 69 yrs old. It is very frustrating when I try to hand write something, it drives me crazy. I also see the error right away and try to squeeze in the letter that should have come out first . I’m from Long Island NY
Did you have trouble learning to tell time on a regular clock? I did. Still have to think when I look at the clock. I transpose numbers all the time. Left and right mean absolutely nothing to me. I look at my feet when someone says go left or right, because my 1st grade teacher put tape on my shoes with R on one and L on the other. I’m ambidextrous if that makes a difference.
Not in your case, but for the sake of interested readers who do this only when typing, if the problem is swapping two letters that are typed with opposite hands, the problem could be arm and shoulder nerve damage that is changing the relative response time of the two hands. The brain is supposed to allow for this, but if it’s changing, the brain might not manage.
