<p>Leonardo da Vinci wrote both upside down, and in a mirror image.  He did the latter partly to make it harder for others to read his journals and copy his ideas (he was doing his research in a time when it was forbidden by the church), but also to avoid smudging his writing.  He was also left-handed.</p>

<p><a href="http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090114092559AA6G277">Here is someone</a> who also writes upside down and backwards.  And <a href="http://www.mothering.com/community/t/590452/writing-upside-down-backwards">here is a case</a> of a mother asking if she should be concerned because her 2 1/2 year old daughter writes upside down.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-11T16:29:30.003Z
2012-04-11T22:35:36.893Z
2012-04-11T22:35:36.893Z
tcrosley
<p>This phenomena is much more common than most people realize. I have been working with several elementary students over the last three years who could not read and write conventionally, but  can do so easily when the book/paper is upside down.  </p>

<p>My wife and I also recently conducted an interview with a 74 year old retired reading teacher who discloses that she, too, was an inverted reader and writer before she entered 1st grade. Upon entering 1st grade she was discouraged from doing what came naturally, and unsuccessfully labored to read and write conventionally throughout her early academic career.</p>

<p>To view this interview and many others of children reading and writing inverted, simply GOOGLE  PIreading.com </p>

<p>As requested, here's a link to the interview: <a href="http://www.dropshots.com/teacherman9000#date/2012-02-23/04:49:12" rel="nofollow">http://www.dropshots.com/teacherman9000#date/2012-02-23/04:49:12</a>  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-11T12:18:27.380Z
2012-07-11T12:18:27.380Z
Stephen Round
<p>When lefties write left to right they face three difficulties:</p>

<ol>
<li>They risk smudging what they have already written</li>
<li>The natural way to hold a pen means it is likely to dig in to the paper, rather than be drawn across it.</li>
<li>They tend to slope the letters backwards. I don't really understand why, but righties can demonstrate this for themselves by writing lefty</li>
</ol>

<p>Rotating the paper alleviates these problems to some extent. I've noticed many lefties do it, though not to the extreme you describe.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-11T09:10:20.750Z
2012-04-11T09:10:20.750Z
Michael Burrows
<p>We have been studying behavioral and neural mechanisms of upside-down writing and reading in  a case of a young left-handed women who writes and draws upside-down only. Apart from some interesting spatial processing results (superior in some tasks) we have no explanation so far. We did discover, however, that this phenomenon is much more common than hitherto believed. Sally, please let me know if you would like to hear more about the study. We would, of course, benefit from hearing more about your writing. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-01T04:48:40.190Z
This sounds interesting. I'm sure the readers on this site would like to learn more about what you've found or perhaps what references to look at to learn more.
Jeromy Anglim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-31T14:02:45.290Z
2012-05-31T14:02:45.290Z
user780
<p>From the time I was able to write I have been writing upside down, as in literally turning the page 180 degrees and writing. The funny thing is, I can't write the right way up! I am left handed which would probably make this more clear but to this day I find it really weird! I can easily read upside-down mainly because I've always had to write upside down! </p>

<p>I've never been trained to write in this way nor do I know anyone who can write like me! I've always been comfortable writing this way. I know nothing is wrong with me, but I am curious to know if there are other cases like me or maybe even explainations? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-09T16:44:02.240Z
Could you elaborate a bit on what exactly happens when you try to write like most of us do? Also: Can you read _only_ upside down?
Pavel
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-09T18:42:35.923Z
How were you taught to write? Were you home-schooled? Did you model the behavior of an older sibling you were always facing (180°)? Were you a stubborn student who insisted on writing upside-down so you could see what you were writing? (If so, good for you!) Or have you forgotten this part of your childhood and you're hoping we can reconstruct it for you?
John Pick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-11T12:23:11.570Z
Also, [related question](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/232/by-learning-to-read-and-write-upside-down-what-did-i-do-to-myself)
Josh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-14T13:28:20.787Z
The answer to this specific question is simply yes. If you have a more specific question which asks for facts/information rather than just other's experiences with the topic that would be a constructive question.
Zelda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-14T19:54:02.587Z
I agree with @nico that this question is off-topic or not a real question. It is way too much about personal experience, and does not show any [initial research effort](http://meta.cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/66/29), not even the basic searching on CogSci.SE to find the related question Josh Gitlin linked.
Artem Kaznatcheev
<writing>
Are there known cases where people can write upside down?
Sally Redding
# Are there known cases where people can write upside down?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-04-09)

From the time I was able to write I have been writing upside down, as in literally turning the page 180 degrees and writing. The funny thing is, I can't write the right way up! I am left handed which would probably make this more clear but to this day I find it really weird! I can easily read upside-down mainly because I've always had to write upside down!

I've never been trained to write in this way nor do I know anyone who can write like me! I've always been comfortable writing this way. I know nothing is wrong with me, but I am curious to know if there are other cases like me or maybe even explainations?

**Tags:** writing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you elaborate a bit on what exactly happens when you try to write like most of us do? Also: Can you read _only_ upside down?  
> **username_2**: How were you taught to write? Were you home-schooled? Did you model the behavior of an older sibling you were always facing (180°)? Were you a stubborn student who insisted on writing upside-down so you could see what you were writing? (If so, good for you!) Or have you forgotten this part of your childhood and you're hoping we can reconstruct it for you?  
> **username_3**: Also, [related question](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/232/by-learning-to-read-and-write-upside-down-what-did-i-do-to-myself)  
> **username_4**: The answer to this specific question is simply yes. If you have a more specific question which asks for facts/information rather than just other's experiences with the topic that would be a constructive question.  
> **username_5**: I agree with @nico that this question is off-topic or not a real question. It is way too much about personal experience, and does not show any [initial research effort](http://meta.cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/66/29), not even the basic searching on CogSci.SE to find the related question username_3 Gitlin linked.  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2012-04-11. Score: 5

Leonardo da Vinci wrote both upside down, and in a mirror image. He did the latter partly to make it harder for others to read his journals and copy his ideas (he was doing his research in a time when it was forbidden by the church), but also to avoid smudging his writing. He was also left-handed.

[Here is someone](http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090114092559AA6G277) who also writes upside down and backwards. And [here is a case](http://www.mothering.com/community/t/590452/writing-upside-down-backwards) of a mother asking if she should be concerned because her 2 1/2 year old daughter writes upside down.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2012-07-11. Score: 4

This phenomena is much more common than most people realize. I have been working with several elementary students over the last three years who could not read and write conventionally, but can do so easily when the book/paper is upside down.

My wife and I also recently conducted an interview with a 74 year old retired reading teacher who discloses that she, too, was an inverted reader and writer before she entered 1st grade. Upon entering 1st grade she was discouraged from doing what came naturally, and unsuccessfully labored to read and write conventionally throughout her early academic career.

To view this interview and many others of children reading and writing inverted, simply GOOGLE PIreading.com

As requested, here's a link to the interview: <http://www.dropshots.com/teacherman9000#date/2012-02-23/04:49:12>


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2012-04-11. Score: 3

When lefties write left to right they face three difficulties:

1. They risk smudging what they have already written
2. The natural way to hold a pen means it is likely to dig in to the paper, rather than be drawn across it.
3. They tend to slope the letters backwards. I don't really understand why, but righties can demonstrate this for themselves by writing lefty

Rotating the paper alleviates these problems to some extent. I've noticed many lefties do it, though not to the extreme you describe.


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2012-05-31. Score: 2

We have been studying behavioral and neural mechanisms of upside-down writing and reading in a case of a young left-handed women who writes and draws upside-down only. Apart from some interesting spatial processing results (superior in some tasks) we have no explanation so far. We did discover, however, that this phenomenon is much more common than hitherto believed. Sally, please let me know if you would like to hear more about the study. We would, of course, benefit from hearing more about your writing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_10**: This sounds interesting. I'm sure the readers on this site would like to learn more about what you've found or perhaps what references to look at to learn more.  

---

