Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Left, right, or mixed dominance?

Is there any solid research that shows a left/right mixed dominance is responsible for some physical uncoordination, dyslexia, handwriting problems, etc.?
GS8 writes left handed but does most large muscle activities right handed. His handwriting is a bit sloppy but can be very neat when he tries. He draws very well. Something I've noticed about his letter writing, he starts many letters from the right and draws to the left. I think it's because no one taught him how to make letters. He saw them, and wrote them. And since he's a lefty, it would be more natural to make a letter from the right to the left. He still reverses some letters, too. Is this unusual for 8.5?

I don't know for sure if there's any solid research, but the first place that comes to mind to look would be in the realm of the work of Linda Silverman re: visual-spatial (right-brained) learners. I vaguely recall that she usually cites to lots of sources, if you're looking for hard core research. Dyslexia, among other LDs, would seem more common among right-brained learners from the way she wrote her book Upside Down Brilliance (which is out of print but it's a fantastic book - I have it, and it is a bit of a life-changing book for me - sometimes there are used ones on amazon).

I have two left-handed kids, DS5 hasn't even really started writing yet (will be getting OT) and DD6 has pretty good handwriting, though I'm noticing her grip is suddenly rather poor. They are both VSLs. DD is in vision therapy for eye tracking issues, and it has helped a lot. I think her ocular motor skills are far better than mine at this point (LOL I can hardly do some of her exercises) and she's finally reading at grade level (though we're hoping to see further improvement, more in line with her supposed potential). My kids have had their fair share of motor issues/SPD and left-brain weaknesses (auditory processing, primarily).

I don't know if letter reversals are still common at 8.5.

The group of issues you mention, physical uncoordination (motor issues), dyslexia and handwriting, do seem to be associated with right-brained learners from the way Silverman discusses things (or perhaps I'm muddling VSL issues with SPD issues). Have you checked http://www.visualspatial.org/ ? Specifically, I'd look at http://www.visualspatial.org/Product_Marketing/RTTK/kidquiz.pdf and http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/appendc.pdf . If your GS is a VSL, you may find several helpful articles on the website.

Thanks to both of you for the links & info. He is a VSL, as am I. I'll do some more reading and probably have more questions later.

Please, post anything you find of interest, OHG.
Both my girls are VSL. DD8, though seems to also learn auditory sequential, which helps in school.
I don't see the same for DD5, she seems more dominantly VSL.

Incog

OHGrandma, is the handwriting the primary issue you're concerned about? Or are there other motor/uncoordination issues? Or, is it dyslexia that's on your mind?

I was just wondering, because motor issues can sometimes be rooted in SPD/central nervous system issues. What I find rather curious is Silverman's hypothesis that a deprivation of oxygen/nutrients in utero or difficult birth seems to be related to a certain portion of VSLs; and yet, the exact same cause has been linked to SPD. But there's no overt correlation between being a VSL and having SPD that I know of. I just find it odd that two authors (Silverman, and Dr. Miller in "Sensational Kids") cite the same possible cause for a certain portion of people who are VSLs and a certain portion of people who have SPD. Maybe it's merely that such an environmental insult results in different harm depending on the individual, etc. (and that doesn't even put giftedness into the mix - I know there's a correlation between SPD and giftedness, but I thought that had more to do with overexitabilities in general) (does anyone here have the faintest idea what I'm talking about? think I better get to bed!)

Incidentally, on the handedness, I am a VSL as well and I am right-handed. DH thinks he's more of a visual learner as well, and he's also right handed, but I think he's relatively evenly balanced between left-brained and right-brained learning. I tend to have some auditory weaknesses that he does not have, though my weaknesses are very mild compared to those of my kids, I think. One of my brothers is left-handed, and when I emailed him the VSL info he said that's definitely him. He didn't do incredibly well in school - not poorly by any means, but his SATs were a lot lower than mine - and incidentally, he is the most successful of all my siblings (at least financially; as in, beyond anyone's wildest dreams). Makes me wonder if he had some sort of undiagnosed LD. I have another brother, a rightie, who is also a VSL. I don't know about the last brother, never got around to asking. But we can't figure out where it came from - my dad was definitely not a VSL, my mom is a little bit (but she's also a rabid extravert). Also curiously, there is a subgroup of late talkers who tend to have various characteristics in common, and left-handedness is on the list (every time I look at that list, all I can think of is VSL). ok I'll shut up now and go to bed...

GS8 is mildly distressed that he can't throw as well as other 8 year olds, or his younger girl cousins(4.11 & 7.3) or younger(by 13 months) half siblings(twin boy/girl). He can hit a baseball fairly well, left or right handed equally well. He seldom alternates feet going down stairs. His reversal of letters knocks off about 10% of his grade in language arts, not a big deal since he still gets a solid 'B'. It doesn't seem to affect his reading much since he is past sounding out each syllable to decode a word. Any misreading is corrected immediately through understanding context. His writing is usually sloppy, but he can make it neat when he tries. We have a good chance of correcting improperly made letters as he learns cursive.

I guess I was trying to understand if there is a connection between poor large muscle coordination and mixed dominance, which also might explain still reversing letters. So far, most of what I've read seems to by hypotheses, or anecdotal. And some articles point to the advantage of having mixed dominance. At this point it seems doing things which emphasize whole body coordination, like swimming, is as good as anything.

OhGM - I'm sure you've heard me mention this before but my DS10 has visual tracking issues which led to letter reversals. He was also able to understand context very well although when he read out loud he would start on one line and end up on another. However, he would get great grades in reading and on AR tests so that didn't bother me too much. His handwriting was atrocious except when he went very slowly and deliberately and then his hand hurt from all the effort. He also makes letters the wrong way - drawing them backwards. Also, the throwing the ball thing could be a visual issue. My DS has been in therapy about 6 months and we have seen great improvement.

Have you thought about visual issues?

OHGrandma - the bit about not alternating feet going down stairs might have me concerned about gross motor skills (something that could be evaluated by an OT). I am not familiar with a link between motor skills and reversal of letters, except in the realm of ocular motor skills. Motor skills of all kinds can be affected by SPD, see e.g. http://www.starcenter.us/aboutspd.html "Children who have challenges in the proprioceptive and/or vestibular sensory system often display motor delays, poor muscle tone, handwriting difficulties, or postural problems. These sensational kids may be clumsy and awkward and have trouble with coordination in sports (such as with ball handling) and other activities." This would be my DD6 - her SPD troubles are exclusively vestibular and proprioceptive - she does not have the tactile issues that are what people commonly think of as sensory problems, although they are merely one type of sensory problem - and she has an ocular motor problem too (eye tracking/teaming), though that is being fixed (hurray!). Overall, she is much more coordinated after the short, intensive program of OT with listening therapy that we did at the Star Center last fall (it even helped with the vision - the vision therapist was blown away at the improvement. Supposedly, the OT worked on the basic level of the central nervous system, which affects everything else. Long story). Your instinct about swimming might be correct - things that strengthen the core muscles are good, even for handwriting (according to the OT that will be helping my ds with fine motor/handwriting stuff at school next fall). Pushing, pulling and carrying heavy things are often recommended as part of a daily "sensory diet". I have more to say about this topic if you consider going down this road (not all OTs specialize in SPD at its most basic level; some think they do but they're only thinking about things like "brushing", for example, something that has never even been done for my dd since it's not relevant to her issues).

I really have no idea what the normal age to stop reversing letters is. Having been down the road of ocular motor issues with dd, the combo of letter reversals and handwriting difficulty might tempt me to get an evaluation, or at least a screening, with a behavioral optometrist ( http://www.covd.org/ ) (most opthamologists do not do this kind of testing; it's different from a regular eye exam). I think our initial screening was like $25 and the eval was around $95 or something like that. (Unfortunately, none of these therapies come cheaply!) I may have a few more links on vision if you're interested - let's see...
http://www.numberoneeyecare.com/children.htm
http://www.visiontherapystories.org/
http://optometrists.org/hellerstein/vision_therapy.html


Dottie - interestingly, my two with the left-brain weaknesses also had perinatal issues. With DD, I had an undiagnosed, untreated clotting disorder, which was cutting off her supply of nutrients, and she was small, 5 lbs 14 oz at term, born by section for breech. She was also extremely purple. With DS, though my clotting issue was being treated (albeit insufficiently), he was the smaller of twins (by more than a pound; his brother ate all his food, the nicu nurses were fond of saying), and small for gestational age, born prematurely with a host of other issues (respiratory distress, sepsis, etc.). Both of them have had speech delays and also various SPD issues, coincidentally. The bigger twin ds had a speech delay and occasionally seems to have some mild SPD but we have never sought therapy (yet) for that. He's also the only one of the three who can sound out words phonetically (well, dd can do it now, finally, but she's nearly 7), so it seems he doesn't have the left-brain weaknesses of his siblings, at least not to the same extent. My most recent baby was born nearly two pounds bigger than dd at the exact same gestation, thanks to a hefty dose of anticoagulants, and he is so normal and easy it's hard to believe! Fingers crossed that our last one, #5, due in three months, will be similar in those respects Though one can wonder whether the right-brain strengths of my more "normal" kids will be on par with, or inferior to, the right-brain strengths of the two with more significant left-brain weaknesses. DS5, with the left brain weaknesses, is starting to show signs that he may well be "smarter" than DD - in other words, he seems more extreme in strengths and weaknesses, and meanwhile the weaknesses are improving with the various therapies and with time. (will my "normal" kids not rise to the level of being gifted? will the weaknesses have increased the right-brained giftedness? I know I'm a little nuts)

"Pushing, pulling and carrying heavy things are often recommended as part of a daily "sensory diet". I have more to say about this topic if you consider going down this road "

hehehe, one more benefit to feeding and cleaning up after his calves!

I don't want to be looking for something that's not there. And because he is doing so well in school, maybe everything has just been normal development, just a bit slower for him. Or maybe what we've been doing with swimming lessons, piano lessons, physical activity on the farm, etc., has been the therapy he's needed to progress? I was thinking about getting him a jump rope, after all, boxers use jumping rope as a training tool for improving their footwork and coordination.

At five my son was still ambidextrous. He could use both hands equally well to write but handwriting was sloppy with both and he couldn't draw very well or color in the lines very well or button his shirt and he refused to do puzzles unless they were online versions. The teacher had him just use his right hand for writing and he writes a little better now with his right hand.

To help with fine motor issues, I put him in piano lessons and told the piano teacher that he had hypotonia and fine motor problems. He played piano with both hands equally well and he will probably finish level 3 in a few months. Even now, he will occasionally play the right hand notes with the left hand or the left hand notes with the right. I told the OT about that and the fact that he sometimes still reversed letters (he didn't the day she tested him though) and that we sometimes joked that it must be "misfiring neurons." She said that is exactly what it is and that she thinks sensory integration therapy for his vestibular and proprioceptive issues will help him. He has only had two OT sessions so far so it is too early to tell if it will help him.

One doctor told us that my son might have had mild birth asphyxia when the cord was wrapped around his neck. My husband said his heartbeat slowed down to the point where he could no longer hear it and they had to use forceps to deliver him quickly. I believe my son's problems are related to this, but the developmental pediatrician said we would not be able to prove it. My son seemed normal when I was pregnant and I did not have any problems during the pregnancy. The only thing I noticed different about him was that he startled more easily than my daughter. If there was a loud noise, like dropping a pan, or if I turned on the vibrator on my vibrating recliner he had more of a reaction than my daughter. He kicked as much as my daughter did if not more. She didn't have any of these problems and most of my family is athletic. When my son learned about DNA and heredity several years ago he wanted to know if he was a genetic mutation so we told him what we thought was the reason for his physical difficulties. I am thinking about taking him to a neurologist even though the developmental pediatrician said he probably wouldn't be able to tell us for sure what caused my son's issues.

OHGrandma, I think you are right, all those things your GS is already doing are great for him, so keep it up! I'm sure the calves are playing a wonderful role!

We're planning to start piano this summer (gee I thought I was so clever for thinking of it myself a few weeks ago, for getting the left and right brains working together, for processing speed, for auditory processing, and for fine motor; and now here I keep seeing posts mentioning piano, ha!). The kids sound excited about it - I hope they stay excited after we start. If there's time, besides swimming and piano I'm hoping to have them do riding lessons this summer as well. I just have to find the right place; there are several near us. It'll be hectic with a new baby, but I have a teenager lined up to help me.

Lori, was it hard for your son to learn piano? was practice frustrating, etc.? I'm just wondering what is in store for us - how great of a challenge will it be to get them started on piano - I'm a little nervous that I'm going to put a lot of money into something that will just make my life harder on a daily basis (trying to get them to practice). I came across an interesting article on teaching piano to left-handers that incorporates visual-spatial principles http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2493/is_6_55/ai_n16598103

My son's OT recommended the pushing, pulling and carrying heavy things and also doing puzzles (not the online kind that he likes). I just don't understand why doing the sensory diet stuff will help when dance with his musical theater class and working out with Dance, Dance Revolution and playing Guitar Hero and piano did not help him that much. They say with therapy he can develop "new neural pathways" and I can't help being a little skeptical. Why didn't the other things he does help him develop new neural pathways. His OT is only once every couple of weeks and she has him doing lots of activities that involve swinging. I don't have all the equipment she has. I don't know if there is any proof that this actually works. If there is, I would love to see it.

My son has always been above grade level in all subjects except handwriting. When the OT tested him she said his handwriting was only low average even with his below average visual motor abilities--visual motor age is two years below his actual age.

He seems to be a mixed visual and auditory learner. I would guess 50/50. He was never much of a kinesthetic learner.

I am not sure how the visual motor problems that cause my son to be slow at putting together 3D puzzles would really hurt him academically. My son does not have any trouble in math or any other academic subject when he is allowed to take breaks throughout the day. I don't know what difference it makes if he has trouble catching a ball. I don't know how any of this helps with "motor planning" and learning his dance routines in musical theater which is the main reason he is in therapy. My son keeps asking me about this also. He doesn't like OT and wants to know how long this will take. He argues about doing everything she asks him to do at home and he points out that he does not have a weight problem and is otherwise healthy and since he is kind of a geeky kid with no interest in sports it doesn't matter if he can catch a ball or put puzzles together or other fine motor tasks a little faster. He would, however like to be able to learn dances a little faster and nobody is telling him how the therapy will help with that. He does like the therapy ball which he uses a lot. He bounces around on it while watching television. But he still thinks I need to just accept his differences and quit trying to change him. I wish I could find a book or article that explains how the sensory integration therapy works and what kind of results we can expect.

Lori, you raise a very good point, and there just isn't any research yet. I think they're trying to get some together; but I had a hard time getting point blank answers even from Dr. Miller herself, in terms of explaining exactly how it works. Basically, she said, it has to do with neuroplasticity, and I guess the order of activities is important. The Star Center believes very strongly in doing the OT intensively, often along with listening therapy to further facilitate changes. They think it's much more efficient way to effect changes than the more traditional one-per-week therapy schedule. We did a 20-session program but it was 3x per week for a month, then a month off, then 2x per week, and that was it. Done. I know it helped my kids, but I watched every session and I have a hard time seeing why, except perhaps for the listening therapy portion (which is essentially mozart taken apart by frequency). It is a real shame that there isn't more in print, explaining how it works in a very clear way. In my view, it is a gamble (and it's not cheap) since I doubt it helps everyone. We got lucky, I guess. Here is something new I noticed on the website but I haven't had time to read it http://www.netnewsdesk.com/SPDFoundation/index.cfm?PID=897&ID=4041,14387,14287

Sorry, I just now saw the question about piano.

I did have trouble getting my son to practice the first couple of years, because he could do the songs well enough without practicing much. When the music started getting more challenging, I think it became more interesting for him and he was willing to practice more, but still not as much as he is really supposed to.

The piano teacher does not use a metronome. She also quit having use the theory book that I know she still uses with other students, because his handwriting and drawing difficulties made it difficult for him at age 5 and 6. He seems to be doing well enough without it.

One thing I noticed about his piano playing was that he never wanted to try to do songs from memory. He always needed to read the music and this was one of the things that made me think he had some kind of slight motor memory difficulty. I guess this goes along with dyspraxia. He has to play lots of different chords and his hands don't stay in one position on the piano at the level he is in and he has no trouble with this but he would have difficulty memorizing more than a few lines of music. His progress is probably average, about one level a year. He takes breaks throughout the year. The teacher doesn't give him much to work on for several weeks before his plays when he is doing a lot of rehearsals and she gave him a break the last couple of weeks before the spelling bee, because she agrees that this should be enjoyable.

I found something else interesting too. I can play a note on the piano and he can remember it hours later and sing that note. When I try this, I am off a little bit. I think taking piano lessons has definitely helped with singing in musical theater. When the kids sing a song for the first time the ones who have had musical intrument lessons sound better than the kids who didn't.

Ds5 is strongly left-handed ... showed a preference before he was two. I'm interested by the thing about sensing beat -- that's actually one of ds's strong points, is rhythm and beat. Interesting!

Nothing else to add, just wanted to chime in.

I've been facilitating DS to play the piano all of his life. He has shown interest off and on but for the past year has really seemed interested. What I found most interesting is that I learn music by reading it. While he can read music, he tells me the notes jump around on the page and he can't keep up with them. However, he can play almost anything if he hears it once or twice. He also plays with boths hands with chording and shading. In fact, at times, other family members aren't sure if it is me or him playing if they aren't in the room. He took up drums at the beginning of the year as well. So far he is really enjoying having to coordinate so many motions at the same time.

I am realizing that he is a very visual Spacial learner. I think I've been in deep denial on that point for years. I'm really not sure what his dominant side is. If he takes after me, it will be mixed.

Lori H! Lori H!
I was lying in bed last night and had this great visual for your son! Mine is an arguer too. Don't let him argue you out of a correct position just because he's good at it!!!!

A) As an adult I have more life-experience. My life-experience is telling me that this is an important thing, even though I can't put it in to words. I'm your mother, and your respect and trust me, RIGHT? So we do it now, and evaluate later, like any good scientists, RIGHT?

B) Read the original books on SID, I think they are written by Jean Ayer, or something like that. They are quite interesting and convinsing.

C) Tell him from me, that not every true thing is provable by controlled scientific studies, because they are very expensive and difficult to do. The book "in defense of Food" by Michael Pollan chapter called 'Bad Science' is a terrific example.

D) Think of a lever. A short lever arm requires a lot of effort to do something. A long lever arm requires only a little. When one is a child, compared to an adult, one has a very long metaphorical lever arm, compared with an adult, but not as long as a baby's. The OT you are doing will yield big results compared to if he delays and waits until he is an adult, because the lever arm is still very long. It feel like crap for him to press on the lever because in his experience he is comparing it to the lever arm from when he was a baby. You are comparing it to what it would be like if you did nothing and left it to him to try to change himself as an adult... Still entirely possible, but much less effective!

E) Human being are really complicated. Difficulties in one area carry over to seemingly unrelated areas. Perhaps all this OT now will make him a fabulous lover when the time comes! You want him to have the widest possible future, AND that's why you don't just 'quite trying to change him.'

F) If none of this works, try watching '12 Angry Men' together. At least you can think of Henry Fonda when you are standing up to his whining!

((bushlebaskets of love!!!))
Grinity

Thank you very much for your thoughts. We just got back from a three day vacation to dig for crystals in Arkansas with some of my husband's family, including his sister who is a geology professor. We thought it might be fun as well as educational.

There was plenty of time to talk on the four hour drive, so my husband and I both used the "we have more life experience" and "you will just have to trust us because we only want the best for you."

The vacation didn't go quite as well as I expected because my geology professor sister-in-law with her numerous degrees, who sat across from us at dinner, seemed to be annoyed by the way my son eats--particulary his problems in using a knife. She just didn't seem to get it when we explained that he had motor dyspraxia and sensory integration issues and that this difficulty was typical for a child with dyspraxia. We also told her that he was in occupational therapy. The next day she again asked about the problem with using a knife when I cut up my son's meat hoping to avoid embarrassing her. She asked if the OT was working with him on this and I told her that we chose to work on the things that were most important to him first. Learning dances faster for the musical theater group that he and all of his friends are in is the most important to my son and I agree with him.

My son's 21-year-old cousin and the cousin's girlfriend rode with us to another restaurant and the girlfriend talked to my son. One of the things my son told her about himself was that "people think I'm weird." He had heard his aunt's comments. I know I shouldn't say this but I think some people are just over-educated idiots.

She doesn't sound all that overeducated, but she sure sounds insensitive!

I'm sorry, Lori!

Awww Lori, how totally insensitive. Unreal!

Forgive some of my basic questions, but here goes. I was just told my son (5) has mixed dominance, and a light went on for me. We started to be concerned a little over a year ago and had him evaluated by a PT, and an OT. We knew he hadn"t chosen a hand yet, but we were moist concerned about some of the frustration he was experiencing with letter recall. It has taken almost a year, but an OT finally told me she thinks he is a classic case of Mixed Dominance.

It makes all the sense to me. I've been scrolling the internet, and I 'm reading a lot of things that match my son. He has never been very cordinated. He is big for his size, so we assumed his nervous system just couldn't keep up. Another alarm went off when at age 5, he still couldn"t write his name. He kept switching hands and didn't develop much finger strength.

After a school year with weekly OT, we seemed to have settled on writing with our right, but we still use our left alot.

I guess my question is how can I learn more. This little guy is so gifted when it comes to spacial relationships. He can do advanced puzzles, play checkers, and several other spacial strategy games. Recall of letters is hard. How can I help him? I want to learn more, but don't know where to start.

Thanks!

I would recommend Handwriting Without Tears. http://www.hwtears.com/

Maybe you can use his spatial abilities to help him learn letters. Maybe modelling letters out of clay or using magnetic letters--something he can touch--would help.

The first thing I would recommend is to have a vision problem ruled out. My dd had trouble with letter identification. Turns out that she has a near-sighted/far-sighted astigmatism so she could not focus simultaneously on vertical and horizontal lines. Thus making it almsot impossible for her to indentify letters that contained both vertical and horizontal line. She learned her letters and began to read almost immediately after receiving her glasses.

There are some tricks I used with my younger son who had difficulty with letter recal. Use elmer's glue and trace over letters on a 3 x 5 index card leaving a thick bead to dry. Have your child trace the letters with his fingers as you introduce 3=5 cards at a time. Another method is to write letters in a box of sand.

Does he know the sound of the letter before he recognizes the symbol? He may be an auditory learner.

I started out RH, then at 6 started doing things LH out of boredom and for variety. This was tolerated by the school until 3rd grade where a teacher berated me for writing left handed and I stopped. In College I started doing LH stuff again as all my GF were LH but I am nowhere as good as I was when I was younger.

I think kids can learn to do both LH and RH equally well - and there are advantages to ambidexterity for input devices, writing, art, and sports. They just need encouragement.

"GS8 writes left handed but does most large muscle activities right handed."
This is me. (and I draw pretty well, too)
The lack of coordination can come from living in a right handed world when you want to grab doorknobs, put on baseball gloves, use those stupid knobby things they put on pencils all with your other hand.

What you mention about the tendency for large motor right handedness may come from a sort of reversed brain/eye dominance. (Reversed from what is 'normal' but not in a bad way)
I have read about this, but can't find where...for me it means my right brain is dominant, at least a bit, so I'm left handed. But also, my right eye is dominant - there is a simple test you can try for this. So in more full-body oriented tasks my eye dominance tends to take over.
Most folks are going to be left-brained, right-eyed, right-handed. Right brained, left-handed, left-eyed.
Has anyone else read about this?
Not sure if or how it would affect drawing ability except that I have heard that left-handers tend to go for art...

Do you mean some letters are written backwards or that he is switching out a couple or more letters in a single word? I think the first scenario is not dyslexia related and not a big deal at that age. The other scenario, I am not sure.

Here is something about the eye dominance, including the test:
http://ifmomsaysok.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/right-or-left-eyes-brains-oh-my/

Last but not least...my Grandad was ambi, batted left& wrote right. I can draw with both hands, although I usually rely on old lefty. DS8, looks pretty righty all the way, dd2, shows a little ambi tendency but it's way to early to tell. DH is Lefty all the way! I can assure you that all of this is entirely normal, and yet...

GS8(will be GS9 in 5 days!) reverses whole letters like 'b' & 'd'. I told him a trick to use is think of the word 'bed', make the 'OK' sign with both hands, hold them to together, and it looks like 'bd', or 'bed'. Other reversed letters are a bit harder, like 'p' & 'q'. I've told him they face each other when saying the alphabet, but he forgets to check. Other letters like 's', or numbers '2' & '5' are troublesome. While reading, or doing math, he seldom makes errors. He makes most of the errors when writing.

Another thing that causes him problems writing is actually forming the printed letter. When printing, we are taught to begin at the top and go down, or begin at the left and go right. He ends with mostly the correct form, but he creates it in reverse order, starting at the bottom or right and going in reverse. I've come to the conclusion that he learned to write on his own, he was never taught the typical way of forming letters. For several reasons, we had temporary custody off and on from the time he was 19 months for periods of 5-6 months at a time, until we got permanent custody when he was 5 1/2. He was drawing and coloring quite well at 19 months, he was making some letters. Somewhere along the line, he knew his letters & numbers, and already had a set pattern of making them. I think most of what he knew at 19 months was due to watching 'Blues Clues' videos non-stop.

When school starts again I think we'll get him back into swimming lessons and piano again.

It sounds very much like he prefers a visual-spatial (right-brained) learning style, with possible auditory-sequential, left-brain weaknesses. See http://www.visualspatial.org/ , especially http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/appendc.pdf , http://www.visualspatial.org/Product_Marketing/RTTK/kidquiz.pdf , and the articles tab, especially http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/wholes.pdf and http://www.visualspatial.org/Articles/teaching.pdf . There is also a fabulous book that is out of print and hard to get, "Upside Down Brilliance" by Linda Silverman.

Also, with fine motor and "coordination" issues, I would suspect sensory processing disorder (more basic issues with the central nervous system) - perhaps you can ask his OT about this, though not all OTs are well versed in SPD (not something the school system usually treats).

just my two cents

I agree with snowgirl that many of your concerns seem to reflect learning style issues rather than dominance issues. I have a left-handed, extremely linear and verbal kid, who at 7.5 is still confused about which hand to use for various activities and has great control with either. He's never been clumsy, is quite athletic, and we're worried because it seems like he'll never get really good at the sports he likes without choosing a side. After a day of tennis camp, the coaches said he had to go left-handed. Two days later, the coaches said he couldn't serve left-handed and he should play right. Poor kid doesn't know what to do and switches all the time without even realizing it. He plays golf left-handed, basketball right handed, and he throws with his right hand. He's great at math, has some musical talent, and he draws like a two-year old -- it's painful to watch!! He taught himself to write by about three and he writes quite well and he's never reversed letters and spelled at adult level by 5 or so.

He's not a visual-spatial kid and doesn't love puzzles, doesn't "see" like some kids and has been tested with lots of verbal strengths but less well on spatial things. He's my least v-s kid and the other two with more spatial strengths have had strong right-hand preferences from toddler age. I share this just for information because not choosing a hand doesn't necessarily indicate spatial strengths and verbal/text weaknesses.

I think dominance is quite a confusing topic. For many things (i.e. epilepsy surgery, recovery from brain injury, etc.) it matters most whether language is centered in the right or left hemisphere, but that doesn't depend on handedness much. For RH people, language is left brain about 99% of the time (numbers vary according to what you read). For LH people, language is *still* in the left brain for about 75-95% of people (again depending on which study you are reading). That makes me feel like the "dominance" language isn't especially useful and I like learning style description better. Your son sounds like a v-s type learner who may need extra help with text. My most v-s type kid did reverse letters and learned to read much more slowly than my more linear type kids.

My son did the same thing and he learned to write in Kindergarten because I was afraid that he would learn the wrong way if I tried to teach him. I only taught him to write his name.

He never made errors in reading the letters and when he accidentally wrote a letter backwards, he could see that it was wrong immediately because a b where a d was supposed to be would cause the word to be wrong. But if he accidentally wrote a 5 backwards and didn't catch it right away, especially when he did long division or something with a lot of numbers where he also had to worry about keeping columns straight, it would sometimes cause him to make a mathematical error. This was something he had to learn to check. He had to make sure his 2 was really a 2 and not a 5 that he accidentally wrote backwards.

He did Handwriting Without Tears but I would catch him going back to his old way of forming letters when he thought I wasn't looking. I notice that he even makes checkmarks backwards from the way I do it. It just seems totally wrong to me the way he does it but it looks okay, so I let it go.

I think my son's problem was more of a motor learning thing. I think he needed more writing practice on certain letters and numbers than most kids, just like he needed more practice to learn difficult dance routines. His auditory memory and visual memory (especially for words) is great but his mild motor learning problem is something he has to deal with.

Know what's frustrating? GS8 will write a 'd' intending to make a 'b', and when asked to read it back immediately, will read it as a 'b'. If the paper is laid aside for a few days and he reads it back, he will see the error immediately. This makes it very hard for him to check his own work. The only time he will read a 'd' for a 'b' is when he encounters a new word, but the majority of the time he will sound it out with both a 'd' or a 'b' and know which it is because he will recognize the word. This applies to some other letters, the 'b' & 'd' are the worst.

And he still has problems remembering which hand to hold over his heart when saying the pledge to the flag. He is getting smoother handling his show calves, where a lead is held in one hand and a show stick in the other. When the calf is stopped, you turn to face the calf and switch the lead & stick to opposite hands. This sounds minor, but it's been a struggle for him for 8 months. (BTW, the show stick is used to scratch the calf's belly because the calf enjoys it, and to gently move it's feet in the correct position when standing.)

My son would sometimes accidentally play the right hand notes with his left hand in piano and he had a little more trouble than the other kids remembering if he needed to exit to the stage left or right in musical theater. He had to make notes in his script. But there are things about him that make absolutely no sense to me if he has a slight problem remembering left or right. He has a better sense of direction than I do and is less likely to get lost in a huge hospital complex that I think resembles a giant maze. If he is having trouble with left and right issues inside these buildings, he is compensating for it really well and he can't tell me how he does it. I have to follow him or ask someone how to get back to the parking lot. It is almost like he inherited his dad's ability with figuring out how to get from one place to another. His dad was in the army and sometimes had to lead troops in the dark where there were no signs or even roads and having a good sense of direction could mean the difference between life and death. I don't understand how it is possible to have a good feel for north, south, east and west but sometimes get right and left confused, but my son does this.

For example, the last time my son did a play, they went from practicing in a room where he was exiting to the north and south and they moved to a stage where he was exiting to the east or west and he had to stop and think which way to go. It looks to me like right and left would be easier to remember than north and south but he is so different from me--and I am supposed to be homeschooling him. It seems like most of what I am doing is watching him figure out how to do things his own way, which I guess is what he will need to do in life. I think he will need to figure out on his own how to compensate for his learning differences.

Thanks! You have given me a lot to read and think about. His sister is left handed, and in doing some of the tests i find out I'm mixed as well (right handed, left eye). What I am most concerned about is how frustrated he gets in trying to learn or tackle new things. He gets easly frustrated if the task isn't broken down into small steps. Once he understands, and he has great ability to focus. He can work on difficult puzzles for a long time. As he enters Kindergarten, and turns 6, I want to help understand how he learns. His school has been using handwriting without tears. In several cases he can indetify letters sound before he can tell me the name. I think his left brain and right brain need to learn how to talk to each other so he can organize, classify, and recall his thoughts. I'm realizing that we will have to employ all of his sense when teaching him things that need to be recalled, such as letter names. I'm concerned that the first few years of school are going to be tough, and I want to find ways to help. Any recommendations for how to get his left and right brain working together better. I've seen piano (we don't have one)on the board. How about gymanastics? What else?

Thanks for all the advice so far!

FWIW: I'm mixed-dominant, with near-full ambidexterity now. I've worked on developing skills with both hands all my life.

I see this as a valuable extra ability and have never, ever tried to exclude/favor one hand. So, I play racket sports with two hands. Switching the racket to my other hand gives me an advantage because I can get to a shot on the other side of the court that would be unreachable if I had to use backhand (but I still use backhand sometimes).

As the years have passed, my ability to write with the non-dominant writing hand (right) has improved considerably. I'm pretty comfortable now writing with my right hand. This is a major, major advantage if I injure my left hand.

I guess I'm trying to understand why you/the OT want your son to "choose" one hand. If he's naturally inclined to use both, what's wrong with letting him do what comes naturally? His writing may lag behind a bit, but in the end, if he can write with two hands, isn't that an advantage?

Also, I remember VERY clearly how sore everyone's hands got when we were learning to write in 1st grade. I can still see a girl named Nyla shaking her hand and saying "Ow! Ow!" I had this problem then too, and it happened later when my comfort level with my right hand changed and I was able to use that hand to write for longer periods.

Just my 2c.

Val

Martial arts?