Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school handedness/ambidextrous?

Wow- thanks for the great responses!
We've got a few lefties in our family- grandfather, aunts, etc. I am a pretty good switch hitter on the ballfield. I was watching him write today with his right hand. Ate left handed. LOL. He's got great fine motor control- writes letters pretty well for his age.

Hmmm to the dyslexia trend here...I do wonder sometimes, as Nick's knowledge of letters/sounds is super, BUT he's not always putting them together and at times he still tries to read right to left, reverses 18 to 81. Yet, he knows all the letter sounds/phonemics- so he can sound things out. I thought that most kids with dyslexia had later speech milestones, trouble with visual discrim like 'hidden pictures' games, and difficulty with rhyming as well. Nick spoke early and well, rhymed early, and excels at visual games, so, I'm kind of ??? stumped.

What was a handedness question has morphed into a very interesting thread!!

Here is one link: http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/mag24.html
However, I just typed into Google "Lefthanded and dyslexia" and came up with alot of information.

Thanks

What we were told by the OT is that either left handed or right handed is fine, but ambidextrous is bad. An OT sees strong handedess of one sort or the other as important for neuro development / maturity. They also need a strong understanding of which is their left/right and should be dominant on the same side for hand, foot and eye.

I am sure my DD has dyslexia, though I am having trouble getting anyone to diagnose it now that she reads at/above grade level, despite her history and her IQ (MG). When she had her first OT assessment 2.5 years ago she had significant problems crossing the midline and she has mixed dominance. The OT said he could tell from her assessment that she was great at "where's Wally", but couldn't read - so some visual skills were way above average, others well below. She has a great sense of rhythm and rhyme. She spoke early but we now realize had some language quirks that weren't normal. But she has extremely poor phonemic awareness, even after (finally) learning every possible phonetic rule. She has CAPD and she had incredible trouble with mapping sounds and concepts to symbols.

Piano, swimming, Horse riding, OT, 1:1 reading instruction and time have made the world of difference to the left/right, crossing the midline and her reading.

Interesting... DS(4) is ambidextrous still. Writes/draws with either hand, throws with his right hand, kicks with his left foot. He reads at a gr 3 level and has no trouble spelling words he knows. I try to encourage him to write with his right hand but will be interested to see which hand he chooses in the end.

I'd be interested to know why it would be important to be dominant on the same side for all things. I'm left-dominant eye and ear, right-dominant hand and foot, and except for using a bow and arrow (choose between weaker draw or aim with weak eye), it doesn't seem to be causing me any problems.

Well it gets more interesting- I dropped Nick off at school and when he signed in he picked up the marker with his left hand and wrote across the board right to left complete mirror image of his name- so each letter reversed and in reverse order. When he writes with his right hand he writes left to right and has no letter reversal...???

He knows his right from his left, he's got great phonemic awareness and can segment/sound out words. He's reading a little bit, and writes short things- ex "So, I luv u. To Mama From Nick"

His teacher's comment when she saw the mirror writing was to not worry or freak out that many kids do this when they are on the cusp of mastering a new skill... hmmm.

My DD7 was using both hands in writing and finally settled on being a leftie 4. I am a leftie as well as my Dad and brother. When it comes to sports (like golf or baseball) I hit right handed because I like my dominant arm in the back for more strength in hitting....DD7 is the same way. I can switch hit but just prefer hitting right. I thought being ambidextrous was good thing because you are using both sides of your brain more.....I guess I was wrong. My DD7 can write mirror image like it's completely natural. In 1st grade (before she tested into GT) she drew a picture of herself looking into a mirror that blew everyone way. When we got her test scores back showing that she scored in the top 1% it made us understand better (aka aha moment) how a 6 year old could draw a picture like that. DD7 is very artsy...she can pause Phineas and Ferb on the TV and draw them perfectly in pen with no mistakes.

My DD4 uses both as well. Her therapist has been monitoring which ear and eye she prefers as well and there seems to be no dominant side. She said that by 4, a dominant side should start appearing. Not really sure what it means, but it's definitely interesting.

My DS 2.5 seems to do more things left sided but still switches around.

I write with my right hand but the left side of my body is stronger.

I think it's normal to be stronger on the otherwise to your dominant hand - you will carry the kid or the groceries on that side so you can use your keys in the dominant hand.