We have "which-handed-ness" syndrome....help request inside

[mhg]

My son just turned 5 and I still don't know if he's right or left handed.

 

I want to start our handwriting and I need to know.

 

How do you find out/nail it down?

[Carpe]

Throw a ball at him? He's either catch it, or swat it away with his dominant hand.

 

Does he do anything dominantly one side or the other?

Does he always lead with one foot or the other when he takes a step?

Does he put one arm in his shirt first, or put on one pant leg first?

 

And if he doesn't, go with right because it's a right handed world.

[Ellie]

Couldn't you just put the pencil in his right hand and go from there?

[didadeewiththree]

I think it takes longer to realize that you have a lefty, I only say this because my two older kids were sure-fire righties, but with our third child, I knew something was different early on, even though he can use both hands for all kinds of things.

 

I would personally try handwriting with which ever hand he uses a fork with. Does he bat left or right? Try tuning in on what he uses without him noticing that you are. Give him a scooter to ride on, see which foot feels comfy riding, and which one he uses to push on. And based on which one you would use, see if its the same or not as you or other kids that use one.

 

Its hard to start a lefty out writing for some reason, I recently got a book that was more than "handy" with trying to get my son to be a good writer. Its called The Write Start, by Jennifer Hallissy.

 

Here's a link to it, or you could check it out in the library. Lots of hands on activities and maybe by doing some of these fun things, you could determine which hand he is better.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Write-Start-Nurturing-Writing-Scribbling/dp/1590308379

 

or her site

 

http://thewritestart.typepad.com/

[Ellyndria]

My mom said that when she didn't know if I was left or right handed, she would put the spoon/fork/pencil vertically, right in the center (so as not to favor either side) in front of me, so the handle was not pointed to either side. Then she would see which hand I reached for/used it with.

[wapiti]

I agree, put the pencil in the middle vertically and let him choose. Observe over several days. Hopefully the choice will be relatively consistent. If it's almost always one hand, then have him use that one.

 

Some lefties do certain other tasks with their right hands, so I'd stick to experimenting with the pencil.

 

So far, two of my four who are writing are lefties.

[orangearrow]

Yep - just put the pencil right in the middle of his workbook. If he grabs with his right hand, go with it... same with the left. If he changes back and forth - that's all right too. Teach him how to hold the pencil with both hands. Eventually, he'll discover that one feels more comfortable than the other and will stick with it.

 

(or, he won't, and will write equally well with both hands. That's okay too. :D)

[Laura Corin]

My son's OT started by casually leaving toys in front of him dead centre and seeing which hand he used to reach for them.

 

Laura

[Pamela H in Texas]

I would do a variety of things to see if, when you are paying careful attention, there is a preference. If not, I'd just put the pencil in his right hand. The only reason I say to make a concerted effort is that *I* have a left handed child who writes right handed because of exposure rather than natural handedness. There are some issues to that (as many have expressed over the years when EVERYONE was made to write right handed regardless). Also, though my daughter tried to switch AND can do better with her left hand, she was unable to make the switch completely.

 

BTW, I did not set out to teach handedness. She was writing words before she was two. We assume what happened was that she simply did what was modeled even though it went against her natural tendency. And of course, we went with whatever she displayed. Some level of this could be happening with your kiddo also. Some children are just more observant to what is going on, copying more closely. So you may be seeing his imitation and nature coming out and so he appears inconsistent. Unfortunately, there is just no way of knowing.

 

So I'd try to figure it out, but then I'd just hand it him the pencil and go with it.

[JudoMom]

My mom said that when she didn't know if I was left or right handed, she would put the spoon/fork/pencil vertically, right in the center (so as not to favor either side) in front of me, so the handle was not pointed to either side. Then she would see which hand I reached for/used it with.

 

:iagree:

[Free]

I am currently reading Tony Buzan's Brain Child. It is a fascinating book.

 

He says that being ambidextrous is highly beneficial for brain function and that children should be encouraged to alternate between their use of both hands.

 

Since you are in a unique position of not knowing the handedness of your child, why not use it to his advantage and encourage him to alternatively write with either hand?

[Ginevra]

Also, if he has mixed dominance, it won't necessarily be that apparent. My son is left-handed but he does some things right-handed. But for drawing, writing and eating, he would tend to naturally choose left, so we called him left-handed and moved on.

[DarlaS]

It seems to me most of the time that handedness is not obvious, the child is a lefty.

 

They are often somewhat ambidextrous (They have to be.), while righties tend to be very dominant right-handed.

[gingersmom]

My son had the same problem. He was in OT at the time and they made the decision to have him write with his right hand.

 

He is 11 now and is still ambidextrous.

 

He will begin eating with his right hand and switch to his left unconsciously. He will reach for things with his left hand and just use his left hand in ways I never could.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Couldn't you just put the pencil in his right hand and go from there?

 

Yep - just put the pencil right in the middle of his workbook. If he grabs with his right hand, go with it... same with the left. If he changes back and forth - that's all right too. Teach him how to hold the pencil with both hands. Eventually, he'll discover that one feels more comfortable than the other and will stick with it.

 

 

My now 13yo son didn't choose which side he was most comfortable with before the age of 10. Even when putting the pencil, the toy, whatever, right in the middle, he would keep on switching from one try to the next. The daycare couldn't figure it out, and proclaimed one day he was right-handed. Needless to say, we trained him to write with his right hand, and he turns out to be left handed. His handwriting is miserable. Same thing happened with his dad. Everything his dad learned after 10yo has been learned left-handed. Everything before is right handed and he's lousy at it. Some internet research has yielded the information that a few brains don't specialize till the age of 10. The article (which I can't find now) advocated waiting till the child shows an obvious preference, but that's not always feasible (how can a 10yo child never hold a pencil, a crayon, chalk?)

 

The best advice I can give you is to show your child how to hold a pencil in either hand.

[Lady Florida.]

My mom said that when she didn't know if I was left or right handed, she would put the spoon/fork/pencil vertically, right in the center (so as not to favor either side) in front of me, so the handle was not pointed to either side. Then she would see which hand I reached for/used it with.

 

That's exactly what my mom said she did with me. However, I think I showed signs of being left handed long before age 5.

 

I'm not sure what to tell you, other than just maybe set a pencil down and let him pick it up with whatever hand he chooses. Does he color? If so, which hand does he use? Which hand does he eat with? Brush his teeth? I don't know anything about being ambidextrous, but if he's truly not showing a preference is it possible he is ambidextrous?

[Starr]

We went through this and ds ended up being slightly right handed. It's funny, even as a teen he sometimes starts to pour something into a glass and has to be reminded that it's less likely to make a mess if he switches to his right hand. It was great as a little one, he couldn't get anything opened. :)

[mhg]

Lots of good ideas here. Thanks.

 

I thought he was a righty before our cast. He fractured right elbow end of April and had a cast for almost 6 weeks, then had the 2 weeks recovery with it off where he didn't use the right as he had been in the habit of left. Cast came off May 28 (then the 10 days recovery until June 8th ish where he was getting used to having his right arm), so since then he's been more lefty but I strongly think that this is secondary to the cast and the right-arm immobility. So, now....I don't know to go with the left or to re-try for the OLD right preference.

 

As for the handwriting, I find that now post-cast he switches back and forth thus my confusion.

[Anne]

I think it's easier to be right-handed in this world - IF he reallly doesn't care. In your shoes, I would offer the pencil to his right hand consistently, and see what he does (with no correction if he switches).

 

If he still demonstrates no particular choice, I would ask him to choose one or the other to learn to write with "during school". I would let him know he's free to use either hand any time, but for "learning to write", it would be easier for him if he chose one hand to work on.

 

Anne

[Teachin'Mine]

My dd was ambidextrous for a few years too. I would put her fork and spoon at the top of her plate so she could make the choice of which hand to use. I did the same for pens and pencils. If you give him plain paper and present the pencil in such a way that he can grab with either hand, eventually he'll show a clear choice for one or the other. It doesn't have to be handwriting that he's doing, if he's drawing mostly with one hand, then that's probably the one he'll stick with.

[Barb_]

Throw a ball at him? He's either catch it, or swat it away with his dominant hand.

 

Not if he's mixed dominant. I throw a ball with my right as well as catch, but I write and eat with my left. I'm left-legged when climbing stairs or on a chair, and also water skiiing, but right legged when kicking a ball. I'm also right eyed and left eared. It's actually not unusual to have a mixed-dominance scenario with a left hander.

 

Barb

[mhg]

Not if he's mixed dominant. I throw a ball with my right as well as catch, but I write and eat with my left. I'm left-legged when climbing stairs or on a chair, and also water skiiing, but right legged when kicking a ball. I'm also right eyed and left eared. It's actually not unusual to have a mixed-dominance scenario with a left hander.

 

Barb

 

Well, the ball test was a bust. I told him to get ready to catch. He holds both hands up to his chest, misses the catch but mostly went for it with his right hand, walked over to the ball, picked it up with his left and threw it. :glare:

 

I'll try offering the utensil and pencil tests tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the good input.

[Barb_]

Well, the ball test was a bust. I told him to get ready to catch. He holds both hands up to his chest, misses the catch but mostly went for it with his right hand, walked over to the ball, picked it up with his left and threw it. :glare:

 

I'll try offering the utensil and pencil tests tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the good input.

 

If you are interested in testing his eye, ear and foot I can offer some tips. Obviously his eye, ear and foot aren't going to tell you which hand he writes with, but they will give you some valuable information about the way his brain is wired.

 

To test his ear dominance, tell a sibling or dad to go to the other side of a closed door and quietly sing a song. Tell your son to listen very carefully with his ear to the door and tell you which song it is. The ear he listens with is dominant.

 

To test leg dominance, ask him to climb onto a stool or low chair by stepping up onto it with his foot. That will tell you leg dominance.

 

To test eye dominance, hold a paper towel tube away from his face about 3-4 inches and have him look through it with both eyes. Have him focus on something and then have him close first one eye, then the other. Whichever eye keeps the object in focus instead of shifting and disappearing is his dominant eye.

 

Brain dominance is so much more than handedness.

 

Barb

[mhg]

If you are interested in testing his eye, ear and foot I can offer some tips. Obviously his eye, ear and foot aren't going to tell you which hand he writes with, but they will give you some valuable information about the way his brain is wired.

 

To test his ear dominance, tell a sibling or dad to go to the other side of a closed door and quietly sing a song. Tell your son to listen very carefully with his ear to the door and tell you which song it is. The ear he listens with is dominant.

 

To test leg dominance, ask him to climb onto a stool or low chair by stepping up onto it with his foot. That will tell you leg dominance.

 

To test eye dominance, hold a paper towel tube away from his face about 3-4 inches and have him look through it with both eyes. Have him focus on something and then have him close first one eye, then the other. Whichever eye keeps the object in focus instead of shifting and disappearing is his dominant eye.

 

Brain dominance is so much more than handedness.

 

Barb

 

Hmmmm. I'll try these tomorrow.

As far as brain dominance, if I do these 3 tests and one side (L or R) is dominant, does that mean that's most likely the case for hands?

[wapiti]

Hmmmm. I'll try these tomorrow.

As far as brain dominance, if I do these 3 tests and one side (L or R) is dominant, does that mean that's most likely the case for hands?

 

Well in that case you're going to need this book: http://www.amazon.com/Dominance-Factor-Knowing-Dominant-Learning/dp/0915556316/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308284552&sr=8-1 (check your library)

[gardening momma]

My mom said that when she didn't know if I was left or right handed, she would put the spoon/fork/pencil vertically, right in the center (so as not to favor either side) in front of me, so the handle was not pointed to either side. Then she would see which hand I reached for/used it with.

 

I agree, put the pencil in the middle vertically and let him choose.

 

Yep - just put the pencil right in the middle of his workbook. If he grabs with his right hand, go with it... same with the left.

:iagree: I am a righty, with lefty tendencies. I think I would have been a lefty, but I was taught to write with my right hand. It didn't damage me. ;) A few years ago I realized that everything I was taught to do I do with my right hand. Anything that I picked up on my own I tend to do with my left.

 

Right hand: writing, bowling, racquet sports, silverware-use

Left hand: mini golf, softball/baseball (I was shown how to play softball, but not before I had already very informally played in the backyard at home--just me, the bat & the ball)

 

I type with both hands, though. :smilielol5:

Edited June 18, 2011 by gardening momma

[ElizabethB]

My first grade teacher was mostly not a great teacher. (Or maybe she used to be, she was older.)

 

However, one thing she did that was, in retrospect, very good:

 

Before we learned how to write our letters, we spent what seemed to me like 2 hours (Probably 30 minutes, but I got bored out of my mind. :D) drawing straight lines over one another down the page with first one hand, then the other.

 

1. a few minutes starting at top and drawing a line with right hand, then drawing another line trying to draw it directly over the other.

 

2. the same few minutes doing the exact same thing with the left hand.

 

Then, some new lines, same thing, while she walked around watching everyone.

 

It was very clear for me within minutes that my right hand wasn't even close to my left hand, my left hand ones were awful. But, she wanted to make sure that we were using our correct hands before we started learning how to write our letters.

[mhg]

Another fabulous idea.

thanks.

 

 

 

My first grade teacher was mostly not a great teacher. (Or maybe she used to be, she was older.)

 

However, one thing she did that was, in retrospect, very good:

 

Before we learned how to write our letters, we spent what seemed to me like 2 hours (Probably 30 minutes, but I got bored out of my mind. :D) drawing straight lines over one another down the page with first one hand, then the other.

 

1. a few minutes starting at top and drawing a line with right hand, then drawing another line trying to draw it directly over the other.

 

2. the same few minutes doing the exact same thing with the left hand.

 

Then, some new lines, same thing, while she walked around watching everyone.

 

It was very clear for me within minutes that my right hand wasn't even close to my left hand, my left hand ones were awful. But, she wanted to make sure that we were using our correct hands before we started learning how to write our letters.

[mhg]

If you are interested in testing his eye, ear and foot I can offer some tips. Obviously his eye, ear and foot aren't going to tell you which hand he writes with, but they will give you some valuable information about the way his brain is wired.

 

To test his ear dominance, tell a sibling or dad to go to the other side of a closed door and quietly sing a song. Tell your son to listen very carefully with his ear to the door and tell you which song it is. The ear he listens with is dominant.

 

To test leg dominance, ask him to climb onto a stool or low chair by stepping up onto it with his foot. That will tell you leg dominance.

 

To test eye dominance, hold a paper towel tube away from his face about 3-4 inches and have him look through it with both eyes. Have him focus on something and then have him close first one eye, then the other. Whichever eye keeps the object in focus instead of shifting and disappearing is his dominant eye.

 

Brain dominance is so much more than handedness.

 

Barb

 

 

I did two out of the three. (he wouldn't cooperate on the eye one).

For the step and the ear === he used the right side.