the difference between right and left

[zaichiki]

How do you teach left and right to your children who have dyslexia?

 

Dd is 9 and still guesses. She is very auditory, so we've used mnemonic devices such as "you write with you right hand." I don't know why, but it doesn't work. She also plays a viola/violin using a bow and has done this for years, so I thought it would be very natural and easy for her to remember that she bows with her right hand (not mentioning left yet -- just right so as to avoid confusion). This works better, but she must actually *raise up* her bow arm in order to remember that this is her bow hand. Weird, actually, b/c she has no trouble knowing to bow with that hand and has never tried to use the other. She must have good physical memory...

 

This is becoming a problem for her. Who knew that knowledge of right/left would come up SO often in daily life.

 

Right now she needs QUICK recall of right and left, so raising up her bow arm and thinking for a second or two is *really* hindering her. (Sports, dance, music, etc. have kids at this age reacting quickly to directions from the coaches/teachers and dd is always "left behind.")

 

Is there anything I can do?

[PeterPan]

I hate to say this, but my dd's was still iffy at 10. Now she knows it if she has time. If she needs a fast response, well I wouldn't expect that, lol. She's not fast anyway. Impulsive yes, fast processor no. (processing speed, another joy to ponder) I suggest you use a direct, visual trick to get her there. For instance if the right hand does something with a particular part of an object, put blue stickers on the right hand and the target part of the object. That way, instead of having to go through the language portion of the brain, they can go more directly (vision to object).

 

I just re-read your message. So you're frustrated that it's taking time and is hard to carry over to other things in life? Just be patient. Honest. It's probably going to take a lot of experiences before that connection is made. Like I said, with us it's *processing speed* on top of the dyslexia. I think her kinesthetic/visual method is good. It will all work out.

 

Does *she* feel bad about it taking her longer or just you?

Edited August 19, 2011 by OhElizabeth

[Lyrical]

This is a big problem for people with dyslexia, although one it seems they often eventually master. I just asked my 14yo DS who has dyslexia how he learned right from left, and he said that he just got better at it and now he gets it without thinking. (At age 9, he had tremendous difficulty.)

 

All I can think of to suggest is practice, since you say she has good physical memory, having her lunge to either right or left on your command. If you did this most days for a few minutes, she might eventually improve, although time will no doubt help anyway. You could also mark one side of her body, perhaps with an inconspicuous bracelet on one hand or a charm on her shoelace or both ... something like that.

 

I know one little girl with dyslexia whose dance teacher actually changed the dance routine her class was learning, all because this little girl kept going in the wrong direction.

[merry gardens]

How do you teach left and right to your children who have dyslexia?

 

Dd is 9 and still guesses. She is very auditory, so we've used mnemonic devices such as "you write with you right hand." I don't know why, but it doesn't work. She also plays a viola/violin using a bow and has done this for years, so I thought it would be very natural and easy for her to remember that she bows with her right hand (not mentioning left yet -- just right so as to avoid confusion). This works better, but she must actually *raise up* her bow arm in order to remember that this is her bow hand. Weird, actually, b/c she has no trouble knowing to bow with that hand and has never tried to use the other. She must have good physical memory...

 

This is becoming a problem for her. Who knew that knowledge of right/left would come up SO often in daily life.

 

Right now she needs QUICK recall of right and left, so raising up her bow arm and thinking for a second or two is *really* hindering her. (Sports, dance, music, etc. have kids at this age reacting quickly to directions from the coaches/teachers and dd is always "left behind.")

 

Is there anything I can do?

Practice, practice, practice. Make sure she knows right and left change based on position, like if you are facing her your right is on her left. Show her as you turn around.

 

Your child isn't the only child who has this problem. We're doing a cd with dance and movement called "Jumping Jellybeans" developed by an occupational therapist. It's a lot of fun and your daughter might like it. A number of the songs cover right and left with dance movement--like jumping to the left (hop, hop, hop, hop) to the right (hop, hop...) or lifting legs and arms. You just have to practice and practice until it becomes automatic, but until it becomes automatic, let her take time to think about it and/or do some total body movements. And practice, practice, practice while correcting or watching to make sure she gets them correct.

[justamouse]

Your left hand makes an L.

 

Every once in a while I still check. :-)

[Joules]

What about a bracelet that is always on the right wrist? Or just an old hair scrunchie on the right wrist when she goes to these activities? It seems like that might help because she'll be able to feel it in addition to looking at it.

 

She will get better and faster with it, using whatever mnemonic works for her (like the L for the left hand). What I think you need is a crutch to get her through until that time.

[LittleIzumi]

Your left hand makes an L.

 

Every once in a while I still check. :-)

 

I still have to check that (or some other mental check) every time in my 20s. :tongue_smilie:

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[LaughingCat]

At 49, I still use the fact that I can only wink my left eye and not my right to tell right from left (I don't actually have to wink it - it's just I still have to "check" mentally first before knowing).

 

OTH I'm not dyslexic and I don't believe right and left come up in my life very often though - mostly only when I'm giving directions.

 

LL

[onaclairadeluna]

My children are both right handed. I teach them "Your right hand is the hand that you write with." It seems to work well. ETA. I am not a terribly careful reader as I now see that this didn't work for the OP.

 

I have a terrible time telling right from left and I am not dyslexic. If I say "turn right" people ask me "which right?", I use the L on my left hand to remember. This doesn't work for DD who is still reversing letters and numbers.

Edited August 19, 2011 by onaclairadeluna

[rafiki]

.

[zaichiki]

I just re-read your message. So you're frustrated that it's taking time and is hard to carry over to other things in life? Just be patient. Honest. It's probably going to take a lot of experiences before that connection is made. Like I said, with us it's *processing speed* on top of the dyslexia. I think her kinesthetic/visual method is good. It will all work out.

 

Does *she* feel bad about it taking her longer or just you?

 

Oh *I* don't care, but she's sometimes in situations where she needs to react quickly (orchestra, piano lesson, soccer/basketball, riding bikes on the road with family). It takes her longer and that can sometimes leave her out or leave her in a dangerous situation. And, of course, as you get older your peers expect you to know the difference between right and left and kids being kids... well... you know.

 

I do know that she has good processing speed. (She did an IQ test when she was younger.)

[zaichiki]

Yes, this is an excellent trick that my 11 y/o still uses.

 

But if you have dyslexia...

 

She still reverses letters.

[zaichiki]

This is a big problem for people with dyslexia, although one it seems they often eventually master. I just asked my 14yo DS who has dyslexia how he learned right from left, and he said that he just got better at it and now he gets it without thinking. (At age 9, he had tremendous difficulty.)

 

All I can think of to suggest is practice, since you say she has good physical memory, having her lunge to either right or left on your command. If you did this most days for a few minutes, she might eventually improve, although time will no doubt help anyway. You could also mark one side of her body, perhaps with an inconspicuous bracelet on one hand or a charm on her shoelace or both ... something like that.

 

My dh still wobbles with his right and left from time to time...

 

Thank you for the idea of the repetitive physical motion. I will try that. I think she has good physical memory, so I bet this will help. I'll also take your idea of marking her right arm. A bracelet is a great idea! Or maybe a pretty ring... maybe with an R (for right?). I have high hopes!

[zaichiki]

Practice, practice, practice. Make sure she knows right and left change based on position, like if you are facing her your right is on her left. Show her as you turn around.

 

Yeah... this gets her every time. She was recently using Rosetta Stone Russian and learning the words for right and left. The picture would show someone holding a ball in either their right or left hand and dd would need to click on the correct picture (for the words left or right). She had to actually hold up her hand and turn her body around in order to figure it out. And she was still guessing.

 

Your child isn't the only child who has this problem. We're doing a cd with dance and movement called "Jumping Jellybeans" developed by an occupational therapist. It's a lot of fun and your daughter might like it. A number of the songs cover right and left with dance movement--like jumping to the left (hop, hop, hop, hop) to the right (hop, hop...) or lifting legs and arms. You just have to practice and practice until it becomes automatic, but until it becomes automatic, let her take time to think about it and/or do some total body movements. And practice, practice, practice while correcting or watching to make sure she gets them correct.

 

We'll practice more with physical movements. Thanks. (In fact, I might use it as an opportunity to have her "teach" her little sister a dance.) Thanks for the idea!

[SonshineLearner]

Your left thumb and index finger makes an "L" ;)

[zaichiki]

Your left thumb and index finger makes an "L" ;)

 

I can see that this is a popular approach. I think it's a great idea... for people who can tell which "L" is facing the correct way.

 

I also agree with those who suggested using the mnemonic device "you write with your right hand." It worked well for my sons. (They don't have dyslexia.) I can't understand why it doesn't work for dd. She *always* writes with the right hand. She's so auditory that I thought a rhyme would be the perfect thing. Eh. Oh well. Onward and upward.

[Jennifer-72]

You may want to even try to have her practice with her eyes closed. That is something our OT has done with my ds. I am not entirely sure of her reasoning behind it, but my guess is to make it more automatic. She started with just a one step direction such as raise your right hand, then upped the difficulty with things like touch your left knee with your right hand. Do you think playing twister might be helpful (you could maybe add a sticker to her right hand and foot while she plays and then fade it out)

[Dobela]

 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/210392-how-to-teach-kids-left-right-with-dance/ suggests songs like Hokey Pokey to help teach right and left discrimination.

[Renee in NC]

Violin hand, bow hand. It's the only way for my 8yo.:lol:

[merry gardens]

We'll practice more with physical movements. Thanks. (In fact, I might use it as an opportunity to have her "teach" her little sister a dance.) Thanks for the idea!

Sure! BUT I've seen professional dance instructors face 3,4 and 5 yo to show them a dance while the music sings "left" and "right". The cute little girls in the leotards and tutus usually mirror the instructor--thus moving left when the song says right!

 

If you have your daugher "teach" her sister dances with right and left, watch over them to make sure they're both getting their rights and lefts correct. Have them either face the same direction or hold hands and move in a circle.

[AngieW in Texas]

My oldest (not dyslexic) didn't really get left and right down until she started driving.

 

My middle (not dyslexic) still isn't really solid on left and right at 15yo. She has to hold her hands in front of her and look for which hand makes an L to see which is left and which is right.

 

My youngest (who IS dyslexic) is solid on left and right. She wasn't when she was 6yo, but none of my girls were at that age. She did vision therapy at 6yo and that's when she became solid. The VT put an "r" stamp on her right hand every time she came in for her appointment. Then she knew for sure which hand was the right hand.

 

I didn't realize this was how she became solid in left/right. Now I have a sticker in the van on the dashboard just to the right of the steering wheel that has an R on it. My 15yo is doing much better with left/right in the car now.

[Verity]

Your left hand makes an L.

 

Every once in a while I still check. :-)

 

I'll be 40 next month and I still sometimes have to think about it. :)

Reading over the dyslexia checklist in a previous post and realized that I fit the bill for most of that - still I have a college degree and am pretty successful overall. ;)

[PeterPan]

The VT put an "r" stamp on her right hand every time she came in for her appointment. Then she knew for sure which hand was the right hand.

 

That's really interesting!!

[onemom22boys]

Something that we found beneficial for our dd with our of her issues was to create a chart with arrows. I will ktry to explain. Have about 10 arrows approximately 1/2" high going across the top of the page and 10-15 arrows going down the page in a chart form. I drew mine with a black sharpie. It would look something like this only using arrows rather than letters and dashes:

 

l l - l - - l

- l l - l - -

l - - l l - l

 

Imagine that each of those lines has an arrow on the end either pointing up, down, right, or left.

 

Then I put this on the fridge with a magnet and had dd stand in front of it. She reads the direction the arrow is pointing out loud and points in the same direction. So if an arrow is pointing to the right, she would say right and at the same time extend her right arm straight out. If the arrow is pointing up, she says up and extends both arms over her head, or if the arrow is pointing down, she extends both arms straight down by her side as she says down. Make sense?

 

You can turn the chart sideways and upside down to change the direction of the arrows so she just does not memorize the moves.

 

After she had mastered the ability to do the above, I had her do the exercise with the metronome. I started her slowly and gradually built up to 60 beats per minute.

 

To make the exercise more complex as her brain adjusted to the exercise, I added in marching in place in beat with the metronome while she was reading and moving her arms.

 

This exercise can also be done with letters the child reverses such as p, q, b, d. Just create a chart with these letters and follow the same steps as above. If the arm of the letter is on the right such as in the letter d, the child says right and extends the right arm up at the same time. If the the arm is down and on the left such as in the letter p, the child says left and points their arm down to the floor as they say left. The chart would look something like the one below. This can even be created in a word processor. It can be turned upside down to keep the child from memorizing the chart so quickly. I also had my dd read the chart from top to bottom and from bottom to top to add variety.

 

p d b q p

d d p b b

q q p b d

 

This helped tremendously with letter reversals for my then 12 year-old. It took about 6 months of doing the exercise 5 days per week and about 3-4 minutes daily to cement the information into her head. At first, the exercise was extremely difficult, and she became so confused. Now it is a breeze for her.

 

Hope this is helpful for someone.

Edited August 20, 2011 by onemom22boys

[suzziesnowflake]

My wedding ring is on my left hand. :D I usually have to look to be sure.

 

Get her a bracelet or ring for one hand or the other (probably the non-dominant one). And don't worry about it. :)

 

:smilielol5:Oh, I still do this. Especially when driving in the car and taking directions from someone! I agree with getting her a bracelet or have her make one (maybe her and a friend). She'll figure out a way. My ds had a problem for a long time but today at 13 he's fine!

[sixpence1978]

Then I put this on the fridge with a magnet and had dd stand in front of it. She reads the direction the arrow is pointing out loud and points in the same direction. So if an arrow is pointing to the right, she would say right and at the same time extend her right arm straight out. If the arrow is pointing up, she says up and extends both arms over her head, or if the arrow is pointing down, she extends both arms straight down by her side as she says down. Make sense?

 

You can turn the chart sideways and upside down to change the direction of the arrows so she just does not memorize the moves.

 

After she had mastered the ability to do the above, I had her do the exercise with the metronome. I started her slowly and gradually built up to 60 beats per minute.

 

 

These are some of the types of exercises that my DD has had to do in VT. It does help but is also frustrating. My DD is finally adding in the metronome and, despite having left and right down really well, has the hardest time doing it to the beat. It's hard work.

[zaichiki]

Violin hand, bow hand. It's the only way for my 8yo.:lol:

 

Yeah... so what do you do when people say right and left?

 

(I told dd that right meant her bow hand. I kept mum on the left hand, figuring that we'd eventually label that one. But each time she'd have to look at her bow hand as she lifted it in order to know the difference.)

[zaichiki]

Sure! BUT I've seen professional dance instructors face 3,4 and 5 yo to show them a dance while the music sings "left" and "right". The cute little girls in the leotards and tutus usually mirror the instructor--thus moving left when the song says right!

 

If you have your daugher "teach" her sister dances with right and left, watch over them to make sure they're both getting their rights and lefts correct. Have them either face the same direction or hold hands and move in a circle.

I was sort of imagining a hokey pokey dance with them standing next to one another... but I'll make sure to remember what you said about mirroring. I'll watch to make sure they *both* have it right. :)

[zaichiki]

I'll be 40 next month and I still sometimes have to think about it. :)

Reading over the dyslexia checklist in a previous post and realized that I fit the bill for most of that - still I have a college degree and am pretty successful overall. ;)

 

Yes. People with dyslexia can do/be anything. I know I've read about doctors who have dyslexia.

 

My dd has really learned to compensate rather well.

 

Interestingly, I think learning to play the piano is helping. Dd knows that the treble clef means her right hand. Whenever I tell her that I want her to play the right hand part, she automatically uses her right hand and plays the top staff/treble clef. However, for some strange reason it hasn't yet generalized to other times when she needs to know right from left. Maybe she's relying on the clefs as a visual prompt? Does that mean she'll eventually internalize that and not need the prompt (and she'll know R/L ALL the time)?

 

ETA: My husband has dyslexia. He is briliant. But, honestly, there are some things that he really struggles with (due to the dyslexia) that impact his daily life. I wish I could remove that mountain for him. I want to do whatever I can to help remediate dd's dyslexia, while she's still young, to make it easier for her as she grows.

Edited August 21, 2011 by zaichiki

[zaichiki]

Something that we found beneficial for our dd with our of her issues was to create a chart with arrows. I will ktry to explain. Have about 10 arrows approximately 1/2" high going across the top of the page and 10-15 arrows going down the page in a chart form. I drew mine with a black sharpie. It would look something like this only using arrows rather than letters and dashes:

 

l l - l - - l

- l l - l - -

l - - l l - l

 

Imagine that each of those lines has an arrow on the end either pointing up, down, right, or left.

 

Then I put this on the fridge with a magnet and had dd stand in front of it. She reads the direction the arrow is pointing out loud and points in the same direction. So if an arrow is pointing to the right, she would say right and at the same time extend her right arm straight out. If the arrow is pointing up, she says up and extends both arms over her head, or if the arrow is pointing down, she extends both arms straight down by her side as she says down. Make sense?

 

You can turn the chart sideways and upside down to change the direction of the arrows so she just does not memorize the moves.

 

After she had mastered the ability to do the above, I had her do the exercise with the metronome. I started her slowly and gradually built up to 60 beats per minute.

 

To make the exercise more complex as her brain adjusted to the exercise, I added in marching in place in beat with the metronome while she was reading and moving her arms.

 

This exercise can also be done with letters the child reverses such as p, q, b, d. Just create a chart with these letters and follow the same steps as above. If the arm of the letter is on the right such as in the letter d, the child says right and extends the right arm up at the same time. If the the arm is down and on the left such as in the letter p, the child says left and points their arm down to the floor as they say left. The chart would look something like the one below. This can even be created in a word processor. It can be turned upside down to keep the child from memorizing the chart so quickly. I also had my dd read the chart from top to bottom and from bottom to top to add variety.

 

p d b q p

d d p b b

q q p b d

 

This helped tremendously with letter reversals for my then 12 year-old. It took about 6 months of doing the exercise 5 days per week and about 3-4 minutes daily to cement the information into her head. At first, the exercise was extremely difficult, and she became so confused. Now it is a breeze for her.

 

Hope this is helpful for someone.

 

Wow. Thank you. I'll try it.

 

(What do you do if the reversals are of individual letters? Ex: My dd's name begins with an S. Every once in a while she'll write the S backwards.)

[Dobela]

Something that we found beneficial for our dd with our of her issues was to create a chart with arrows. I will ktry to explain. Have about 10 arrows approximately 1/2" high going across the top of the page and 10-15 arrows going down the page in a chart form. I drew mine with a black sharpie. It would look something like this only using arrows rather than letters and dashes:

 

l l - l - - l

- l l - l - -

l - - l l - l

 

Imagine that each of those lines has an arrow on the end either pointing up, down, right, or left.

 

Then I put this on the fridge with a magnet and had dd stand in front of it. She reads the direction the arrow is pointing out loud and points in the same direction. So if an arrow is pointing to the right, she would say right and at the same time extend her right arm straight out. If the arrow is pointing up, she says up and extends both arms over her head, or if the arrow is pointing down, she extends both arms straight down by her side as she says down. Make sense?

 

You can turn the chart sideways and upside down to change the direction of the arrows so she just does not memorize the moves.

 

After she had mastered the ability to do the above, I had her do the exercise with the metronome. I started her slowly and gradually built up to 60 beats per minute.

 

To make the exercise more complex as her brain adjusted to the exercise, I added in marching in place in beat with the metronome while she was reading and moving her arms.

 

This exercise can also be done with letters the child reverses such as p, q, b, d. Just create a chart with these letters and follow the same steps as above. If the arm of the letter is on the right such as in the letter d, the child says right and extends the right arm up at the same time. If the the arm is down and on the left such as in the letter p, the child says left and points their arm down to the floor as they say left. The chart would look something like the one below. This can even be created in a word processor. It can be turned upside down to keep the child from memorizing the chart so quickly. I also had my dd read the chart from top to bottom and from bottom to top to add variety.

 

p d b q p

d d p b b

q q p b d

 

This helped tremendously with letter reversals for my then 12 year-old. It took about 6 months of doing the exercise 5 days per week and about 3-4 minutes daily to cement the information into her head. At first, the exercise was extremely difficult, and she became so confused. Now it is a breeze for her.

 

Hope this is helpful for someone.

That is very similar to the secades that the vision therapist would have my son doing as homework.

[PeterPan]

You know, I had totally forgotten, but we did a whole bunch with up/down/left/right in VT too! They had charts you would read, changing between sizes, working on suppression, lots of different ways, and they used directionality as the task.

 

As far as doing it with a metronome, that's the next step up. That requires their executive function and working memory to be able to come on board. We literally couldn't get there. That's when they said to stop and do more OT for sensory and come back.

[Just-a-mom]

I have NO experience with this but I just happened to pick up a book recently about it. I remember they had the girl hold a ruler in her left hand. It seemed to orient her.

 

If you want more details, such as the book's title, let me know. This would be hard to deal with.

[rbk mama]

Your left hand makes an L.

 

Every once in a while I still check. :-)

 

 

My DS (10 yo dyslexic) has finally gotten his left and right pretty well down; he says he makes an L with his left hand to tell which way the L goes. :lol: