Anyone ambidextrous or with ambidextrous kids?

[Ester Maria]

Just curious.

[Plucky]

My sister was ambidextrous and my 13ds is ambidextrous. They both have adhd & other issues. We have a lot of lefties, too.

[Ester Maria]

How does it function with your ds13? Does he use both hands alternatively for all functions or he "specializes" within them most of the time (e.g. drawing with right, writing with left?)? Sorry to be asking so much questions, just interested about this. :)

 

Your sister was ambidextrous, as in, she no longer is? (This is a phenomenon I am *really* interested in, if so, because it seems as though a certain number of people start ambidextrous and then one side prevails in their later childhood - I am that case.)

Edited February 29, 2012 by Ester Maria

[Mom-ninja.]

My dh is. He writes left, does everything else with right hand.

[LisaKinVA]

My dd (10) is ambidextrous. She now favors her left hand a bit more, but can still write and draw beautifully with her right.

 

I write with my right hand, but the left side of my body (hand strength, kick with my left, and my left eye) are actually stronger. My dh is a lefty, but he golfs and plays ball as a righty.

[Plucky]

She died. I tried to say they have adhd so I wouldn't have to get into it. She was always ambidextrous. She had undiagnosed adhd and other issues because it wasn't as prevalent to treat or dx girls then.

 

He specializes but can use both hands alternatively. He plays string instruments as a rightie. He switches back and forth with hands for some things.

[Amy in TX]

My dh is. He writes left, does everything else with right hand.

 

If this is ambidextrous, then I am, too. I write with the left and do everything else with the right.

[Ester Maria]

She died. I tried to say they have adhd so I wouldn't have to get into it. She was always ambidextrous. She had undiagnosed adhd and other issues because it wasn't as prevalent to treat or dx girls then.

I am sorry I asked. :grouphug:

[quark]

DH and his mom are ambis. DH's brothers are lefties but not ambi. DH's sisters are righties. DH writes with his left but can switch hands if he gets tired, although he prefers his left. He golfs with his right. My MIL is very fun to watch: e.g. she breaks eggs with both hands when cooking or generally just switches effortlessly from one to the other.

 

I remember in my childhood that my left hand was always stronger than my right. It was my preferred hand for opening tight jar lids and such. But I'm a righty in everything else. Recently, DS and I started practicing writing with our left hands. Copywork is so much more fun this way. :)

 

ETA:

(This is a phenomenon I am *really* interested in, if so, because it seems as though a certain number of people start ambidextrous and then one side prevails in their later childhood - I am that case.)

Wow, my son and I were discussing this very same thing yesterday!

[Plucky]

My dd (10) is ambidextrous. She now favors her left hand a bit more, but can still write and draw beautifully with her right.

 

I write with my right hand, but the left side of my body (hand strength, kick with my left, and my left eye) are actually stronger. My dh is a lefty, but he golfs and plays ball as a righty.

 

Yes, I am right-handed, left-eyed, and left-footed. My youngest kid is just like me. Oldest is left handed and right eyed. Dh is a leftie as was his mom and my dad.

[curlylocks]

Our oldest DD is ambidextrous. We found out when she was in PS Kindergarten. She broke her right wrist and was in a cast for 8 weeks. She instinctively picked up a pencil with her left hand and started writing. She completed all her schoolwork for 8 weeks using her left hand.

[Amy in TX]

If this is ambidextrous, then I am, too. I write with the left and do everything else with the right.

 

Come to think of it, my sister is the same (writes with the left, everything else with the right). I know of no other relatives who are lefties.

[Carpe]

I used to be ambidextrous. Actually I used to be left handed. I did everything left handed (including writing) until kindergarten when the teacher bullied everyone into writing right handed. Until I learned to drive, I was everything left-sided except writing and cutting. Once I learned to drive I slowly slid more and more right-sided to the point that I'm almost entirely right handed now, but still kick left footed.

[lllll]

..

Edited December 23, 2012 by ksva

[chickenpatty]

One of my boys is. He is dyslexic, and has a lot of the signs of ADHD. He writes right handed, but can switch hands when batting, and can pitch a ball and shoot a gun with either hand. He is also very creative!

[hmvaughan4]

I write and eat left handed. I throw and catch right handed and can switch when batting. Most other activities I do right handed.

[wapiti]

This book might be of interest: Dominance Factor, The: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand & Foot Can Improve Your Learning. (I'd like to look up what it says about ambidexterity, but I can't find the book :glare:)

[ErinD]

I'm ambidextrous. My kids are one-handed, two lefties and a righty.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Eddie
typo

[TheHomeScientist]

IIRC, true ambidexterity (i.e., the natural ability to do anything equally well with either hand) is pretty rare, something like 1% of the population. Acquired partial ambidexterity is pretty common in left-handers because it's a right-handed world. I don't consider people who do some things with one hand and some with the other to be ambidextrous.

 

I'm one of those mixed people. I write right-handed, although I can write left-handed readably. I do a lot of things naturally left-handed, including eating, playing pool, opening bottles, shooting rifles and shotguns (but not pistols), and so on. The first time I picked up a violin and later a guitar, I did so left-handed. In basketball I can dribble or shoot equally badly with either hand. In baseball, I switch hit, but I can't throw at all well left-handed. In college, I played tennis at the near touring pro level right-handed, but (and this is really weird), I played racketball naturally left-handed.

 

Which reminds me of the most under-handed thing I ever did. I was hitting on a girl who was the best women's racketball player on campus. I offered her a bet with the stakes not mentionable in polite company. She said no thanks, that she'd seen me playing tennis and there was no way she'd risk playing me at those stakes. I countered, "How about if I play you left-handed?"

[Plucky]

This book might be of interest: Dominance Factor, The: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand & Foot Can Improve Your Learning. (I'd like to look up what it says about ambidexterity, but I can't find the book :glare:)

 

Someone needs to review it. I'd be interested in it then.

[Plucky]

IIRC, true ambidexterity (i.e., the natural ability to do anything equally well with either hand) is pretty rare, something like 1% of the population. Acquired partial ambidexterity is pretty common in left-handers because it's a right-handed world. I don't consider people who do some things with one hand and some with the other to be ambidextrous.

 

I'm one of those mixed people. I write right-handed, although I can write left-handed readably. I do a lot of things naturally left-handed, including eating, playing pool, opening bottles, shooting rifles and shotguns (but not pistols), and so on. The first time I picked up a violin and later a guitar, I did so left-handed. In basketball I can dribble or shoot equally badly with either hand. In baseball, I switch hit, but I can't throw at all well left-handed. In college, I played tennis at the near touring pro level right-handed, but (and this is really weird), I played racketball naturally left-handed.

 

Which reminds me of the most under-handed thing I ever did. I was hitting on a girl who was the best women's racketball player on campus. I offered her a bet with the stakes not mentionable in polite company. She said no thanks, that she'd seen me playing tennis and there was no way she'd risk playing me at those stakes. I countered, "How about if I play you left-handed?"

 

For shame! Beware male tennis players. Check.

[gardening momma]

I am somewhat ambidextrous. Not in the true sense of being able to do anything with either hand, though. Anything that I was specifically taught or shown how to do I do with my right hand. Anything I learned on my own I tend to do left-handed.

 

I type with both hands. :D

[angela in ohio]

I am. It's a shame I'm not athletic, because it would have been a great talent. I used to think I was just mixed up, writing right-handed, eating either, doing everything else left-handed, but I've started using both hands for all different things, and they're pretty equal. My writing is better right, of course, and I would have to practice a lot more to shoot well right-handed because I've spent so many years doing it left.

 

One dd is cross-dominant or whatever they call it: she writes and eats right-handed and does everything else left. She really can't do anything with both hands equally well (though it's funny to watch her try. ;)) The other dd is completely right-handed, and my ds is completely left-handed.

 

Oddly, the dd with the most other issues is the plain old right-hander. :D

[Tiberia]

I use both for different things.

 

With the left side I eat, play basketball, jump, do things that involve power. My left side is stronger and has the dominant eye and ear. My left hand is rock steady. I feel the left is dominant when I do activities and most sports.

 

With my right side I write, kick a ball, and do smaller, detail-oriented tasks. But, my right hand shakes and is not that steady. I feel the right is dominant when I sit down to do schoolwork. Both are equally useful on the piano.

 

My kid is right-handed all the way.

[TheHomeScientist]

For shame! Beware male tennis players. Check.

 

Alas, it all ended badly. I won, she paid up. So far, so good. But then she was talking to a friend of hers and happened to mention that I'd beaten her badly at racketball, even playing left-handed. Her friend knew me well and replied, "What do you mean, *even* playing left-handed? He *always* plays racketball left-handed." Ruh-roh. She hunted me down and beat me about the head and shoulders.

 

But I did learn my lesson and never tried to take advantage of a girl or woman again.

[ThisIsTheDay]

I write and eat left handed.

 

I use scissors with my right hand, play all sports right-handed.

 

I consider myself left handed.

 

My mom remembers preferring her left hand but being forced to use her right. However, she plays all sports left-handed, because her brother taught her how to play sports. (As a child, he spent much time in the hospital so was allowed his preference for his left hand.)

 

My dad is left-handed; my sister is left-handed. Neither uses both hands like I do.

 

I was disappointed that both of my kids are righties.

[LisaKinVA]

IIRC, true ambidexterity (i.e., the natural ability to do anything equally well with either hand) is pretty rare, something like 1% of the population.

 

FWIW, I don't consider either myself or my dh ambidextous...we're just weird (well, that's how my brothers see it, anyhow).

 

My 10yo dd (when she was younger) would start writing on the left side of the page with her left hand, and then switch the pencil/crayon/whatever to her right hand to complete the right side. Since she didn't seem to see a preference, I taught her to write with her right (easier for me). I also wanted to make sure she *could* cross the mid-line.

 

She learned to write cursive with her right hand, but you cannot tell the difference between right or left in her penmanship (or drawing) now. I have no idea how she does anything else, though...

[Lolly]

I am. I tend to use my right for most things because that is how I was taught. Things where I was given preference, I usually went with left (gymnastics, kicking, batting). I could change to the other side for any activity with very little effort. I can write with my left just as well as my right. It just takes a little more thought. I found that in gymnastics, I could do tricks with either side dominant with just a little pracitce. Basically, I just had to learn it on the other side.

 

In my kids, 2 of the 4 are. They are pretty much the same as me in doing things. They did decide on their handedness on their own. It took them forever to choose! Until about 9, they would pick up pencils/crayons/pens with either hand and use it. Eventually, both settle on using their right. Dd1 could not use her right hand well for about 3 years without pain. Writing did not go to being easy with her left. It really surprised me. She could write with it, it just never became as comfortable as her right. Dd2, asked to learn to use her left when she was 11. I got her handwriting books, and she practiced with it. She isn't quite as comfortable with her left, but sometimes uses it just because.

[wapiti]

Someone needs to review it. I'd be interested in it then.

 

There is an earlier edition on Amazon that has reviews. (I'm on my phone or I'd link it) eta, here is the older edition

Edited February 29, 2012 by wapiti

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I haven't seen him do it alot lately but when we first started writing he would try to write with BOTH hands....he has been using the right mainly now though-dh is a lefty and i'm a righty

[J-rap]

My 16 year-old is. She really can do everything with either hand, although she has ended up choosing one or the other for different activities. For example, she usually eats with her right and draws and writes with her left, but she can switch if she wants to. The only thing she can't do -- with EITHER side -- is use scissors very well. We used to think that she just hadn't figured out which side was best for that, but she really can't cut well with either side. She has no other symptoms, except that she is double-jointed. :)

[Ester Maria]

Wow, I had no idea this would be so widespread! :)

Really enjoying reading these responses. It seems like many people have had this experience, I thought it would be something rather rare.

 

I was completely, 100% ambidextrous until the age of about 8-9 (meaning that I could do literally everything with either hand), and then I somehow naturally started "specializing", switching some activities to my right and some to my left hand, and over the course of a few years, my right side has prevailed - as a teen I was already a rightie. But as a child, and I remember it very vividly, there was no difference at all for me. I could write and draw with either hand, I remember playing tennis as a child both as a lefty and as a righty, etc. But with time I sort of settled on my right hand.

 

My older children are both righties, for the little one we are yet to see as now she is too small to make any definite judgments. Funny, I cannot think of anyone truly ambidextrous in my extended family either - a couple of lefties, mostly righties, but I was an anomaly as a child.

[kamom]

I am also very surprised! Because my ds11 is the only person I know like this. He switched back and forth so long with eating and writing that I decided to always put it in his right hand. He's left eye dominant though, throws and bats and shoots lefty and does most other things right handed.

 

Now my two year old keeps switching and I wonder if we have another one like him in the family. All of us are right handed. Ds11 I is a very spirited, hyper-active, strong willed, first born.

[Halcyon]

My son is a lefty for writing and a rightie for sports.

[Julie Smith]

Yes, I am right-handed, left-eyed, and left-footed. My youngest kid is just like me. Oldest is left handed and right eyed. Dh is a leftie as was his mom and my dad.

 

I am right handed and left eyed. I only learnt I was left eyed recently. My dh bought some fancy paint ball guns. When I was trying to line things up with the scoop? I couldn't do it and couldn't figure out how it could possibly line up.

 

Turns out I was closing the eye that was looking at the points on the gun to line it up.

[katiejane]

I am. :D

 

Left hand: write, drink,

 

Right hand: throw, play tennis, bowl, bat, play instruments.