Xpost: What's the deal with the midline?

[4KookieKids]

I'm posting on the LC board as well, but wasn't sure exactly where to post this:

I shared a cute video of my 3.5-4 yo coloring, because I thought it was funny how she switched the crayon from hand to hand every 5-10 seconds. Several people pointed out that she's switching every time she colors on the other half of the paper, so she's not crossing the midline, and that this is concerning. She does it with scissors too -- instead of turning her paper so she can cut with the same hand the whole line, she cuts half way in on the right with her right hand, switches hand, and then cuts halfway in from the left side with her left hand. She does it while eating too (right hand to eat food on right side of her plate, left hand for left side).

So now I'm left with wondering why it's a problem? Is it not normal developmentally? Granted, I didn't notice it in my other three kiddos, but why won't she just grow out of it? Are kids supposed to have a handedness by this age? Do I really need to get her set up with an OT? We just got two other kids *out* of OT, and I really don't want to have to add more appointments back into our schedule. Someone said to talk with my Ped about it - would a normal ped really know about something so small?

I'm in the process of googling, but I need some feedback that doesn't gloss over it if it's a real problem but also not alarmist and telling me she's ruined for life if I can't fix this immediately, kwim?

[Lori D.]

Your child is very young, so no, not an immediate-must-fix-now problem. However, ability to cross the midline makes more brain connections between the 2 hemispheres, and is important for physical coordination now, but also later on for reading and writing. So if you can now slowly and gently and in a fun way incorporate some activities to help strengthen midline crossing, it will help minimize potential problems later on.

Check out this article, which describes the midline, why it is important to be able to cross the midline, and 10 activities for strengthening midline crossing with young children. With such a young child, I would not at ALL try and make her change what she's doing, or even mention the hand-shift while coloring, but just go for "hey, let's have fun today and paint with water!" Or, "Let's play Simon Says while we're watering the plants. Simon Says, hold the hose with both hands. Simon Says, you can only move the hose with your hands (no moving the rest of your body) to water the plants over here (point to plants to child's left); Now Simon Says water the plants over there (point to plants to child's right) by only moving the hose with your hands." etc.

[Tanaqui]

I think this is fairly well-known and not "so small" that a typical pediatrician would be ignorant of this.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I would definitely encourage you to do "at home" therapy- that is, google it and do some of the midline crossing exercises.  

One great exercise I've seen is to draw out a sideways figure 8 (infinity symbol) on a very large sheet of paper, like from a butcher roll, maybe 1x2 ft of even bigger (I have also done this with whiteboard markers on a large glass door).  Starting at the center point where the track crosses itself, have the child move left and up (counter clockwise), then around to cross the center point, then up and right (clockwise) through the other loop.  Have them continue to trace the loop with one finger or a marker, as slow as they need to, but staying on the track.  You may find a big hesitation at first as they cross the center point, just gently nudge the hand/pen to continue the correct way.  Have them go faster and faster as they go, so they continuously trace the figure 8 many times without a pause in the middle.  Then switch hands, but not directions on the figure 8.  Regardless of hand, the left loop is always traced counterclockwise, and the right loop clockwise, as this also cements in correct letter formation motions.  

I had/have two kids who did not choose "handedness" until 6 or even later.  However, it looked nothing like what you are describing.  

[Guest]

It’s anecdotal, but as a music specialist at a school with a focused literacy program, I could usually tell which kids would turn out to have a dyslexia DX because they struggled with playing crossover bordun or crossing hands over on a piano. The kids who didn’t struggle with that skill but were two or more years behind in reading either caught up on reading fairly soon once they were in the phonics program, or ended up with other reasons for reading difficulties, like CAPD or vision. 

 

[4KookieKids]

11 hours ago, dmmetler said:

It’s anecdotal, but as a music specialist at a school with a focused literacy program, I could usually tell which kids would turn out to have a dyslexia DX because they struggled with playing crossover bordun or crossing hands over on a piano. The kids who didn’t struggle with that skill but were two or more years behind in reading either caught up on reading fairly soon once they were in the phonics program, or ended up with other reasons for reading difficulties, like CAPD or vision. 

Oh this is interesting. My dd7 is very musically inclined but really resists some songs and I've never seen a rhyme or reason for the ones that she resists. But she does have dyslexia and visual processing challenges, so maybe I'll see if I notice these kinds of trends in the songs that she dislikes next time it comes up!

11 hours ago, HeighHo said:

Have you done your state's free early childhood evaluation for this child?    Ours gave us activities to do.  Our child was lefthanded, it seemed he was not sure whether he should do what his body wanted or exactly follow what the preschool teachers were demonstrating and that lead to some delay.  He didn't end up with any difficulty writing, reading etc but was delayed in activities that required the integration, such as playing catch.and then not enough to qualify for services. 

Not since 20 months. She passed everything, but had borderline scores for social-emotional skills and communication skills. But kids change a lot in 2 years and she's more than twice as old now as she was then! 🙂

16 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

I had/have two kids who did not choose "handedness" until 6 or even later.  However, it looked nothing like what you are describing.  

Yeah, I think I definitely stumbled across something odd, because tonight at dinner she was using her left hand to eat the food on the left side of her plate (all that was left), so I spun her plate so that it was on the right side now, and suggested she take another bite. She stared at her plate for a good ten seconds, and then started to switch fork hands. I gently nudged her right hand out of the way, and just said to use her fork! I've never seen a child reach for a piece of meat so slowly!! lol. After one bite, she switched her fork to her right hand, so I spun her plate so that the meat was on the left again. She stared at it for another 10 or 15 seconds before throwing down her fork and yelling at me to stop it. So definitely not normal, I don't think!

[SoCal_Bear]

There's a program run out of SD that works on this sort of work on midbrain and cross hemisphere work. It's called Brain Gym. I know lots of families locally with kids with all sorts of LDs who have gone through this program and say that it helped tremendously. I warn you ahead of time, it isn't cheap. I believe that they offer classes online for families out of the area. 

http://www.braingym.org/

By any chance, did this child also skip cross crawling and go straight to walking?

Edited February 4, 2019 by calbear

[4KookieKids]

5 hours ago, calbear said:

There's a program run out of SD that works on this sort of work on midbrain and cross hemisphere work. It's called Brain Gym. I know lots of families locally with kids with all sorts of LDs who have gone through this program and say that it helped tremendously. I warn you ahead of time, it isn't cheap. I believe that they offer classes online for families out of the area. 

http://www.braingym.org/

By any chance, did this child also skip cross crawling and go straight to walking?

I'll look into it! I honestly have no idea if she went straight to walking... I can't remember exactly (4th child within a short span!), but I don't recall her skipping crawling (I'd like to think that would stand out to me?)

[Corraleno]

16 hours ago, 4KookieKids said:

Yeah, I think I definitely stumbled across something odd, because tonight at dinner she was using her left hand to eat the food on the left side of her plate (all that was left), so I spun her plate so that it was on the right side now, and suggested she take another bite. She stared at her plate for a good ten seconds, and then started to switch fork hands. I gently nudged her right hand out of the way, and just said to use her fork! I've never seen a child reach for a piece of meat so slowly!! lol. After one bite, she switched her fork to her right hand, so I spun her plate so that the meat was on the left again. She stared at it for another 10 or 15 seconds before throwing down her fork and yelling at me to stop it. So definitely not normal, I don't think!

My son (dyslexic, ADD, SPD) had significant midline issues. He did not choose a dominant hand until quite late (7 or 8 yo). He chose his left hand for writing — and I think that was mostly because of writing from left to right, not because of any inherent brain wiring.  He still does quite a few other things with his right hand (e.g. throws a ball and uses a mouse or trackpad right-handed) and he is nearly ambidextrous for everything but writing. I didn't know anything about the "crossing the midline thing" until he was about 10, when I read a discussion about it on a homeschooling board and began researching it. I started trying to include specific activities for DS that would involve midline crossing, trunk rotation, and other appropriate movements, and I happened to stumble on a Wii game that seemed almost tailor-made as a sort of "stealth OT" for midline issues.

 The game involved slicing objects quickly in specific directions, and it was a real eye opener because although he could do a vertical slice easily, and could do a horizontal slice from left to right with his left hand, he really struggled to go right to left with that hand or go left-to-right with his right hand. Trying to do a diagonal slice from lower right to upper left with his left hand was nearly impossible, it was like his brain had no idea how to even tell his body to do that. Luckily he was very motivated to master it, so he essentially did "stealth OT" on his own for months. I also got a bunch of nerf swords and his dad and I would sword fight with him and make sure it included a lot of midline-crossing. Eventually I enrolled him in a Tai Kwon Do class, which was super frustrating at first, but eventually he got into it. When the TKD place closed, I signed him up for a fencing class, which he loved and worked super hard at. It worked wonders on his coordination; the coach there later told me that when he first saw DS, he saw "a kid who could barely control his body well enough to walk in a straight line." That was six years ago — he is now a varsity athlete at a top D1 program with a full tuition scholarship! Still dyslexic and ADD of course, but he no longer has any trouble with crossing the midline, and his coordination is vastly improved.

So I would definitely look into some kind of OT for the issue, even if it's just stuff you do yourself at home. There's a lot of info online and suggestions for activities.

Edited February 4, 2019 by Corraleno

[Tanaqui]

What Wii game was this?

[Lecka]

Maybe sport resort?  

[Lecka]

Edit:  

I bet it is Wii Sports Resort, Swordplay, Speed Slice.  I saw a video of game play on YouTube but it won’t link for me.  We used to have this game.  

Edited February 5, 2019 by Lecka

[Guest]

Fruit Ninja is also a good one for midline crossing, if the screen is big enough. 

[Corraleno]

3 hours ago, Lecka said:

Edit:  

I bet it is Wii Sports Resort, Swordplay, Speed Slice.  I saw a video of game play on YouTube but it won’t link for me.  We used to have this game.  

Yes, that was it!