Left handed?

WestonDave

Our eldest (aged 5) has always been a bit confused over which hand to use for various activities. For example before starting school he would draw with his left hand but colour in with his right. We were advised at the time to left him sort it out for himself, which we did. He is now much stronger writing with his left hand than with his right although his writing is still understandably "developing".

However watching him do various things over the last few days makes us wonder whether his left handed writing is really his natural preference or whether it is something that he is somehow struggling on with because its what he's used to. For example this morning he was whisking some eggs to make scrambled eggs - right handed. Over the weekend we were playing with a ball in the garden and he would automatically switch a ball held in his left hand (he was holding one in each hand and threw the one in his right) to his right to throw it. If he's trying to throw a ball up and hit it with a bat he will hold the bat left handed and the ball in the right, but if you throw a ball to him when he only hold the bat he holds the bat right handed.

Does anyone know if there is likely to be a local authority service that can maybe help assess if its best to leave him writing left handed or whether in the long term he would be better off being coached to switch with a view to it being a bit of a short term pain but better in the long run. In the absense of a LA service is there anywhere we could pay for this - obviously we'd rather not pay if we can help it.

For the avoidance of doubt we have absolutely no problem with him being left handed, and understand that its a shades of grey thing rather than black/white distinction as people are often a bit left handed rather than purely righthanded or vice versa. We just want to ensure that he doesn't spend the rest of his life struggling for want of a bit of extra care now.

custardy

your son sounds like me
im left handed but would bat with my right hand
i worked as a chef for many years and could flip a knife from hand to hand when working with them
i would whisk right handed too

WestonDave

custardy wrote: »

your son sounds like me
im left handed but would bat with my right hand
i worked as a chef for many years and could flip a knife from hand to hand when working with them
i would whisk right handed too

Thanks for that - as parents its all a learning curve. Neither of us are left handed but my wifes grandfather is so it could be in the genes. In a sense the prospect of him being pretty strong with both hands sounds like a positive, but its just a question of not letting him down by failing to ask the right questions.

custardy

my little boy is only two,so hasn't really shown which hand he will favour

retro_bluebell

My eldest is now 12 and from early on (2+) he could use both hands to write and draw etc, I didnt encourage him either way and he naturally settled into writing with his right hand and he uses scissors etc with his left. My little girl is coming up to 4 and is showing the same signs as my eldest, her teacher pointed this out at her nursery parents evening last night (not highlighted as a problem just an observation) she is stronger with her right hand however and will hold the pencil correctly with her right hand, but holds it in a fist with the left (if that makes sense?) and the teacher just told me to encourage her to hold the pencil in the correct position with her left if she wants to use that one. I wouldn't worry about it too much they all fall into a natural pattern and your child may end up like my eldest and able to use both.

kayke_dee

If he as no problem using both at them moment i dont see the big worry, im sure he will work out whats best for him. I think tutoring may confuse him even more if its what he's being told to do, but not what he feels comfortable doing. If his writing skills are good, and still improving i dont see the point in disrupting that? Just my opinion.
Im a left hander but i always remember at primary school being given left handed scissors. I couldn't for the life of me use them, even though the teachers tried convicing me that i had to because i was left handed, i was much better using the 'normal' scissors. Still do to this day. i play snooker/pool right handed cut using my right hand and probably a few other things i cant remember but i am left handed.

jackieglasgow

MY younger DS is left handed for writing, and right handed for just about everything else, except picking his nose!!!! Which hand does he pick his nose with? I know this sounds yuek, but we all know they do it, so have a look. To be fair, though, my son does nearly everything right handed, but some left, and I would have to think reallly long and hard about which are which, except the writing and nose picking. He can use right handed scissors, but it seems a bit akward to me, and plays Wii right handed but with a sort of left handed stance, it's all very strange to us as a family of right handers (we cannot think of anyone at all in either family who is left handed), but it works for him!

jm2926

I'm like that, I'm left handed for writing and drawing, but use my right for everything else (scissors/knives/throwing). Doesn't cause me any problems at all. I'm right footed as well and will kick a ball using the right by preference. Oddly my left leg/arm etc is stronger than the right side. I only know this because of fitness tests, not because there's anything "wrong"

Make-it-3

Leave him to figure it out for himself. While some people have a strong tendency either way others of us are comfortable with either. I naturally write right-handed but left hand dominates for racket sports and I can hold a knife and fork either way round. Although I think because of this I don't have a natural sense of left or right and really struggle when someone stops me on the street for directions.

tweeter

Don't worry about it - speaking from an ambidextrous point of view.

B2B-2008

I'm left handed but I eat right handed, use my mouse right handed etc. I think its because my parents are right handed and it's what you pick up from them.

The guy I work with is left handed and uses his mouse with his left hand, this to me is just uncomfortable.

My ex was right handed but ate left handed because his mum was left handed, again its just how you pick things up.

I really don't think you need to worry.