Why a Left-Handed Child May Be Right for You

chillibreeze writer — Swapna Thomas

What do Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan have in common?

Apart from the fact that these are four out of the last five Presidents of the United States of America, they all are Left-handed or Southpawed as the slang goes. So were Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, H.G Wells and Lewis Carroll. This club also includes Diego Maradona, Pele, Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and many more. Closer home, we have Amitabh Bachchan, Saurav Ganguly, and Abhishek Bachchan who all favour their left hand. So, if you have a left-handed child, start grinning because your kid is in great company!

Being a Leftie-It’s a brainy thing

Left-handedness is a classification for the preference of using the left hand for manual tasks such as holding, writing, throwing and catching. It can also extend to the left foot being preferred for activities like kicking, begin walking or cycling etc and left eye being dominant for looking through a microscope or camera. The brain is hardwired in the foetus itself, with the right cerebral hemisphere being more dominant in left-handed people. A genetic component has now been found that determines right versus left-hand dominance, and it’s called the LRRTM1 gene. Although a child may exhibit left-handed behaviour at, as early as eight months, a verdict can only be made if the child displays continued preference for the left hand at three years of age.

The right part of the brain has been attributed as a source of creativity, feelings and dreams which is probably why a disproportionately high number of left-handed people do extremely well in fields of art, music and innovation. In some sports like cricket and football, being left-handed is a natural advantage.

Challenges for your left-handed child in a right-handed world

Our society has always been slightly prejudiced against left-handedness. Words like ‘a left-handed compliment’ and ‘left-wing’ have negative connotations to them. In India especially, it is considered gross to eat with your left hand. In the past, left-handedness was even viewed as a disease which needed to be cured, sometimes by using cruel methods like binding the left hand of a child to force him to become right-handed or repeatedly caning the left hand to discourage its use.

In a world which is skewed towards the right handed people, it can sometimes be difficult for a leftie who is part of a minority (only 13% of the population is left-handed). From pens to scissors, school desks and even computer mouse, it is all designed for the right-handers. This makes the left-handers often look clumsy and awkward. Common challenges that your child may face at school are:

1) Right-handers write away from the text while left-handers follow the text and therefore may end up pushing their pens deep into the paper which can cause smudged writing, bad posture and slow writing.

2) In order to see what they are writing, left-handers usually end up with a hooked style of writing which can be a very inefficient and messy way of writing. It is especially daunting if the child is just beginning to learn writing letters.

3) Knocking elbow spaces and cramped desk space if the child is seated to the right of a right hander.

4) Scissors are the perfect example of being a totally right-handed design and therefore left-handed children may find it difficult to cut out card shapes neatly or along a line. Thus, left-handers are not always good at craft lessons which can be demoralising for a young child.

Your role as a Left-hander’s Parent

Well, to be honest your role is just to be what you naturally are, i.e. a loving, supporting and caring parent for your child. Your left-hander is not different from any other child and definitely not less abled. In fact, according to the book “Your Left-handed Child” by author and founder of Left-Handers association Lauren Milsom, left-handed children need to do most tasks back to front, with equipment that was not made for them. This makes them very adaptable, which is handy in their later life, particularly when it comes to problem solving.

It is also essential to help your left-hander in developing the correct writing technique. Ensure that the child holds the pen properly, preferably in the tripod grip where the middle finger goes under the pencil/pen and thumb and forefinger on either side. Encourage the child to occupy the left seats on school desks to ensure enough room to write properly. For craft lessons, it may be prudent to buy a left-handed scissor, which though not common in India, is easily available from the UK or the US.

As a right-handed parent, you may also be confused while teaching your child simple daily activities such as tying shoelaces, fastening buttons, tying neckties etc. This can easily be solved using the technique of mirroring the activity by standing in front of them instead of by their side or behind them.

Try spending a whole day using your left hand for all daily activities and you will have a perspective of what your child may face on day to day basis. But, whatever you do, do not force or coerce your child to use their right hand unless they naturally want to. Child psychologists warn that such behaviour may result in lack of self esteem in the child and can cause stuttering, bedwetting or other emotional trauma.

So, make your southpawed child feel not a misfit but unique and celebrate this distinctiveness of your child by taking him/her out for a treat on August 13 which has been marked as International Left-Handers Day.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in August, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Swapna Thomas has an MBA in HR with 6 years of work experience in a leading chamber of commerce and think tank of India. She has worked with the Government of India and various leading international organisations on myriad issues related to Developmental Studies, such as Skill Development, Education, Child Labour, HIV-AIDS etc. She is currently a freelance writer and enjoys writing on sundry topics, especially on parenting.

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