Left-handedness - advice needed!

[Bodkin]

Hi, it looks like my DD is going to be left-handed, and I have no idea how to help her with holding pens, scissors etc. She is 3.5 and holds all pens, brushes etc. in left hand every time and has done for about a year, so I'm assuming that it is not just a phase...

Currently, I let her hold the pen the way she feels comfortable - which is with the whole hand holding the pen. This means she does not rest any part of her arm or wrist on the table, so it is quite hard work for her, although she manages very well. But I expect this technique will not suit for much longer as she starts to learn to write etc.

Should I be teaching her to hold her pen with the "usual" grip that I (right-handed) use? Most left-handed people I know seem not to use this grip as it obstructs their view of what they are writing. Or should I leave her to find her own way?

I'm left-handed, but predominantly right-handed i.e. I use my LH for writing but nothing else. I'm not sure if thats because I just 'adapted' early on when exposed to things like scissors which obviously caused problems when held in my left hand. I'd let her find her own way - she will manage and she will adjust to make life easier all by herself I should imagine. If further down the line you (or teachers) spot she's having difficulties, you can then introduce alternatives, like special scissors and pens and wotnot. I never had a problem with pens btw - I just have to have the paper on a bit slant so I don't drag my hand through the ink.

I had hell at school because the teachers were fixated with neat handwriting - it was a long time ago. Smudging was a real problem. TBH though I think it is best not to make a big deal of it. The only LH thing I have is a boden potato pealer which can be used both ways(rt handed pealers a nightmare) though I like the idea of left handed chequebooks and i could never cut things out neatly like my right handed friends, so maybe scissors will save loads of grief too.

I also use tin-openers wrongly

'I had hell at school because the teachers were fixated with neat handwriting'

oops didnt mean that to sound negative, they also use to hit us with a slipper, just brought back memories. Schools are very different places now.

don;t they turn the book so they can write?
my dd had a teacher who was very proud that she helped her write neatly, left handed, will see what she does.. have to be tomorrow.

Agree with a lot of other people on this thread that you don't need to be "taught" how to hold a pen any differently to a R-handed person. I'm left handed and never had any special pens, scissors, etc, and never needed special tuition in how to hold normal ones.

The world is designed for R-handed people, so it's probably better for a child in the long run to get used to that. I've always used a knife and fork the normal way round for example, and it would make life quite difficult if I could only eat with them the "wrong" way round.

I think Lloyds used to - are they Lloyds TSB now? I've never used one anyway.

I can't think of a single left-handed gadget I've used, apart from a left-handed fountain pen my mum bought me that even I couldn't write with properly, perhaps because I don't twist my whole hand round to write like a lot of left-handers do.

think the idea that eating can be done the 'right' or wrong way round is bizarre. i eat LH, but do mostly everything else with RH. swapping my knife and fork around is no problem to anyone ever, and how could it be??
i was a croupier for a bit which demands almost ambidextrous finely tuned dexterity, which i didnt find a problem.

my ds2 seems to be LH and ds3 (only 16m now) is definately l-footed! kicks a ball a hundred times a day and is always with the left foot. (he's quite a good dribbler. his daddy's v proud)
i have almost idly wondered what, if anything, i should be doing to help them... so thanks for the thread coz now i know to get LH scissors at the v least...

HSBC do left handed chequebooks too - I only knew about them because the man at the bank who saw me when I opened my account was a fellow leftie. No left handed paying in books though!

I hold my pen like a right-handed person would, but in my left hand. It was smudgy when school demanded I wrote in fountain pen, but is fine with a biro. The worse thing was when the teacher tried to make us all put 'finger spaces' between each word - really doesn't work if you are LH.

Scissors are a definite and the rulers are good. Another plus is your DD will be good at rounders etc because you hit the ball in the opposite direction to where most of the fielders are looking

i have trouble with scissors but most other things i have just got used to over the years. i write sideways too or i smudge ink all over my hand.

one thing though, just curious, does anyone else have trouble turning things? i always want to turn things the wrong way - doorknobs being the biggie. is that cos i'm left handed or cos i'm dim?!!

I was offered a left-handed cheque book by Lloyds when they saw I was a southpaw and whilst it is left-handed - with the spine on the opposite side - it doesn't come with stubs, just a couple of pages at the front to fill in relevant details !!! Bless them for trying but I could have managed with the rh version in this format

I am left handed and I dont have special left hand things. As a child I would get bought a left handed fountain pen and it iwas arkward.

I'm a leftie through and through. I despise people who call me 'cack-handed', a guy did it in a shop yesterday, nearly put my shopping back and told him where to stick it (somewhere genuinely cacky! )

Anyway, on to the point. I've tried LH gadgets, but to be honest when you're used to RH gadgets they just feel wierd. Even LH chequebooks are pointless.

The only things I struggle with are child-proof caps on bottles, which seem to require pressure in a certain direction that you just can't give if you're opening with your left hand, and knitting (everyone insisted that I needed to know how to knit 'left handed' but no-one know how to do it to show me )

I am becoming increasingly clumsier and more accident prone as I get older, and am convinced that's something to do with being LH dominant.

Being LH always used to be a good excuse for not being able to do things (ranging from being no good at art, to being the only child in my class that failed cycling proficiency - I've no idea why either!) and you'd be suprised how many people backed me up on this!!

I'm actually very proud to be a leftie and wouldn't have it any other way. Best thing I can suggest is just to be supportive and treat it as 'normal'!

The only fountain pen I found that didn't seem to scratch the page was the Rotring Artpen. It worked because its nib is suitable for drawing & is straight, rather than bias-cut one way or another as most others are. Am 99% that they're still available and would definitely recommend to anyone whose lh dc are struggling.

I've got 2 left handed dc. They need a good pair of left handed scissors. I bought them a special pen for starting handwriting but usually they can manage with any fountain pen, the one I bought had special grooves to make holding easier available for left or right.
Ds has to remember when he's learning something new that he's left handed and speak up. For example I took him to do some bow and arrow archery practise and the teacher started showing all the kids how to aim, hold the bow etc and ds didn't manage to hit the target. When I told the teacher he was left handed he set him up accordingly and he was one of the best at hitting target.

A lh ruler has the numbers going from right to left. Isn't an essential piece of equipment but I've found mine useful when drawing plans etc. that involve lots of measurements.

I was given some lh scissors by a friend though after years of using rh scissors, I don't find them the easiest thing to use. However I do take great satisfaction when dh picks them up by mistake. Welcome to my world, darling...

L-hand Scissors are useful and worth buying, though dd2 can now use ordinary scissors. Dd1 is more l-handed, she eats l-handed and can't use an ordinary can opener. Some kitchen knives are difficult for her as well.

It's worth telling school that your child is l-handed because they can then be placed at the l-hand side of a desk to avoid a clashing of elbows. I know to my cost that sitting on the left of a left-hander can be a dangerous game, esp at the meal table, lol!!

Re kicking balls etc, apparently we are all handed in our hands, feet, eyes and ears. You can have any combination eg ds2 is r-handed but plays cricket l-handed.

Mytwopenceworth, I also have problems turning things, always lock the car instead of opening it, door key the same, door knobs, never related it to being LH. I was always in the rounders team being LH was also good for hockey too(left-wing!)

it's interesting - I automatically try to open things in a different way - doorhandles and fridge doors (ours swings out from the left)
also what shoulder for your handbag (right)
or wrist for watch (right again!)

what aobut writing backwards? and from right to lefthave always been able to do this (odd I know)

also use notebooks and journals from the end first, esp if they have a spine, and only write on the left page

have only ever used mouse in right hand, feels quite awkward using my left hand - when first started using computers always used right hand for this, but my leftie students swap the mouse over

ruler not essential, suppose nothing is, but it just feels right

My son is ambidextrous (spelling?)

He is 11. He actually does everything with his right hand, eating, golf, tennis, stronger right foot in football etc...but writes with his left hand. His writing is ok with his right but much neater with his left.

My dd 2.8 seems to be preferring her left and holds a pencil excellent, she loves scribbling...ON EVERyTHING!!

I let them find there own comfortable way of holding pencils. WE have never had any left handed scissors either.

This is quite interesting, esp. the comments from the l-handed amongst you. My mum's also l-handed and when I mentioned to her about getting special things for dd, she tutted at me and said "She's left handed, it's not an illness you know"

I haven't read all the advice given here, but ds1 is left-handed. When he was struggling to write with a pen without smudging it, I asked his teacher if there was a left-handed teacher who could show him a better way to hold the pen to avoid this.
The teacher helped and it's not a problem writing now.

are they more artitistic
on smart the other day i noticed both presentes were left handed!