CALLING ALL LEFT HANDERS, ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE

[GreenOnions]

questions, questions...

how soon can you tell if your child is going to be left handed?

dd is 6 months and today i had a 'lightbulb' moment,

she holds/grabs toys with her left hand,

eats her rusk with her left hand,

chews her left fingers,

sucks her left thumb,

offers her left hand to hold,

lays on her left side,

holds her bottle with her left hand,

none of which bothers me,

but after reading some online research on left handedness should i be worried in any way?

if you are left handed, did you/do you feel it hindered you in any way?

do you consider yourself worse off/better off/no different than if you where right handed?

are you more creative/imaginative/musical or is all that rubbish?

thanks

interesting fishie, my ds1 has no problems with using R-H mouse, he is very adapt at it.

Really? I can use a mouse set up for RH use.

re: hereditary...

In our immediate family - on my side 3 cousins left handed, one right handed, one we don't know.

On dp's side - apparently he is the only rh person in the family at all. We didn't know this until we started discussing ds's lh-ness with the family though.

Am am VERY left handed! Apparently there's degrees dunno how that works! Someone who came to assess ds1 said it to me because I offered the 'wrong' hand for a handshake and then asked me some questions and pronounced me very left dominant. Or something!

Which is weird because I always thought I was ambidextrous. I suppose that could be because I have adapted very well to a right handed world. Dunno.

Is it a problem? Not really, but then I've never known anything different. Can openers can be a pain. Same with scissors. But it's best to get used to using them from an early age!

I write with the paper sideways. so I write downwards, towards me. Turn the paper round and voila! I guess that's odd!

It's no big deal, being left handed. Certainly nothing to worry about!

Fishie - my DS1's reception class has two computers. They can't possibly set one for the one or two lefties out of 28.

MS - I knew that, but I never thought that if we change the settings on our computer, then unplug the mouse, plug it into their computer, then it WON'T STILL BE SET THAT WAY! (durr!)

I use my mouse in my right hand, but leave it at right handed settings. Its easiest to do that, because you won't always be in a situation where you can change it (other than which hand you use). For example if you use a PC at the library.

fishie, I use the mouse rh and can compute just fine :-D

Sorry, I use my mouse with my LEFT hand, but right-handed settings

Maria, I'm now watching DH fondle use the wii controller and he's using it the right way up in his left hand. I'm sure DS1 uses it the right way up too.

tbh with v little instruction the reception age child could probably learn how to set the mouse for themselves!
Can opener interesting, ds has no idea, and I struggle to show him.
Whereas mouse and scissors that he started using at 2 he is completely fine with.
I guess the later you start with something the harder?

re the mouse - I have mine set up on the right, cos it's easier than keep switching it! Tis fine for normal stuff, the only problem I have is Isketch - my drawings are CRAP! I'm not fluid, iyswim. But clicking stuff, drag and drop, etc - no problem!

i can use a rh mouse - mainly learned through bf with laptop. but i don't use it well.

i don't see why a lh should be made to use rh mouse when it isn't neccessary. you don't need a special mouse, just to change settings. otherwise can slant mouse to point to 2pm and keep index finger at noon.

I'm a leftie too and can also function very well with my right hand, so have never felt hindered by it. Don't really know if I was always as capable with my right hand or whether this was learned as a result of having to use right handed scissors etc.

My first teacher when I was 5 was also a left hander and spent a lot of time angling paper etc which probably helped with writing etc.

Don't think I'm any more artistic/creative etc but have always quite liked being left handed.

oh, great thread, thanks

i quite like the fact she may be unique

this is interesting but doesnt give any answers

should i ignore or encourage 'leftiness'?

should i try to get her to be 'right handed' or just let her be?

her grandad is a leftie,

but one thing i would love to know more about is the relationship between scanning and left handed babies

it may be true as i had too many several scans due to a very difficult pregnancy,

i could have not done anything other really so if left handedness is the outcome then so be it,

but if a lh'der uses a rh mouse without difficulty should you just leave them to it?
otherwise we are all going to be resetting everytime we swap users.

When we sit at the pc at home with DS1, there's normally me (RH) or nanny (RH) and DS2 (RH) there as well. We use it together, so you can't reset the settings between turns. We'd go mad!

Well Maria, I can't use the bloody controller for those games anyway so I'm not qualified to comment .

GO - ds was breech and I had numerous extra scans towards the end of my pg to see if he'd turned. Interesting...

i don't understand why any of you think that using a computer is different to using a pen.

you are sounding like the olden times of tying "wrong" arm behind the back.

I'm left handed and a sculptor by profession so possibly a connection, possibly not!

I wrote backwards at first then learned to push the pen along the page instead of pull it- I don't do that upside-down hand thing.Completely joined up handwriting is quite tricky, but I studied calligraphy quite successfully.

I use regualr scissors in my right hand, but prefer to cut things where possible with a craft knife in my left hand when working.

avoid the mouse issue- we use macs here!

I think young children can swap about for a while before developing a true preference. Could be wrong. I was a leftie from the get-go.