Bi-lateral child - Please help!

[slipperandpjsmum]

My dd (aged 10) has been struggling at school. We went to see a private tutor last night. During the discussion she asked if my dd uses her knife in the wrong hands which she does and that she tilts her head to one side when working. She also gets lost in her times tables and really does not like art. When she handed her a tube to look through she took it in her left (she is left handed) and looked through it with her right eye. The tutor said she thought she was bilateral which meant information taken into one side of her brain had to travel to the other side to be 'de-coded'.

Does anyone know anything more about this? Is the tutor right with what she is saying? How can I help my dd?

Advice/experience very welcome - thanks.

I don't know a lot about this but there is some truth in what is said.

Most people have one dominant side of the brain, left brain dominant= right side of body and right brain dominant= left side of body. Most commonly people who are right handed are also right footed and right eyed but not necessarily so. My DS1 is right handed and right eyed but left footed for instance. You can also be ambidextrous which means there is no particular dominant hemisphere. There is some evidence that people who are truly ambidextrous may have more difficulty with some tasks particularly language related tasks. This might be to do with the way information is processed and handled between the 2 sides of the brain.

Thats all I know... hopefully somebody more expert will add.

Not an expert but just to say my DD was born without her left hand. Several Dr's/prosthetist commented that they thought she was 'right handed' from observing her when she was small.

I laughed at first - of course she will be right handed she hasn't got a left.

But apparently it is due to your brain and so if DD had been left side dominant things would have been harder for her.

Sure, if one side of you body is dominant you process things quicker.

If you're right eyed and left handed (or whatever) it will result in slower processing.

There's nothing you can do about it though.

I've done loads of neuro-development therapies for DD, and they have helped her slow processing - but they haven't changed her dominant hand / eye / foot / ear.

However, the fact that you say she's struggling in school and is seeing a tutor, suggests there is way more to this problem than having cross-lateral dominance.

Is she also dyslexic?

Oh, and what did the tutor suggest?

I'm cross lateral, and used to be nearly ambidextrous (can't use l hand now due to injury). Apart from some issues about using video cameras, its really not been an issue.

The processing thing sounds totally wrong to me tbh

She was assessed for dyslexia, however, he said she wasn't but the assessment did not pick this up which has concerned me.

How does your dds 'dominance' manifest itself?

I actually didn't ask the tutor very much at all! I had never heard of it before and was surprised when she mentioned it and the whole threw me a bit to be honest. Everything she was saying about my dd felt like it was all making sense eg knife and fork.

She really is struggling at school and starts secondary school next Sept and I am so worried about how she will manage.

How was she assessed for dyslexia?

One definition of dyslexia is Dyslexia can be described as a continuum of difficulties in learning to read, write and/or spell, which persist despite the provision of appropriate learning opportunities.

Does she meet that criteria?

My DDs corss-lateral dominance isn't a problem - her dyslexia is. Although it is a contributing factor to her slow processing. But only one contributing factor.

The other very common condition which could cause all of the symptoms you have listed is dyspraxia.

Thats really helpful - thanks

Hi has she had a full eye exam ? Might be worth referral to an orthoptist just to check the head tilting isn't caused by any eye muscle imbalance ?

Hi slipperandpjsmum,

What is she like at catching balls? Does she try to do things with one hand, or does she regularly involve both hands?

You could also take a look at whether she may have any retained reflexes? They can manifest themselves in some of what you describe. This gives you some info ...
www.inpp.org.uk/intervention-adults-children/help-by-symptom/mixed-laterality/

The INPP has a lot of other good info.

Good luck! I have a DD who is also struggling with some of these issues (though younger than yours) and we are slowly finding our way through the maze of stuff out there.

It's not guaranteed to cause any problems. I'm cross-lateral (right handed - and footed - and left-eyed), but the only problem it causes me is a complete inability to play racquet sports. I am hilariously bad at tennis (but weirdly can play cricket and football). So in and of itself, being cross-lateral is not a problem. It may be however (I'm not a neurologist) that it's likely to be correlated with other issues, such as dyspraxia, dyslexia and the like.