Writing with non dominant hand

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

Is this an acceptable adaptation when Dr has said no writing with dominant hand due to injury? Writing is not very legible, tires quickly, is painful and takes much longer. It is for yr9 MFL vocab tests. It is likely to be another 4 weeks or so. Ongoing problems though due to hypermobility even before this latest injury. Her preference would be to type or dictate but she doesn't currently use a laptop in school. Teacher told her to write left handed and kept asking if she had finished. They won't assess for laptop until end of yr9.

Kids turn up to school all the time with broken arms, fingers etc. Of course we tell them to write with the other hand if necessary, otherwise they’d just be sat in lessons doing nothing. It’s not like we can quickly rustle up a laptop or a scribe for a lesson.

If it’s going to be a month then you can try asking the school for a laptop, but in times of restricted resources, don’t hold your breath.

Thank you, we will talk to the school and see if she can bring in her laptop. Her left hand tires quickly, is fairly illegible and I would prefer that she saves it for Maths which would be harder to do on a laptop than MFL.

I have never heard anything so redicilous as this recommendation.

Gosh I can’t write at all with my left hand- that’s really unreasonable. When I was at school they’d just photocopy another child’s noted and give us that.

Photocopying another child’s maths work would be a waste of paper. The kids have to give it a go.

My dad (a doctor) got annoyed with me when I tried to write with the "wrong" hand (as it happens, my right hand ) as he said it wasn't good for me.

I was doing it for fun but dh - also a left hander but a few years older than me and went to more old fashioned schools - tells me about the time his mum (who taught at the same school) came across him "writing" with his left arm held behind his back. His teacher was trying to force him to write right handed. His mum hit the roof It never happened again

I'd take it up with the school and suggest that a laptop will both be easier for everyone and less damaging to your dd.

Oh FGS of course it’s not damaging to ask a kid to do a bit of short-term writing with their wrong hand because their dominant hand is injured. Is it meant to be an entirely useless appendage hanging by our sides with nothing to do?

The old practice of forcing kids to always write with their wrong hand is a completely different matter.

Dr has said another 4 weeks of rest. I should say that I frequently used my non dominant hand when I injured my dominant one as it was fairly legible. My 9 year old has only just decided which hand he prefers and my other dc's handwriting is illegible whichever hand she uses. I am not per se against writing with a non dominant hand, if it were ds it would be fine. Dominance does seem to vary between people but for this dd it is fairly useless- she said it took her 10 (although probably only 5) mins longer than everyone else who had to wait for her before they could mark the test and then she had to read her answers anyway because her neighbour couldn't read it. Waiting to hear from school if she can bring a laptop in.

I sat my entire SATs with my left hand, including the handwriting section, because I broke my.right wrist the week before. Yes, her hand will get tired, her right hand will have gotten tired when she first started writing. She will manage. It's really not worth getting stressed about. I can now write with both hands.