Recent studies have shown that left-handed children consistently do less well in school tests, with average results around 1 per cent lower than those of their right-handed counterparts.
While there is no suggestion that left-handed children are any less intelligent, it may well be that a range of cultural, environmental and social issues make some of the practical aspects of life more difficult for them, virtually from birth.
We live in a predominantly right-handed society, where not only writing but most of our day-to-day tools and equipment, from can-openers and screw-top jars to clocks and pianos, are geared and shaped to the needs, comfort and convenience of the right-handed majority. Yet a significant number of people - around 7-10 per cent of the UK population - are left-handed, with far more boys than girls affected.
What determines which hand we use?
The right side of the human brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa, and when the nerves in charge of hand control become more developed on the right side, left-handedness occurs.
Studies of identical twins have shown that, where one twin is left-handed, there is a high chance that the other will be too. To some extent left-handedness does tend to run in families, but even where both parents are left-handed, there is only around a one in four chance of them producing a left-handed child.
Which hand a child is going to favour is determined before birth, although it can be two or three years before this becomes apparent. It is perfectly normal for a baby or toddler to pick things up with either or both hands, and a degree of ambidextrousness remains present in most children. This is particularly so for left-handers, who may write with the left hand but choose to use the right for other tasks.
Negative attitudes, even as recently as the first half of the 20th century, led to many parents trying to force any signs of left-handedness out of their children, often by tying the left hand behind the child's back.
Association with awkwardness and clumsiness, and the use of nicknames such as 'cack-handed' or 'southpaw', singled out the left-handed as different or inferior. In some Asian cultures, where the right hand was traditionally used for eating and the left for dealing with basic toilet needs, the use of the left hand is still considered to be 'dirty' and is strongly discouraged.
Writing and drawing
The first indication of a left- or right-handed preference is usually when a child starts to hold and use a pencil. It is important to allow children to choose which hand feels comfortable and right for the task.
Many left-handed children may not be shown how best to grip their pen or pencil, particularly where the adult guiding them is right-handed and unable to demonstrate. The child may try to imitate their right-handed teacher or friends or just hold the pencil awkwardly, leading to poor grip and control, often with the hand curling right around the pen, the smudging of ink as the hand drags across the page, and a resultant sense of failure, reduced enjoyment and reluctance to continue.
Left-handers can be good at reversing images in their heads, and can find it surprisingly easy to start unintentionally writing backwards, creating 'mirror writing' which they can usually read quite easily.
Once adopted, poor pencil-holding habits can be hard to correct. The left-handed child is also likely to bump elbows with the right-handed child sitting next to him. Starting all children off with chunky, triangular-shaped pencils for easier grip, taking time to offer help to the left-hander, finding a left-handed adult helper, and positioning the child at the left-hand end of a seated group can all make a significant difference.
Practical problems
The left-handed child may be slower to grasp the concept of the hands moving round a clock face when learning to tell the time, and may find measuring or drawing lines using a ruler difficult, as the markings all start from the left side. Even the simplest equipment is designed predominantly for right-hand use, so here are a few tips to help ease or overcome problems in the nursery setting.
Feeding themselves
Bottles and most cutlery can be held in either hand, but avoid curved self-feeding spoons designed to fit the right hand. Two-handled cups will make holding easier for all children, but remember to position the lid of a one-handled trainer cup with the spout facing the child.
Safety
Make sure there is a handrail on both sides on all climbing equipment and slides, and on steps and slopes.
Scissors
Standard scissors are difficult for the left-handed child to use, and the finger grips may feel awkward or uncomfortable. As the top blade is designed to cover and slice into the cutting line, left-handers trying to use standard scissors will often find their cutting is less accurate or that the paper simply bends between the blades. Scissors for the left-handed are easily obtainable.
Pencil sharpeners
Standard pencil sharpeners have a clockwise-turning mechanism where the pencil is held in the right hand and naturally turned away from the body. Used in reverse, a left-handed child will be forced to turn the pencil awkwardly towards himself and is likely to find the shavings falling forward into his lap. Try a container sharpener that collects the shavings, experiment with turn-handle sharpeners that operate with less effort, or invest in a specially designed left-handed version.
Using the computer
The mouse is usually positioned to the right-hand side. Pulling it over to the left or using a wireless or inbuilt central mouse can help the left-handed child, while touch-screen programs are ideal for the very young.
As children progress and need to use right or left click mouse commands, some operating systems are able to reverse these functions.
Musical instruments
Guitars can be strung specially for left-handed players. Woodwind and brass instruments may present problems if the stops and valves are on the right-hand side, but simple recorders, bells, tambourines and drums make ideal first instruments in the nursery.
Tying shoelaces and bows
The most comfortable tying technique will be different for the left-hander and may best be taught by someone who is themselves left-handed. Simple laced cards are often used to practise on, and can be obtained with tips for left-handed use. (See Useful Resources.)
USEFUL RESOURCES
- Your Left-handed Child, by Lauren Milsom (Hamlyn). A practical guidebook dealing with the many challenges left-handed children encounter and how you can help to overcome them.
- Tie Me Shoelace Card. A simple aid to tying laces, with tips on teaching left-handers. Available from the anythingleft-handed website (see right) or from Amazon, around £3.50
- www.lefthandedchildren.org. Lots of information, advice, ideas and techniques to help left-handed children cope in a right-handed environment.
- www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk. A very useful shopping website offering a huge range of writing and stationery equipment, games, books and other products suitable for the left-handed adult and child, with details of how and why they work.
- www.lefthandersday.com. Details of the annual Left-handers Day, held in August each year, to raise awareness, educate, and celebrate left-handed achievements. Includes an extensive list of famous left-handers from which to choose your role models.
CASE STUDY
Zygy is three and attends Rosedale Nursery in Hayes, Middlesex, five mornings a week. It was clear to his mum Lisa that Zygy favoured his left hand from around the age of one, as soon as he started to pick up a cup and tried to hold and use a crayon. His parents, grandparents and older sister are all right-handed. Lisa is aware how important it is to allow a child to use whichever hand feels most comfortable and natural and, having seen the confusion and awkwardness resulting from a misguided teacher's attempts to encourage a friend's daughter to use her right hand, she has never tried to do the same with Zygy.
Although he occasionally still picks up an object with the right hand, it is usually quickly moved across to the left, and he always draws, uses scissors and glue, throws a ball, waves goodbye and counts using the fingers of his left hand. He also uses his left hand to wash himself at bath-time and to brush his teeth and, when eating, he naturally reverses his cutlery, cutting with the knife in the left hand, and then has no difficulty in using it proficiently.
Sukhi, the inclusion co-ordinator at Rosedale, says that Zygy is a confident and outgoing child who has developed very good pencil grip and control, despite not having a left-handed parent or helper. Snacks provided tend to be finger foods, activities take place in small informal groups, and all indoor and outdoor play equipment is suitable whichever hand a child favours. Apart from needing left-handed scissors, there have been no practical problems for Zygy to deal with so far, although staff are aware that learning to tie bows and use a computer may require special attention as he gets older.
At the moment, Zygy seems unaware of the concept of left-handedness, and neither he nor the other children at the nursery have yet noticed that he uses a different hand from most of his playmates. Interestingly, Zygy always kicks a ball with his left foot too, although this is not necessarily evident in all left-handed children.