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View Poll Results: Left, Right or Ambi?
Lefty 18 20.22%
Righty 58 65.17%
Truly Ambidextrous - can use both for anything 3 3.37%
Ambidextrous - True Lefty but forced Righty 0 0%
Ambidextrous - use one hand/foot for certain - left for writing, right for kicking 10 11.24%
Voters: 89. You may not vote on this poll

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Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 03:08 PM   #1
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Handedness

My daughter is showing signs of ambidexterity...She writes with both hands, and dribbles the bball with both. Her teacher who has been teaching for decades has found this to be truly rare by her age of 4.5.

Who out there is ambidextrous? What were the consequences and/or benefits as a young child?

We are not pushing her either way but want to know what to look out for and especially if teachers or grandparents start trying to force one or the other.

My only current concern is that it may take her longer to learn to write since she uses both hands she's learning twice, and she's a perfectionist so that takes longer already!
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 03:15 PM   #2
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Re: Handedness

Write left handed almost everything else right handed. I can remember the Nuns whacking me on the left hand with those 3 foot wooden pointers every time I tried to write with it (at least they don't do that anymore, do they?). Finally, they just gave up and "left" me alone -- insofar as writing went.

IMO you should just leave her alone -- she will do fine on her own. The problems IMO come about when someone in authority starts with "this is the right way" and "this is the wrong way" stuff.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 03:26 PM   #3
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Re: Handedness

I voted that Im a righty- but I've got a wicked left footed shot.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 03:40 PM   #4
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Re: Handedness

I'm a lefty but I cut with scissors with my right hand otherwise, I just sort of bend the paper. Maybe I should have tried finding lefty scissors. Been that way all my life. I have never had anyone try to make me a righty.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 03:57 PM   #5
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Re: Handedness

I write mainly with my right hand, although I can do it (and legibly!) with my left. I also eat, sew, draw and bat righty. I shoot (handgun, rifle/shotgun and bow), iron, and play field hockey and lacrosse lefty. Still can't figure out why.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 04:50 PM   #6
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Re: Handedness

i do almost everything except for typing w/ only my right hand and right side. I'm lefty impaired - it takes a lot of thinking and work to do things on the left, like kicking a ball w/ the left is more work than with the right.

there are some people who can do everything w/ both (hence the option in the poll)

then others do only certain things with certain hands or feet. that has something to do w/ a lack of hemisphere integration in the brain? which is why some people think lateral dominance is important (strongly preferring one side or the other).

wanted to see how this manifests in adults.

i'm trying to pay attention to see if my daughter does certain things w/ a certain side...
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 04:52 PM   #7
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Re: Handedness

I'm quasi-ambidextrous (as voted for the last option on the poll).

I write lefty, swing righty, cut scissors righty, throw a baseball lefty...

When I was a kid, my dad went on a business trip and brought me a baseball glove to put on my left hand. He said he thought I was righty because I always swing that way.

Some memories never fade...
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 05:30 PM   #8
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Re: Handedness

Lefty here in all ways, except I open jars with my right hand (right hand twists off the lid). What's up with that?
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 05:51 PM   #9
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Re: Handedness

Extremely right handed, I can't even imagine how to do things with my left hand (write, use chopsticks, use knife/scissors).

I knew a guy who could write legibly in both directions (at the same time): right hand forwards, left hand backwards.

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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 06:40 PM   #10
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Re: Handedness

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4EAXFM
Lefty here in all ways, except I open jars with my right hand (right hand twists off the lid). What's up with that?
I'm the same except mirrored - right handed, left hand to twist off lid.

I read somewhere it's a sign of genetic superiority of quite a large magnitude.........
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 07:32 PM   #11
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Re: Handedness

Mostly righty but eat with left hand as well as a few other tasks.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 09:56 PM   #12
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Re: Handedness

Quote:
Originally Posted by Khan
I knew a guy who could write legibly in both directions (at the same time): right hand forwards, left hand backwards.
Yeah, my mom could do that. She'd write backwards left handed messages for us when we were kids..we'd take them to a mirror to "decode" them.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 10:18 PM   #13
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Re: Handedness

A lefty....but things I was taught while young, many of them I do righthanded......shoot archery, rifle, I throw lefthanded but bat righthanded, play guitar righthanded, but most everything else, eating, writing, etc. is all lefthanded.

I use my computer mouse and TV remote righthanded.....it's kind of all the natural things are lefthanded, but things I've been taught righthanded, or learned to do righthanded allow me to function quite well with both hands.

All my life I waited to achieve something major, so they would write my biography and start it with "she was born on Christmas Day, at 1:11 a.m. and was lefthanded, so they could tell she was destined for greatness".......alas, much time has gone by, but no biography, or great achievements have occurred.....hope springs eternal. ;-)

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Re: Handedness
Old 04-19-2007, 11:27 PM   #14
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Re: Handedness

are the lefties more artsy?
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 09:14 AM   #15
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Re: Handedness

I'm very left handed. I can't even scratch with my right hand very well.

Bright Eyed--I have no artistic ability at all.
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 09:49 AM   #16
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Re: Handedness

Quote:
Originally Posted by happy2bretired
I'm a lefty but I cut with scissors with my right hand otherwise, I just sort of bend the paper. Maybe I should have tried finding lefty scissors. Been that way all my life. I have never had anyone try to make me a righty.
I'm a lefty, and having gotten used to right-handed scissors, left-handed ones are difficult to operate. Don't bother with 'em!

I open jars right-handed too. I think you can just get better torque with that one. But it's just one more example of how those damn rightys design everything for their own benefit! Leftys unite against the oppressors!

That was an attempt at humor -- there's nothing wrong with rightys. Some of my best friends are right-handed.

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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 10:06 AM   #17
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Re: Handedness

Lefthanded for writing.

Most sports, I get more power from the right, but I can switchhit, bowl with either hand, etc.

I eat with the left, but cut with scissors right handed. I open jars with the right hand because I have more power.

Seems weird, but when I used to armwrestle guys for beers, I did better with the left hand............
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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 10:11 AM   #18
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Re: Handedness

Right-handed:
Throw a ball
wirte
Hammer a nail

Left handed:
eat
scissors
open jars.
shoot a rifle
Hammer a nail

I serve in tennis right handed, but immediately switch to my left after serve.

Kind of screwed up, really.

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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 11:09 AM   #19
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Re: Handedness

I would disagree. At 4.5, using both hands is very common, expecially among those who become lefties. (I am a lefty, as is most of my family). My daughter, who is lefty also used both for a long time. I do not know of any delay in developing writing skills by letting children develop naturally. Forcing one hand or the other, however, can delay skill development.

As you can see from the responses, there is a continuum. Neuropsycholgists, when testing for many brain processing problems may first assess handedness for 10 different activities (writing, scissors, sweeping (which hand is on top) , threading a needle (which hand moves), etc.) since handedness is somewhat related to how the brain processes information and where in the brain these skills "reside". The continuum can run from +10 (do everything righthanded) to -10 (do everything left handed). Few, if anyone is completely ambidextrous on all tasks.

You may be interested to learn there are some protective factors to being left handed. Both women and those who are left handed (even more for left handed women) often have better recovery from strokes, because their "skills" are more diffusely organized in their brains.

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Re: Handedness
Old 04-20-2007, 11:15 AM   #20
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Re: Handedness

i think her teacher was saying that based on her experience (not data) that she had rarely seen it - she has had lefties who were more dominant lefties by that stage.

last nite was open house at her school and she showed me all the "work" they do (it's montessori) and here's what i found...

she wrote mostly w/ her left (still switched hands a couple times)

she cut w/ her right

other tasks depended on how it was presented - so if she was pouring something it depended on which side the beans were on first and she could do both sides well.

i will throw something at her in a year or two to see which hand she catches it with...

overall her handwriting is improving so i'm not really concerned...

i think i'm just fascinated too because i'm so strongly a righty and now i see how many people switch for various tasks...guess my right brain is underdeveloped/underwired
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