son left handed what are the pros&cons

My oldest son is left-handed. I never was it as an issue. He's in 3rd class now and has never had a problem. His writing is brutal but so it mine and I am right handed.

Purple said:

My oldest son is left-handed. I never was it as an issue. He's in 3rd class now and has never had a problem. His writing is brutal but so it mine and I am right handed.

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Sounds like he's on course to be a doctor then

yoganmahew said:

My left-handed daughter (of 5) has been using the mouse right-handed all her life (!). As it was a totally new skill to her, I don't think it mattered to her which hand she learned with, but I think that being able to use it the way 99% of offices will be set up will be beneficial in the future.

I think some skills are learned, e.g. the mechanism of writing, drawing, using a mouse, so you can learn with either hand, whereas others are instinctive, e.g. hand-eye coordination, in which case your good hand will lead you. No doubt the old dog adage applies to those of us who learned mouse skills etc. later in life - hence the problems lefties have with mouses in badly set up offices!

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I'm left handed, and always moused right handed until recently. My right hand started giving me problems (RSI) and I had no trouble changing to the left. It's useful, actually, because I mouse with whatever hand isn't busy doing something else (I can still mouse with the right and write with the left).

As for writing, I was taught by my father (also a lefty) to turn the page about 90 degrees (he turns his almost upside down) so that I don't smudge when I write. I can't write on a page straight in front of me, it's got to be tilted. I never smudge my writing.

To the OP, your son will adapt fine, and it will be easier for him to be left handed than to be forced into right handedness.

It might take him a little longer to learn to write, but if there seems to be a significant problem, then it's probably not to do with his handedness. It might be worthwile to watch for signs of dyslexia or other learning disabilities. My brother is dyslexic, and although he has always been very intelligent (he was always the brightest in the family) he was branded as 'slow' because he wasn't writing well. Once he was diagnosed and got special tutoring for his dyslexia, he caught right up. Still asks me what way an E goes though

Hi Shrek,

I've been a lefty all my life and have never had any problems whatsoever. I have extremely neat writing, or so I'm always told! My siblings are all right handed and have far messier writing. I used to slant the paper slightly when i was writing, but i don't really do this anymore. I work with computers all day and have never had problems using the mouse in my right hand and I would say to encourage this because the majority of machines are set up this way, in school, college and the workplace.

The one thing I would advise you is not to make an issue of it, because it's not a problem. Just be careful about things like sport and certain musical instruments, like guitars. I know a very good golfer who was forced into playing right handed and by all accounts he may well have become a pro had he been let play left handed.

Personally I see it as an advantage because I'm much more efficient with my right hand than most right handed people are with their left hand. I found this out when I ended up with my left arm in a sling for a couple of weeks!

thanks folks for all your responses. have started to tilt paper for him.
got a drawing board too so he is very happy being allowed to use chalk
so i guess it will just take time.

Am a leftie myself ... they say about 10% of people are lefties yet I studied maths and comp sci in college and Id say half the staff in the dept and half the poeple in my final year were also lefties which is way out of proportion. Also in work half the programmers I work with are lefties, so they might well end up with an inclination towards mathsie subjects.

Fountain pens are out, other then that youve nothing to worry about ...

DisbandDeGAA

I always wrote better with a fountain pen, funnily enough! Taught me to keep my hand above the paper, much like the chalk mentioned earlier.

And you can buy fountain pens with sloping nibs especially for left-handers (for the calligraphers among us!).

There seem to be a lot of lefties on this site (I know we have a vested interest in posting in this thread, but there are a few of us about!).

I think my boyfriend is a closet leftie - he writes with his right hand (although it's very, very slanted) and does a fair few other things with his right hand but he catches with his left hand, plays golf with left-handed clubs and kicks with his left foot.

I think he was told to write with his right hand as a kid and (being a quiet, well-behaved type), just went along with it, even though he would have preferred writing with his left hand. Is it possible to be slightly left-handed??

After an injury when he was 5, my brother's right arm was in a sling for weeks. He hated not being able to draw, so he just started drawing with this left hand. After his shoulder healed, he remained ambidextrous for about a year, before he went back to using his right hand again. Handy skill!

Harlequin said:

After an injury when he was 5, my brother's right arm was in a sling for weeks. He hated not being able to draw, so he just started drawing with this left hand. After his shoulder healed, he remained ambidextrous for about a year, before he went back to using his right hand again. Handy skill!

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My grandfather lost his right hand in an industrial accident in his teens (long, long ago) and was forced to become left handed. He learned to write, draw and drive (a standard, until automatics became available) with his left hand. He even taught school for a while in his late 20s. We have notebooks he'd used for his class, with drawings and writing. It's amazing what the mind and body can do when forced!