Right handed / left handed?

[francine]

How does one tell which arm is dominant in a bpi child?

Maia is LOBPI. But her right arm is testing out 21 months delayed (Peabody). Does this mean that she might be left handed and her right hand is having difficulty making it happen?

Is there something scientific that proves dominance?

-francine

[Kristie]

Francine,
Here is a link to a previous discussion regarding this topic they had on the adult board:http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... hread=1615
I KNOW there was another dicussion on this topic... I was pretty sure it was on the adult board as well...I thought the topic was called handness- it had some kind of test as well using a card board tube... hold it at mid line and let them take it... and look through it... which ever eye they take it too is the dominant side... or something like that! I am frustrated cuz I searched the General Board and the adult board and can not find it! I recall this this because I tired it with Ian and drove him to frustation with is because he kept picking a different side each time... anyway it was a great discussion! I will look again when I am not so tired! If you find it before me post the link so I can know I am not crazy!
Blessings,
Kristie

[annedefiance]

My older son's preschool teacher (Ben's next year, poor woman, lol) said you can tell with kids who have yet to show preference by handing them scissors, if they hold them at an angle so that they are pointing them towards the body, then they are using their non-dominant hand. We've recently let Ben use scissors and he uses his non-bpi hand of course, and he holds them toward his body, so we know he is right hand dominant. I just got curious and tried it myself, I do hold them oddly in my left hand, differently than holding a pen in that hand, guess its a balance thing. Anyhow, thats what we were told! Good luck!!

[jennyb]

this is one of my pet issues-I replied in the thread that has been linked above, I get so sick of people saying 'So, you're left handed now because of the bpi' NO I'm NOT!!
The usual ways of telling dominance are to ask a child to look into a tiny bottle or something, they will usually put it to the eye on the dominant side, & the dominant leg will usually be the one that starts when you walk. HOWEVER I'm finding out that many children today have become confused by the kind of toys and activities they are given in the early, ambidextrous years and may become mixed dominance-ie dominant right eye but dominant left arm or leg.....this link explains a bit http://www.ixpres.com/delina/3domin.htm My kids are at a Waldorf school and as my 3 yr old is due to start kindy there soon I asked them about dominance (my husband was Waldorf educated and altho a lefty was forced to use his right.....it's still causing him problems to this day) and they said they no longer did the forced righty thing, and in fact were aware of the mixed dominance problems, all the activities Ella will be doing will be to encourage full balance, none will be allowed which might set up confusion as to handedness and if she shows dominance of one side then she'll be encouraged to have eye, leg and arm dominance on that side plus whole body balance-they said they found behavioural problems dramatically reduced in the school when these issues were monitored carefully in the kindy. Interesting stuff.....

[Cara]

I started a thread about this a while back because we have a lot of lefties in our family. (I write right handed but do everything eles left handed.) It is too funny you brought this up. Last night Rosalynn (LOBPI) picked up a wrapping paper roll and was using it as a telescope. She always put it to her left eye regardless of the hand she was holding it in. She also was shredding some paper with her safety scissors. I thought she was holding them funny. The post above would explain why.

[francine]

This information is all good. I need to know how if you had to prove in court that your child was right handed or left handed - which proven scientific method would they use/accept. We were told that the medical statistics show that if a child has two right handed parents that they assume the child is also right handed. But my mother is left handed and both her parents were right handed.

[Allison]

How can they "assume" that? That word scares me. Both my parents are right handed and I am left handed. These so called "medical stats" they are using, are a crock. I will search for this info Francine.
Allison

[m&mmom]

Both my parents are right handed and I'm left handed.
Cindy

[lizzyb]

Don't know if this helps at all, but both my parents were righthanded, but I used both hands equally before the bpi, but I did find that the right was easier for some things...my elder sis is a leftie and my brother ambidextrous too. I had a second cousin who could write with both hands at the same time something different with each hand....scary....!