Left handed is Right
In case you did not notice, it is a right handed world. Right from the tender age of learning to use their pens in school, the student who has to write from left to right with his left hand needs to ensure not to smudge the words. When it comes to driving, musical instruments and using guns in National service, the left handed individual has no choice but to learn to compensate.
A therapist friend of mine is left handed but both his parents and all grand parents from both sides are not. How to explain that? The statistics say that if both parents are right handed, the likelihood of having a left handed baby is 2 per cent. My therapist friend thinks it is because of his personal birth trauma – he nearly did not make it into the world! So he says the brain makes a survival switch. Another learned well read friend says that it probably due to the high levels of estrogen during the trauma period that caused it. Care to comment?
So should you insist that your child change hands, if necessary?
Clinical psychologists advise against it. They tell parents to give support and help their child instead. The reason is that children tend to lose their self confidence and interest in learning if constantly corrected on an innate ability and told that being left handed is wrong. Many left handed children become confused and less prepared for school compared with their right handed counter parts. They have a higher risk of low self esteem and are often embarassed and feel awkward with their peers.
In developmental terms, handedness is a choice that is neither right or wrong.
Maybe you can ask Oprah Winfrey, she is left handed. So is Queen Victoria, The Queen Mother, Prince Charles and Prince William