What it means to be left-handed and how to help lefties write!

Once upon a time, not even so long ago, left-handed people were thought to be sinful, bringers of bad luck or simply less capable of reaching an average level of intelligence.

Thankfully, none of this is true, but there are still some people in the world who believe common myths, whether prejudice or not, about left-handedness and left-handed people (of whom make up around 10 per cent of the world’s population).

The most common ones are:

• Left-handed people are more creative: Although you commonly see such articles being branded about the internet, it is certainly not true that left-handed people are more creative. That said, it has been shown that there are a large number of musicians and artists that are left-handed.
• Lefties live shorter lives: Thankfully for those that are left-handed, after the discrediting of a few scientific papers, it was shown that lefties and righties live for around the same amount of time.
  It was not totally the fault of the scientists however, as it was found that older people are less likely to admit being left-handed!
• Left handers are more creative: Again, a fabrication that is based solely on anecdotal evidence and there has been no scientific evidence that left-handed people have an advantage in this area!

That said, left-handed people do sometimes have the advantage in regards to sports. This is usually because opponents in some sports are less used to the way that left-handed people move, what angles they use to throw balls and how they deal with stances.

In fact, Right Left Right Wrong.com says that:

“One particularly famous anecdote tells of a 1947 boxing match in which natural left-hander Mike Collins emerged from his corner in a right-handed stance before suddenly shifting left   and delivering the fight’s first and last punch, knocking out his opponent, Pat Brownson, in a record-breaking four seconds.”

But are left-handed people better at writing?

Unfortunately, when writing with any type of instrument, left-handed children do sometimes struggle when it comes to putting pen to paper.

Although there is generally no difference when it comes to teaching a left-handed child or a right-handed child, there are a few things that you may want to keep in mind!

1. Although many people think that they can tell the difference between righties and lefties from a very young age, dominance does not actually become prevalent until a child reaches the age of five or six.
2. If your child grows to be left-handed, it is important that they are aware of this fact so that they can tell teachers and classroom volunteers.
3. Encourage the tripod grasping of the pen, just like you would with a right-handed child.
4. There is no need to buy any special left-handed pens, pencils, or toilet seats. Lefties can do things just as well as the righties. Going back a step however, scissors are important, as the blades are on opposite sides, depending on whether they are left or right-handed.
5. As your child develops, get them to write with the paper at an angle so that they do not have to hook their wrists.

Are you left-handed? Have you had any issues growing up? Let us know with a comment below!