Classroom Tips for Left Handedness

Piggy backing off of the lateralization topic from my last post, I thought I would add a post regarding tips for left handedness... the information below was taken from a lecture/workshop that I attended, which is referenced at the end of the post:

My very own 14 year old left handed son, printing on some paper for me.

-Left handed kids often look like they don’t have hand dominance.  This is often because they do not have good lateralization (lateralization is the way that the brain is specialized).

Classroom observation:  Left handed kids often sit out of midline, and at times have difficulty with the left to right progression for writing and reading.
adaptation:  put 2 pieces of masking tape on each side of their desk so that the child knows where to sit in relation to their desk.  Put t shaped green masking tape in the center of the desk.  Then, put a green piece of tape on the left side of the desk and a red piece of tape on the right side of the desk to give a visual cue of the left to right progression (green means go from the left, red means stop on the right).

When teaching left handed kids-
-left handed kids need to learn skill in their left hand, such as for writing and coloring precise things.
-if left handed kids cut well with their right hand, let it go.
-preferential seating in the classroom for a child who is left handed would be to have everything in the classroom to their left (example:  child could be seated in the far right row, with everything else to their left.  When teaching, stand to the left of the child, teach on the left side of the room so they are attending to their left).

To learn a new motor task-  left handed kids need to see the “whole picture”, not a piece of the picture or the steps to it.  It is best to have them view the “whole photograph”, and the whole process.

When printing, if left handed kids are forming letters from the bottom up, leave the process alone as long as the end product is okay.

The left handed “hook”:  this is a hand position that provides proprioceptive (sensory) feedback to the child.  If this position is not impeding function, leave it alone.
adaptation:  a 30 degree angle (incline) changes the position of the wrist and reduces “hooking” of the wrist (the wrist can’t flex easily on an incline).  This can be achieved by use of a 3” binder as an incline to write on.

What a sweet boy :)

(This information was obtained from the workshop, “Practical Strategies, Interventions and Treatments for SPD in Children and Adolescents”, as presented by Doreit S. Bialer, MA, OTR/L, 2008.)