Worried about your left-handed son?

Hafusat Kareem didn’t realise she was a lefty until she went to kindergarten. At first, writing was difficult for her until a teacher put a pencil in her other hand. Her right-handed parents assumed that she was a righty because using the left hand to write is seen by many people as a taboo.

Most children have a preference for using one hand or the other by the age of about 18 months and are definitely right or left-handed by about the age of three. Whether a person favours his right hand or his left, and what this reveals about brain function, has been studied for at least 150 years. However, researchers still don’t understand why around 10 per cent of the population turns out to be left-handed.

Very young children often use both hands equally. Hand preference in the early years seems to rely on which hand is closer to the desired object; for example, a toddler may reach for a toy on their left side with their left hand because of convenience, regardless of future hand preference.

But most children have a preference for using one hand or the other by the age of about 18 months, and are definitely right or left-handed by about the age of three.

In certain societies, being a lefty may be considered unlucky or even malicious by the right-handed majority. Many languages still contain references to left-handedness to convey awkwardness, dishonesty, stupidity, or other undesirable qualities.

As such, children who were naturally left-handed were encouraged or forced to use their right hand, mainly because of prejudice against the awkwardness of left-handed writing and nearly everything is designed for right-handed people.

Dr Opebiyi Oyinlade, a consultant paediatric neurologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, said if a child is naturally left-handed, such a child shouldn’t be forced into using the right hand.

According to him, “If he is able to use both hands when he wants to lift or carry an object, it will not do the child any harm if he is left to use his left hand alone to write. However, if he cannot use the right hand for any other thing, there is the need for the child to be taken to the hospital to be assessed to be sure that the right hand is not weak.”

The expert stated that weakness in the right hand due to such conditions as a partial stroke can make a child develop a preference for the left hand.

Being a lefty, however, Dr Oyinlade assured  will not affect the child’s cognitive function in any way.

He added: “A lot of lefties are very brilliant. When we force a child that is a lefty to change to and the right hand, it leaves him confused. The child that is supposed to concentrate on his study, who you are now forcing to use the right hand could be frustrated. This invariably can affect such a child’s cognitive function, including the actualisation of his innate potentials.”

Dr Oyinlade declared that parents should also not fear that left-handedness can predispose a child to any specific disease, adding, “I am not aware that it causes any particular disease. Forcing a child to use the right hand is like insisting that a child who wants to study English should read medicine.”

Also, Professor Fatai Adeniyi, a Senior Lecturer and Consultant Physiotherapist to UCH, Ibadan, cautioned that a left-handed child should not be forced to become right-handed due to cultural perceptions.

“Based on my experience, such a child should just be left alone if it is not a problem with the child. If the child is not coping, he will naturally switch over. It is not a serious thing that the child must change at all cost “

Due to cultural and social pressures, many left-handed children were forced to write and perform other activities with their right hands due to the conversion had experienced multiple, including learning disorders, dyslexia, stuttering and other speech disorders.

Interestingly, experts in a new study say that being left-handed have its advantage. The study published in the journal Brain found that lefties’ brains could be associated with better verbal skills, among other talents.

They found that in left-handers, the left and right hemispheres had stronger links in the regions associated with language, which could correlate with greater language ability. Also, they said there was a “significant positive correlation” between left-handedness and mental health outcomes such as sensitivity, having “fed-up feelings” and being a “worrier”.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

More Shocks As Unemployment Data Exposes Misery Status Of Nigerians
BEFORE now, economic and finance experts found it difficult to assess the healthy nature of the labour market and how to measure the impact of government policies targeted at creating jobs because of lack of real time labour data. But on Friday, August 14, 2020, the concerns were only slightly eased as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published second quarter (Q2):2020 labour statistics, the first report since Q3:2018…

MONDAY LINES: Obasanjo’s (D)Art Of Condolence
Ben Guriano of The Washington Post described them in 2018 as ‘taboo enforcers.’ These are trolls seeking to upend truth and subvert facts about the life and times of the dead. ‘Do not speak ill of the dead’ came originally from a Spartan philosopher, then it was latinated by the Romans to read De mortuis nihil nisi bonum – and got spread around the world like Chinese viruses. The black man, as in all cases, contracted the no-no and turned it into a religion, got drunk with it and won’t mind killing for it…

2.4 Million Households To Benefit From FG’s Stimulus Package — Presidential Aide
TO ensure food security for citizens, at least 2.4 million households will benefit from the Federal Government’s post-COVID-19 stimulus package, a presidential aide says. Dr Andrew Kwasari, Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the President on Agriculture, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja. Kwasari spoke against the backdrop of projects anchored by the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Committee (NESC) to secure the economy against the effects of COVID-19…

SERAP Demands Withdrawal Of Broadcasting Code Seeking To Sanction Contents ‘Insulting’ Leader
THE Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to “urgently instruct the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to withdraw the apparently illegal broadcasting code and memo threatening to sanction any broadcast that denigrates, disrespects or insults the president, governors…