Is it possible to retrain a left-handed child: a neuropsychologist's answer
The difference between a right-hander and a left-hander is not so conditional. Experts claim that there is also a difference in the development of the cerebral hemispheres.
In a right-handed person, the left hemisphere of the brain is dominant, and in a left-handed person, the right hemisphere of the brain is dominant.
In an interview with the publication “ Moscow 24 ”, neuropsychologist Irina Khvingia explained why it is not worth retraining a left-handed child to be right-handed.
Right-handed people always have a dominant left hemisphere, while left-handed people have a dominant right hemisphere. But the hemisphere is not only the dominant hand: it is also the eye, ear, leg, the expert said.
Therefore, trying to retrain a left-handed child to write with his right hand will not affect the dominant hemisphere.
“Only the hand will change,” but along with this, exhaustion and irritability may appear.
In some cases, sleep disturbances are possible, since a left-handed child will spend more effort to perform simple and habitual actions for an ordinary person.
It can also worsen the characteristics of left-handedness, for example, the ability to distinguish the sounds “d-t”, “b-p”, as well as articulation abilities, may develop more slowly, and children may start talking later.
Problems with orientation in unfamiliar terrain are also possible.
