Source: BBC Health; Pediatrics.
Okay, okay…confession time. I throw “righty” and bat “lefty” and I can punt around on the pitch with either foot. Shocking, I’m sure.
A study performed at the Imperial College London and published in Pediatrics journal has linked ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) with mixed handedness. Why? Damned if I know, read on…
Apparently one in every 100 children are ambidextrous (I’m a semi-rare one!). Quick anatomy lesson…Your brain is divided into 2 hemispheres. More accurately, a longitudinal fissure connected by the corpus callosum separates the brain into 2 distinctly identifiable cortical parts. While very generalized, modern psychology still accepts the notion of brain function lateralization, meaning that one side of the brain does one thing well while the other does something else. Typically it is felt that the right side of the brain is responsible for math and spatial reasoning while the left side of the brain is responsible for creativity and language.
Enter the ambidextrous child. It is believed that right hand dominance corresponds with the left hemisphere of the brain. Accordingly a lesser preference for the right hand might mean more difficulty with learning language.
So is there any validity to any of this? Well you can count the study of 8,000 Finnish children (those that are from Finland, not those that are “done”) 87 of whom were mixed-handed and who at ages 6-7 were twice as likely as their right handed peers to be singled out in school as having ADHD and learning “difficulties.” I’m reserving opinion at this point. <whistles and walks away slowly>
~Posted by D. M. Schwadron, Esquire