Leftie

when amir was younger, he showed tendency to use his left hand and leg. he first held a pencil using his left hand and til now, would kick with his left leg. over the years, he moved his pencil to his right hand and have continued to primarily use his right hand.

asyraf (and now ariff) is the same. asyraf's left hand dominated when he was younger but unlike amir, asyraf have continued to depend on his left hand to write and draw, even when eating. he cant seem to hold on to a spoon with his right hand. hubby wasnt as excited as i was with the prospect of asyraf being a leftie, mainly because he feels there's limited positions for them on the pitch. i, on the other hand, loved the fact that there was a leftie in the house. i've said many times before, being parents is not just about teaching but is also about learning...and, being a lefthanded, asyraf would teach us a thing or two.

i have since read a few articles on lefthanded people and what they go through. they explain a lot about asyraf:

1. he doesnt take to bicycles as fast as amir (Left-handed people find it harder to keep their balance than right-handed people do - http://www.left-hand.org/);
2. asyraf has trouble writing (Learning to write may be more difficult for left-handers than for right-handers for a number of reasons. Our culture’s left-to-right progression favors right-handers. It is easier to pull a pen or pencil across a page than to push one - http://www.iched.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=iched&item_id=lefthanded_handwriting);
3. asyraf holds his books upside down (English text reads from left to right and this is consistent with right-handed individuals naturally looking and moving to the right. Left-handed individuals naturally look and move to the left, thus reading text left to right has to be more intentionally learned - http://www.iched.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site_id=iched&item_id=lefthand_righthand)
4. asyraf seem to have trouble putting his sentences together compared to amir (Stuttering and dyslexia occur more often in left-handers - http://www.lefthandersday.com/tour6.html)

i'm not sure whether asyraf wearing his right shoes on his left foot and vice versa and wearing his clothes back-to-front are due to him being lefthanded. i find this picture explains a lot of the differences between amir and asyraf.














to help asyraf, i've spoken with his teacher to avoid forcing the use of right hand to write but encourage the usage of his right had for eating and to salam. there will be other things to face - holdings scissors, sharpeners, knives, tying shoelaces.

i found a funny statement about lefties though, "Left-handers are generally more intelligent, better looking, imaginative and multi-talented than right handers - based on discussions among members of the Left-Handers Club!" well, okayyyyy :)

and another useful fact, august 13 is the left-handers' day. hope i'll remember that this year.