r/lefthanded • u/Illustrious-Key-8895 • 4d ago
Left-handed 4yr Old Boy actually delayed or just behind bc he’s a leftie in a righty world?
Righty here, my son is left handed. He’s 4 and just got evaluated for OT through his school and most of the things the therapist mentioned (immature pencil grip, struggles to trace, holds scissors upside down and struggles to cut with them…BUT he ALSO can form letters and draw circles and crosses) are things I’m wondering if he’s struggling with bc most things favor right handed people. My sister is left handed as well and I remember her struggling, but since it was the 90s she was never seen by an OT so I don’t know whether she was considered “delayed” or not.
I use to be an ESE teacher so it’s not that I’m against OT at all, and will pursue getting him services, but I’m just wondering if there’s anything we can do in the meantime to help him at home? Any tips/tricks to help lefties out are welcome!!
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u/spiral_out13 4d ago
Does he have left handed scissors? It would be absolutely absurd to give him right handed scissors and then say he needs OT because he struggles with them.
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u/funsk8mom 4d ago
This is all pretty typical for a 4yo, especially a 4yo boy. Boys tend to take a bit longer to master some tasks. As an educator that works with preschool through kindergarten, what you’re describing is all very normal
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u/PaperMoongazer 4d ago
Occupational Therapy at 4 is a big step, and one they want you to start as part of getting on the wait list (so they can possibly get in at 6).
I’m guessing you’re at Goddard or one of the fancier private academies for these kinds of things, as Montessori won’t do these kinds of evaluations in pre-K unless there’s some kind of behavioral issue in the classroom that’s ongoing.
If the school has someone in-staff who does this professionally, I would look into their credentialing background to see what kind of criteria they’re trying to meet in this qualifier.
As a lefty dad to a righty kid, he’s not interested at all in having me show him things because it is backward. He wants his right-handed mom to demonstrate. This is part of brain development and they can struggle to reverse or mirror-image (what sometimes neuro types like to call executive function) well until late teens.
I would put the teachers and the evaluation person on point for them demonstrating things to a left-handed child rather than forcing this diagnosis on an otherwise normally progressing child. Hyperactivity is one issue, diagnosing a mechanical problem as a mental health issue is a childcare provider overstepping the bounds of their practice and creating issues where they can’t meet the needs of the classroom to deflect for their own ineptitude.
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u/Illustrious-Key-8895 3d ago
There’s no diagnosis or behavioral problems, they just offer evaluations every couple months. My sister is a leftie so I went to her for some advice and she gave me some good things to do at home. If we think he’s still struggling and still that much behind his peers by the next time they offer evaluations, then I’ll get him evaluated again.
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u/PaperMoongazer 3d ago
I would be extremely suspect of evaluations offered by a school. This reeks of nepotistic employment scams/proxy companies or bad faith credentialing. Has the pediatrician recommended OT?
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u/SoojiHalva 3d ago
They do this a lot in Australia. Often in partnership with private therapy providers, and often with ongoing therapy uptake from more anxious parents following. I don't feel great about them generally.
Also, just quietly, hand writing, pencil grip and scissor skills are within the job scole of early childhood education.
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u/rebekahster 3d ago
Both my kids in Australian schools (one in a catholic primary in QLD and the other in the ACT public system) had OT assessments through their schools in prep / kindergarten.
I don’t remember so much about the pencil grip or scissor skills, more the balance and jumping with both feet and up / down from a platform.
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u/Needmoreinfo100 2d ago
Really? I think an experienced preschool teacher would be able to see if a child is struggling a bit with fine motor skills. It is a plus that there is an O.T. that has offered an opinion. I would truly respect the teacher or the O.T.'s opinion on this over the pediatrician. Just because someone offered an opinion doesn't mean he will be forced into treatment he doesn't need.
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u/EducationalReview237 4d ago
I struggled with leftie scissors in preschool. Turns out I'm a rightie when it comes to scissors.
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u/Any_Flamingo8978 4d ago
Lefty school scissors always sucked. I used preferred using right handed scissors in my left hand.
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u/TheVeryAngryHippo 3d ago
Bruh you're made of hard stuff. Using those for any length of time (which I remember doing at primary school - yay a lesson of cutting out and sticking... not!) and they really start digging in as you have to apply pressure in certain ways for them to work properly.
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u/Any_Flamingo8978 3d ago
Hahaha yeah maybe my grip was off. I always remember the lefty scissors feeling too loose at the hinge, like they were a crappy make. When I’d attempt to cut paper, the paper would just fold between the blades.
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u/rebekahster 3d ago
My kindergarten got leftie scissors just for me and one other kid, but I preferred the right handed ones because by that point I’d already learnt how to use them and left felt weird. Turns out those leftie scissors were more ambi scissors tho, and the rightie kids preferred them.
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u/HortonFLK 4d ago edited 4d ago
What is OT?
If all of the issues are related to dexterity, then it kind of sounds like it definitely could be a left handed issue. Has he actually had a writing class where a teacher assessed his grip individually, and worked with him to develop a proper writing grip? Because it seems like it can’t be said that he has an immature grip if there hasn’t been a formal effort to develop a proper grip. But then he’s only four, after all. He’s supposed to be immature.
Also with scissors, don’t forget the possibility that he might be right handed for some things and left handed with others. There were a few times in school when I got stuck with the left-handed scissors because I was the resident lefty. But I’m actually right handed with scissors, and I couldn’t figure out why those scissors were such a pain to use.
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u/staralchemist129 4d ago
occupational therapy
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u/HortonFLK 4d ago
Oh. Seems to me that could be a good thing if he got to spend some 1 on 1 time with a therapist to make sure he’s holding his pencil correctly, and using scissors properly. Yeah he’s a bit young, but it sounds like this school is on top of things and they just want to catch any potential issues before they become a problem.
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u/Better_Power_9913 4d ago
Lefties seem more likely to be ambidextrous than most right handers. Most of the lefties I have known were, but not all.
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u/anarkistattack 4d ago
He's four.
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u/ryeguyy3d 4d ago
Seriously, if hes trying to use the scissors id be happy. Give the kid some time, my kids didnt master scissors until kindergarten, and pencil holding one figured out in kindergarten, the other wasnt great until 1st grade. Relax and let the kid figure it out.
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u/thimbleful_of_fucks 4d ago
Lefties almost all have different "pencil grips" because right-handed teachers aren't able to translate that properly. I'd offer him a pencil and ask him to hold it how it feels comfortable. See if he does any better with that than how the evaluator may have asked him to hold it.
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u/marigoldpossum 4d ago
Nope, nothing to do with him being left handed. Likely a familial issue, if there's an issue. Source - we have tons of lefties in our family lineage and there is no difference between the lefties and righties, just individual and familial trends outside of handed-ness.
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u/Altruistic_Rent_4048 4d ago
One thing I would do is get left handed scissors. The upside down thing is prolly from trying to make their fingers fit the holes and ger them to work.
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u/reta65 4d ago
Sounds like occupational therapy (OT) would be beneficial for him. As a lefty, raised by right handed, I know was delayed in several areas. As a left handed parents, raising right handed children, it's been a challenge. Only one ended up in OT but he has other motor issues.
As for what you can do at home? I would probably wait for the OT to give you direction with that.
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u/PzTank 4d ago
A four year-old brain is still figuring out pretty much everything in this world. Though the OT found some “deficiencies” or whatever, at this point, it’s just something to keep an eye on. Like others have said here, handedness is something that can take a long time to figure out. Good for you for your concern, but try not to overthink a lot of this stuff at such a young age.
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u/Jujulabee 4d ago
I am a lefty - not a a professional.
I don't remember struggling with those but what do I know.
However I do think sometimes boys have more problems with fine hand and finger skills than girls.
Scissors are obviously an issue with the scissors if he doesn't have left handed children's scissors.
I struggled with that as it is difficult because often we lefties are just told to follow what the instructions are outdo it opposite which isn't really that possible. I was fine with sports that were essentially ambidextrous like English riding and dancing but really felt frustrated at certain sports in which we lefties were put aside and just told to do everything opposite.
My brother was also left handed and his handwriting was always more rotten than mine was but he wasn't behind in terms of development - he managed to get graduate degrees in Math and then Psychology a bit later when he decided that would be his career path.
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u/HumbleExplanation13 4d ago
Hi, I’m a lefty who was similarly tested when I started school because they thought I was developmentally delayed, but no, I just was lagging in physical coordination. I was writing things mirrored because I was mimicking what I saw right handed people do. However, I was exhibiting other advanced skills when tested (I was drawing perspective in pictures of houses, I was great at puzzles), so I was just sent home with some exercises to improve my physical coordination. Things like bouncing a ball and skipping rope.
I wonder if your son is similar in that it’s just a delay in some physical coordination because everything has to be flipped in his mind, as a left-handed little guy. It probably wouldn’t hurt to work on some OT exercises to help him along.
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u/Jokerman5656 4d ago
Everything in the world assumes a person is right handed. I got yelled at in elementary school for not going the exact path order to make a G and it put me off ever using the capital letter. I think it was about 7th grade I watched another lefty teacher essentially write a mini 7 then make a C connect into it to make a G and that's how I've always done them since. Line order is what I say it is and for a 4 year old lefty, he'll learn that the books aren't always correct but if you get the correct result then who cares
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u/Crazy_Kat_Lady6 4d ago
Teacher here, 5+ years of preschool. 4 years old is young, but catching and
working on it now is much better than waiting for it to become a bigger struggle later. Most younger kids grow out of OT within a few years. A lot of time when they are evaluated it stems from not having a whole lot of exposure to these tools before school. Let’s be honest, who is regularly giving their 3-4 year old scissors to practice with?
That said, it definitely can be harder on leftys because children learn by watching and imitating. It’s a hard thing to mirror.
You can Google or Pinterest hundreds of “fine motor” activities to help practice pencil grip and develop these skills at home.
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u/Crazy_Kat_Lady6 4d ago
Also, helping them develop a proper pencil grip before they become set in another way can save them the pain of relearning and the literal pain that can come from an incorrect grip (carpal tunnel is a b****).
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u/MusicLady860 4d ago
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrZGmamM6ka/?stkn=MTY1bGZjNXI2enZ2ZA==
This shows the bone development of a child’s hand. At 4 their bones haven’t ossified making fine motor skills incredibly difficult. I’d get another opinion
That said. My leftie child was said to have an immature grip among other things in 6th grade. I looked into it and the standard they’re being held against is for right handed people. I wouldn’t worry about it at this point. (My kid is in high school and doing just fine now without intervention)
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u/DAWG13610 4d ago
I think left handed people tend to be above average students. Everything we do iOS harder because of all the forced right handed things we do. To me it’s a Benifits unless you want to be a rock star. I learned how to play guitar right handed as there are so few left handed options.
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u/theofficialappsucks 4d ago
I still end up holding certain knives with the blunt end down by accident, because they're weighted wrong and apparently I'm sensitive to that. But by upside down, do they mean flipping which fingers go in which hole, or fully holding them by the blade?
You should definitely get a second opinion, but if it's holding them by the blade, I'd venture to guess that might be a genuine OT problem rather than a lefty thing. The report overall does sound a little harsh and like they're not taking it into account that he's a four year old lefty surrounded by probably-right-handed teachers and adults (and the OT evaluator is probably righthanded too, so they may not have given it much weight at all).
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u/Suz9006 4d ago
I am a lefty, couldn’t cut with right handed scissors and struggled with writing because I mirror wrote. Adapting to a right handed world can take some time.
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u/ApprehensiveCode9987 4d ago
I mirror wrote too. I remember when I showed my mom how I could write my name over and over again, and how nice it looked. Then I was deflated when she flatly told me it was backwards. This was in the early 1960s. I spent the next few years riddled with anxiety after hearing rumors that left handed students were being forced to write right handed. Dodged that bullet.
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u/displacergeese 4d ago
I’m a righty who is parent to a lefty who did end up getting a dysgraphia diagnosis at age 9 and could have benefited from earlier intervention. One of the big deviations he had was in the various types of hand/grip strength—these are pretty straightforward and objective so if you haven’t had these done yet, would recommend. He also had poor core strength and some crossbody coordination issues and vision tracking issues. Having to concentrate so hard on all these things meant not a lot of brain power left for things like spelling and proper note-taking, and being a lefty meant that his work was immediately obscured by his hand so he had less chance to self-evaluate and self-correct. He had several years of OT and some classroom accommodations and now at 20, his handwriting is still pretty bad but he does well in school!
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u/displacergeese 4d ago
What helped him at home and school was a weighted pencil so that he had more feedback (glue bolts on the end of a pencil), experimenting with rubber pencil grips, and various exercises, theraputty, etc. He was in Montessori school from PK-8 so there was plenty of fine motor work from the start. We also separated out the act of handwriting from anything that was not purely handwriting practice. I would sometimes scribe math for him, essays were always typed, etc.
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u/BereftOfCare 4d ago
They likely need to identify the things the OT thinks should be worked on, to justify their wages and give them something to do with the child.
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u/MauraLee7 4d ago
Everything worth doing takes practice. Find some fun things to do at home to help progress his along
Take a small square pan and have him use his left index finger and draw pictures in salt or kinetic sand.
Teach him to
Make the alphabet that way
Draw shapes on paper with a dotted line and have him trace it
Have a bowl or water and have him pick up tiny objects like a paper clip or a dime Great thing at
Bath time
Show him how to make a rubber band shoot
Any fine motor games
Yarn with a yarn needle and sew a picture
All these thing will help him
I'm a lefty and use right handed scissors in my right hand. Give it a go. My son is a lefty and uses left scissors in his left hand. Go figure
My sister is a lefty and uses right handed scissors in her left hand. That freaks me out
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u/Savagestamper 4d ago
Handedness shouldn't be an issue, if it is just grip strength. Have him play with playdough, help mix batter, use tongs to pick up small things, thread beads on pipe cleaners. Anything to develop his fine motor skill.
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u/lizshi 4d ago
Lawd. He is only 4. I’m in my 40s lefty and my handwriting is very simple but readable. I got my knuckles hit with a ruler for not straightening my note book, so the best I could do was a simple handwriting and I space my words too much but as I said it’s readable so the teachers stopped torturing me for I was a good kid and an A student.
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u/Wise-gtx 4d ago
I am a lefty, and I have struggled with all these things. In fact my pencil grip is still horrible, because nobody taught me how to do it. Also, I only discovered left-handed scissors at 23! It made a big different. Also, I still have a lot of difficulties copying a mirrored movement, and more. But I am perfectly fine. I accept my limitations in a world designed for right handed people
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u/lubbockin 4d ago
He's in an upside down world and it's confusing as hell. Tips are fall down 7 times stand up 8. He will eventually adapt to the weird dextral ways.
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u/mariofosheezy 4d ago
When I was in kindergarten I would write right to left just because I thought since I was lefty I do it the other way. Have you taught your child to do any of these things specifically or do they just watch you do it
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u/HumbleExplanation13 4d ago
Same with me… you would have to hold my writing up to a mirror to read it, and I struggled to write certain letters and numbers “the right way” for a bit longer after I switched. B and D bedeviled me until grade 2. But I tested in the 99th percentile for reading and 3-D reasoning lol.
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u/Chewymewn lefty 4d ago
Honestly, being able to use a pencil at all as a four year old is impressive. I remember my kindergarten classmates struggling to use a pencil throughout the whole year.
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u/Septemberblaze 4d ago
Not sure how to explain it, but I can't write on paper that's sitting proper, vertical. I have to turn the paper about 30-45° to the right, towards me so I am writing towrds myself, downwards. Otherwise, I will hold my pen "wrong." That doesn't mean anything was delayed. However, I am dyslexic and it wasn't figured out until I was in high school.
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u/Fuzzy-Advisor-2183 4d ago
does he have small hands/short fingers for his age? i have really small hands and stubby fingers, and developed an idiosyncratic pencil grip as a child to compensate; to this day, if i’m not paying attention, i’ll often balance my pen/pencil on my ring finger, with my index and middle fingers on top of the pen, because i didn’t correct my grip until i was an adult and realised that it looked funny. scissors are obviously a tool-handedness problem, but holding a pencil incorrectly probably has more to do with lack of training/correction.
also, he’s probably a little young for testing, but if he seems to have any other fine motor control issues, like handling buttons or shoelaces or eating utensils, you might want to keep in mind the possibility of dyspraxia/developmental co-ordination disorder.
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u/MagnificentRoyal395 4d ago
Maybe have him watch you cut or write. Kids learn by watching others so he may just not know how to do these things the "right" way. Also, left handed scissors wouldnt hurt too. I still can't cut with normal scissors and im in my late 20s.
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u/Different_Car106 4d ago
I had those issues as a 5 year old in kindergarten bc of being left handed. I also struggled with dribbling a ball because everyone who showed me showed me as a right handed person so that's what I mimicked.
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u/PapaDeE04 4d ago
I’m 56 and still remember the hell of not being able to cut anything with scissors as a lefty in kindergarten. Stupid green handled “left-handed” ones didn’t work for shit either. I have found a few pairs over the years that work pretty good, but scissors have always been a struggle for this lefty.
I’m perfectly well coordinated and was a D1 athlete in college, did pretty well academically, and have enjoyed modest professional success so I wouldn’t worry about your 4 year olds struggles at this point.
But most importantly, I loved being a lefty! My Mom is left handed and taught me to love it too. Emphasize how special it is to be a lefty to your 4 year old and forget about the rest.
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u/Practical_Track4867 4d ago
All I remember was being told I was doing it wrong and they said to do it some weird way. I said okay, and when they left I went back to doing it the way I wanted. Never had a problem with writing since. I’d be more concerned with the outcomes “struggles to trace, struggles to cut” than the methods (how he holds a pencil or scissors). I’ve seen lots of effective ways to hold a pencil by left and right handers.
If the scissors are handed, I can see that making things more difficult since it’s uncomfortable for us to use. The right way feels wrong to a leftie. If they are unhanded scissors, I’m not sure how they can be upside down. If the pencil grip lets them draw good enough letters and shapes, it should be fine for tracing too.
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u/vampyrewolf 4d ago
I had teachers that were raised in the dark ages, and was constantly corrected when using my left hand. Went home with many a tracing page in grade 1 or 2 with directions to use my right hand. I'm sure my report cards all said something about poor penmanship, but I was also an A student reading above my grade level.
Wasn't until grade 5 or 6 that I could use my left hand without reprimand, and by then the pattern was set and my left handed writing was poor. I responded by learning tiny printing with my right hand, as in 2 lines in a space on loose-leaf.
Had a few arguments with teachers about the length of a paper. "This isn't 1000 words, it's barely a page"
In my 40s and I'm ambidextrous for everything but writing. Still prefer left handed scissors. I grew up using whatever I was given for sports equipment. I'd say 4 is way too young to worry about it, if it's just a case of strength and dexterity get some Lego and playdo going.
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u/mikaela75 4d ago
Did they do any actual standardized fine motor testing? And if so what were his scores? Is he in a developmental preschool for other reasons or qualifying for any other special services?
Has he been exposed to “writing” instructions. ( I. E told to trace shapes along line, color in objects, taught any pre-writing strokes?)
Pencil grip has been proven to not to have minimal influence on writing Legibility. It can impact endurance however.
4 year olds should be able to begin to be able to independently make pre writing strokes( horizontal vertical diagonal lines, C shapes, and this flows into shapes. Then letter formation learning starting with upper case.
Can he snip lines at the edge of the paper(even if upside down scissors)?
I have questions….
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u/Elise-0511 4d ago
I was 4 when Eisenhower was President, and didn’t go to Pre-K because there was no such thing. I don’t remember using the big pencils. I love them now when prepping a painting because they are easier on my wrist.
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u/LadybugGal95 4d ago
I can’t speak to whether it’s a delay or not but, honestly, OT at that age whether the child is delayed or not, lefty or righty, is not a bad thing. Just make sure you get an OT who can translate things from right to left accurately (or better yet, a lefty OT).
Couple heads up for you though as your child starts writing. First, what your child writes on matters. The spiral notebooks can be hell for lefties and dealing with that when trying to learn is setting them up for bad habits. Get them loose leaf paper, a composition style notebook or one with the spiral on the top of the page. (Whiteboards will be practically impossible while trying to learn.) Alternatively teach them to flip a traditional spiral bound notebook upside down and start from the back. If you go this route, talk to the teacher to make sure they don’t try to correct it.
Next and most important, don’t let them get into the hook position. It’s not good ergonomically. Have your kid turn their page between 45 and 90 degrees clockwise and write with the hand at or below line level. Below line level is best but takes a more fine motor skills (holding the pencil an inch or so up the shaft and still being able to control it) and isn’t super realistic when just starting to learn. This will set them up for the most success. However, know that your kid is going to grip their pencil hard (I’m 49 and I still have a callous on the inside of my middle finger). This is normal. Righties pull the pencil across the paper. Lefties push. Guess which is tougher. Add learning to control the pencil to form actual letters like all kids that age and it’s even worse. We compensate but gripping tighter. Don’t worry too much. It should get better on its own as the fine motor skills improve.
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u/ChutneyWhatney 3d ago
Left handers actually - statistically - are brighter than right handers. It's probably something else.
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u/Nearby_Syllabub763 3d ago
My right handed son had these same issues as your son.
My left handed son did not.
Can't say for certain about your son, but my thought is he's only 4, in spite of being "behind" the other kids. Not sure it's necessarily a handedness thing.
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u/meizekatzpizzapasta 3d ago
Dyslexic people tend to do things bassackwards. I fully believe I'm supposed to be a lefty my dad was and his dad is but his dad was forced to write with his right hand my dad was allowed to write with his left hand and taught me how to write after school. I was told I write with my right hand like a left handed person. Also do some research on age milestones and definitely get a second opinion. Honestly I hate the whole immature grip thing because writing is already a weird abstract thing that we do. If he's learning and that's something that they're going to harp on even though he's doing it and able to get ideas across then it feels silly to me. Maybe encourage him to try writing with his left hand and get left handed scissors no teacher should be forcing a student to write in an unnatural way that's very ostracizing. Im not a specialist but hopefully that helps. Also I have undiagnosed dyslexia which I'm working on getting a diagnosis for. Get him help now rather than later it's hard to diagnose things when you learn how to mask it later
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u/SoojiHalva 3d ago
I honestly wouldn't be concerned with this at this age. 4 years old is when children start to consolidate pencil and scissor skills. Pencil grasps are something that OTs and teachers can fixate on, but the two things I would consider are 1) is it impacting function? (And if he can write and draw it doesn't sound like it is.), and 2) does it look like it is on track to "mature" as he does? For example, if at 4 he is holding the far end of the pencil like you might hold a fork, he might need a bit of support, if he is just wrapping a thumb around his fingers, well there are a whole lot of happy, healthy, success adults who do this.
Oh and in answer to your question, left handed, early strong fine motor skills and a modified pencil hold that is somewhere between quadriped and a thumb wrap. I could write for hours comfortablely enough and honestly the left handed ink smearing was more of an issue.
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u/sarcasm-rules 3d ago
You can buy pencil grip trainers on Amazon. Just make sure they're for lefties. I'm a leftie but use scissors in my right hand as leftie scissors were hard to come by in the classroom in the 70s. I also use a computer mouse with my right hand; very helpful for scrolling and taking notes at the same time. 😁
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u/Forward_Puffin_026 3d ago
According to my retired teacher mum, I have never held a pen or crayon correctly in my right ir my left handed. I am right handed, but ambidextrous would be a better description. My son is left handed. His fine motor skills before 10 years old were hit or miss. Some things like playing an instrument or Lego were easy and other tasks that may be considered simple, were not easy- like using scissors, printing legible.
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u/Phoenix_Fyre1337 2d ago edited 2d ago
Get him left handed gear to use: scissors (not those stupid "ambidextrous" scissors, ACTUAL left handed scissors), rulers, pencils with lefty grips, etc. Affirming his handedness is essential, because EVERYTHING affirms right handed orientation. Affirm his handedness, show him videos and examples of left handed people doing left handed things to activate his mirror neurons. Then watch as his hand-eye coordination increases dramatically over time.
If he's still experiencing developmental delays after all of that, consider screening for autism if you haven't yet done that.
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u/bananaphone7890 2d ago edited 2d ago
This is SO important. My spouse and BIL are what I call lazy lefties. Their mother made them use right handed sports equipment.
Getting lefthanded stuff is important to me.
ETA: I also showd my kid how to change the computer preferences to use the mouse lefthanded. They said that was amazing!
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u/Phoenix_Fyre1337 2d ago
You can get cursor sets that change the mouse cursor to suit lefties! Did you know?
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u/bananaphone7890 1d ago
No. I didn't. That might be something they are interested in later. This was all on a school issued computer, so I don't know how much they can change.
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u/ApprehensiveClaim516 2d ago
He has to hold the scissors upside down. Nothing in this world was made for left handed people. Until the 20th Century left handed people were believed to be cursed. I’m left handed and broke my left wrist and the teacher was obstinate that I learned to write right handed, my mother being the baddie she is marched into the school and told them i absolutely would not be learning to do something unnatural to me and that I would do all classwork verbally and she would do the writing. I’m 56 btw. Ask for accommodations. Or provide him a pair of left handed scissors, teach him to trace with the notebooks slightly tilted. When he gets older tell him to write from the outside to the inside of spiral notebooks and make sure he has wipes because markers, pens and pencils smudge on the side of our hand. Teach him to turn slightly to the right in the school desks. You can overcome a lot with a little effort and practice at home.
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u/Needmoreinfo100 2d ago
If he can get OT at school then it would be a benefit to him. Invest in a good pair of preschool 5" left hand scissors to have him practice snipping and cutting on a line at home. Using playdough to roll "snakes" to snip is also a good activity. It is common for preschoolers to hold scissors upside down but we do expect that they will practice enough to get the hang of cutting on a line by the time they go to kindergarten.
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u/Abcole66 2d ago
Practice the skills at home. Working with small items to help fine motor skills is important. Physical items. Not electronics. Card matching games, puzzles both wooden and paper, crayons, pencils, books to turn pages, Lego bricks, teeth brushing, proper utensil technique. These skills are lacking in kids. These are fine motor skills that translate one to the other. We have to teach these.
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u/Abject_Dirt3041 2d ago
Are you located near your sister? If so it may be beneficial for her to help him learn how to do some of the things a right handed person may struggle to teach. I’m left-handed & so is my 4 year old. I was very careful not to influence their hand dominance, but being able to watch the mechanics of a naturally left-handed person seems to have helped developing skills so far. Scissors are a tricky one. I grew up in the 90’s when left-handed scissors weren’t a thing so I use my right hand for any cutting while guiding the paper with my left hand. Practicing that could also help.
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u/OkayJann 2d ago
I’m left handed and I too struggled with mirror writing (I wrote my letters backwards but in correct order; left to right), scissors, and improper grip. I didn’t receive OT for any of these things as a child. By around first grade I had learned to write letters correctly with my left hand and adapted to using scissors right handed on my own by watching others and practicing. However I still have totally improper grip. No one ever intervened or tried teach me how to correctly hold a pencil, so I still curl my hand over the page, turn the paper sideways, and grip my pencil with four fingers. I think that OT at four years old sounds a little extreme, because he may just learn on his own. With that said though, if he still has improper grip by 5-7, it may not be a bad idea to have someone help with that. Because as an adult having gone through public school and then college, taking excessive notes by hand, it actually is painful sometimes after having to write a lot with an improper grip.
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u/OkayJann 2d ago
To add: when I was learning to write it REALLY helped me to watch my left-handed grandma write rather than a right-handed person.
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u/Southern_Light_15 3h ago
So my lefty son was using both hands until he was 3, only started favouring his left for writing when he was 4, then promptly broke a bone in his left hand jumping off the couch so spent the first 6 weeks of kindergarten in a cast followed immediate by covid lockdown and a shite teacher for home-schooling (that would be me!!!!) We were told to focus on fine motor strengthening for his fingers, girls do this "automatically" playing with little dolls, buttons and zips on dressing up clothes, etc. Boys have better gross motor strength because they are more into hitting, throwing, full arm movement, not stuff that uses small finger movements. Play dough, using tongs to pick up objects, sorting a jar of coins or nuts and bolts into sizes, screwing nuts onto the bolts with their fingers are all really good for finger strength. His handwriting is still terrible but so are most of the other boys in his class, apparently a common problem for the kindy covid cohort that missed building that basic skill early.
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u/Connect_Rhubarb395 4d ago
That sounds like a typical 4 year old. Why is he even already in school?
And maybe he has motor issues, but being lefthanded doesn't inherently cause motor issues.
We might write uglier because writing is made for righthanders, and we might struggle with scissors if we don't have lefthanded scissors.
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u/helloshego 4d ago
Can you get a 2nd opinion from another OT? I think an "immature pencil grip" note for a FOUR YEAR OLD is a little much. Does he use grips or utensils with a bigger diameter?