Recently, I have been training myself to write and do other simple things with my left hand. This spurred me to do some research into whether this was actually going to be a helpful thing to do for myself. Here is what I learned…
As we all know, people were left handed back in the middle ages and up till about the mid 20th century. The 20th century is when people started to think about trying to become ambidextrous. A man named John Jackson actually established the Ambidextral Culture Society. He thought that if everyone learned to use both sides of their brain equally it would improve society. But even still until the late 20th century, some countries made it mandatory for everyone to write with their right hand. And even now throughout the world, lefties are encouraged to switch.
Physiologically right-handed people's brains have larger left hemispheres, while naturally ambidextrous/left handed people’s brain hemispheres are almost identical. From a very early age, people’s dominant hand is apparent, and no surprise a majority of people are right-handed. So it seems that evolutionarily having a dominant side of the brain serves a function. The right side of the brain is responsible for language processing, and the left usually handles nonverbal activities. These hemispheres are not interchangeable.
Psychologically, people who are born ambidextrous are more likely to have development problems like reading disabilities and stuttering. Studies have shown that ambidextrous children are more prone to academic difficulties than either naturally left or right handed people. Those children are also at greater risk for ADHD and as adults have worse skills in math, memory retrieval, and logical thinking.
Now for those like me who are not naturally ambidextrous. According to Michael Corballis, a professor at the University of Auckland New Zealand, training yourself to be ambidextrous might interfere with the natural set up of our brain. He says that it is better to have a cooperative brain than one that is competing. But as an adult, it is unlikely that I would develop ADHD. And being truly ambidextrous is not a thing that a person can accomplish 100% when they are naturally one side dominant.
Stroke patients and amputees have taught themselves to write with their non-dominant hand, but many say that although they can do it, they have to put a lot of thought and effort into it. Maureen Lawson, a somewhat rehabilitated stroke victim who taught herself to write with her non-dominant hand, said that if she needs to write something quick she uses her dominant hand because she doesn’t have to think about it.
So for my goal to learn how to write and do simple things with my left hand, I am slightly more cautious of forcing it. I will take it slow and be careful to not mix up my brain signals, hopefully.
