Salt Lake Telegram | 1931-04-16 | Page 20 | Your Baby and Mine

Your You Lab Eaby AntI And nd Nine inc nt By Myrtle Meyer Eldred The han Iett-han left handed left person is 15 Just as adept Just as lis skillful In the use of his left hand as most of or us are with our right hands His handicap becomes be be- comes such solely in the eyes of a society society society so so- that is largely right handed handed and therefore manufactures its eating utensils its play apparatus its tools tool for writing and cutting and working for right handed people If the child is really left-handed left we should be broad minded enough to see that It is something he cannot help His motor equipment is 15 th the opposite of the right handed person therefore forcing him to use the right hand handicaps him as much muchas as forcing the right handed person to constantly use the left hand lIe He can use his Ws right hand as we know but only with an effort Each motion motton must be thought about Learning does docs not so readily become aut automatic maUc TO CORRECT OR NOT A reader asks Is It due to train 1 lag inS ng or to natural traits that a child is left handed and is 15 It wise to try to correct this tendency The position of the motor centers center in the brain causes cs let left handednesS With the right handed child chUd the centers centers cen cen- are on the left side and with the thc left-handed left child the they are on the right side There would certainly beno be beno beno no children or adults J Jf 11 training had anything to to-tb to with it for the right handed right parent Just n naturally naturally nat nat- t- t offers things to the childs child's right hand and corr corrects any early tendency to use the left hand D Up to a certain age all aU babies bagles are ambi amb dextrous They tend to use hot both hands seeming equally happy witha with a toy in either hand At a later age however the child develops right- right handedness He changes the to toy from the left to the right hand Noso Not No so with the definitely left handed child chUd no matter how often a toy is 15 placed In his right hand over to th the left it goes Because this is a natural trait it 1 Is obviously an injustice to the child chUd to compel his use of the right hand What does It matter One determined deter deter- determined min mined d father wrote me of the long line of punishments he had bestowed upon his luckless left-handed left offspring off spring hoping I suppose that I would pat him on the back for his hb diligence and ingenuity Instead I thought him a petty tyrant trant entirely lacking either cither good sense or judg ment mente Why shouldn't a child chUd be allowed allowed al al- al lowed to use the left hand if it that is the most convenient of the two It ItIs Itis Itis is Just our silly conventionality which Insists that everyone must do exactly as ever everyone one else does even to spooning spoonIng spoon spoon- spooning Ing up our food In studies on stammering It was discovered and confirmed that fore fore- Ing big children to use the left hand for fine muscular movements such as asare asare asare are used in writing and cutting and sewing definitely encouraged sp speech ch defects The childs child's nervous system systems 1 s upset by use of the unnatural handI hand I urge mothers to be sensible about tills this Let the child chUd cut or hammer or write or eat with his left hand if that thatis is his preferential one Give him the ordinary training training- for right handed ness all children receive as a matter of or course and If this is not sufficient to o establish the use of the right hand stop trying Let him be left Tomorrow Tomorrow Haphazard Methods of Baby R Rearing Should Be Shelved