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Ambidextrous kids more prone to mental issues
live science via msnbc.com ^ | Jan. 25, 2010 | By Jeanna Bryner

Posted on 01/26/2010 10:57:47 AM PST by Daffynition

Children who are ambidextrous, using either hand with the same ease, may be more likely to have mental health, language and academic problems than their peers, according to a new study.

The researchers say the findings may help teachers and health professionals identify children who are particularly at risk of developing these problems.

The researchers aren't sure what is behind this link, though they suggest differences in the brain between ambidextrous individuals and those who have a dominant hand may play a role. In fact, scientists aren't sure why some people can use both hands equally well (with no dominant hand), a skill also known as mixed-handedness.

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Education; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: ambidextrous; brain; disorders; psychology
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1 posted on 01/26/2010 10:57:48 AM PST by Daffynition
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To: Daffynition

Yea lets label all the kids that are right handed but bat left landed ...Lets put them in the DSM ..we have space now that we took out homosexuality .

Maybe the parents can get SS for the kid < /sarcasm >


2 posted on 01/26/2010 11:03:22 AM PST by RnMomof7 (Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.)
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To: Daffynition

screen.abort.problem_solved/s


3 posted on 01/26/2010 11:04:50 AM PST by the invisib1e hand (denial springs eternal.)
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To: Daffynition

Darn! I was just finishing my research proving that kids with mental issues are more prone to be ambidextrous


4 posted on 01/26/2010 11:09:24 AM PST by almcbean
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To: Daffynition

I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.


5 posted on 01/26/2010 11:13:08 AM PST by 109ACS (If this be Treason, then make the most of it. Patrick Henry, May 1765)
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To: green pastures

bflr


6 posted on 01/26/2010 11:13:43 AM PST by green pastures (Cynicism-- it's not just for breakfast anymore...)
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To: Daffynition

So THAT’S been my problem all along! Who knew? ;-)


7 posted on 01/26/2010 11:15:29 AM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (I don't have a 'Cousin Pookie'.)
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To: Last Dakotan

This explains a lot.


8 posted on 01/26/2010 11:15:37 AM PST by GOP_Party_Animal
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To: Daffynition
"Left hand, right hand, it doesn't matter. I'm amphibious." - Charles Shackleford on his basketball skills
9 posted on 01/26/2010 11:16:50 AM PST by Constitution Day
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To: Daffynition

There could be something to this. I’ve often wondered how left-handed kids react to being unnaturally forced to be “right-handed”.. On the other hand, some people are simply born “ambidextrous”. When my youngest son was small he was throwing the ball back to me with equal ease and coordination with either hand. Basically, whatever hand he picked up the ball with was the one he threw with. I kept waiting for him to show a preference so I would know what kind of glove to get him, but he never did. So I flipped a coin.

Fifteen years later he still throws with both hands and has both left-handed and right-handed gloves. He seems very stable, though. (shrug)


10 posted on 01/26/2010 11:17:28 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Daffynition

I’m ambidextrose - I can eat sugar-laden snacks equally well with either hand.


11 posted on 01/26/2010 11:21:45 AM PST by Hegemony Cricket (The emperor has no pedigree.)
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To: GOP_Party_Animal

I always knew that I had a problem. But, with no drugs, I just dealt with it.


12 posted on 01/26/2010 11:21:56 AM PST by Parmy
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To: Daffynition

13 posted on 01/26/2010 11:22:52 AM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Daffynition

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP39-uqLALE


14 posted on 01/26/2010 11:23:54 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Lancey Howard
I’ve often wondered how left-handed kids react to being unnaturally forced to be “right-handed”.

We often open doors right into our faces, but other than that "we're good."

15 posted on 01/26/2010 11:30:26 AM PST by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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To: Daffynition

There are quite a few humans, myself included, that have a “balanced brain.” Meaning, that they are not very right-brained, or left-brained, but draw on both.

The advantage is the ability to see the “big picture” and the “small picture” simultaneously (It’s great for coming up with many potential ‘solutions’ to a given problem. I think it is why I do well in the computer/IT support biz.)

The disadvantage is a kind of conflict (always seeing both sides of an argument, real-time), which these scientists may view as “mental issues.”

And it does affect learning. Story problems, for example, were a source of constant frustration when I was in grade school. I didn’t have a problem coming up with many possible “solutions” based on the number of possible definitions/interpretations of the words and phrases within the problem. Others grab on to the most obvious interpretation and then the solution follows.

My teachers were perplexed because I would do so well in certain things and couldn’t finish others in “the right amount of time.”

I am ambidextrous. It’s noticed by most people when I switch the hand I mouse with at will. If one hand gets tired from mousing, I just switch to the other—freaks ‘em out sometimes.

I wish they were more careful with painting with such a big brush. I would need more information about the study, of course, but leaping to the conclusion that ambidextrous kids have mental issues is dangerous.


16 posted on 01/26/2010 11:30:30 AM PST by Boucheau
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To: Daffynition

My son is ambidextrous. Drove his kindergarten teacher nuts. He’d start at the left side of the paper with his left hand, then switch off to his right once he crossed the mid-line. Since then he seems to have settled on right hand for sports, left for writing.

My daughter is right handed, but when she first learned to write, she would write a line left to right, then go down to the next line and mirror write right to left.


17 posted on 01/26/2010 11:34:10 AM PST by Eepsy (www.pioacademy.org)
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To: Lancey Howard

That was so awesome. Everyone’s brain got tweaked on that one. Notice the smiles? A great moment.


18 posted on 01/26/2010 11:34:10 AM PST by Boucheau
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To: Boucheau

I see both sides also. I have deep rooted convictions but my mental makeup looks at both sides equally almost to a fault. I guess I should have gone to law school and sought a career as a judge. Or maybe not.


19 posted on 01/26/2010 11:40:10 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: Lancey Howard
I'm not fully ambidextrous but I can bat left handed or right handed and kick with either leg. I can't throw with my left arm or shoot a rifle left handed. The things I can do left handed are things I practiced when I was a kid.
20 posted on 01/26/2010 11:41:02 AM PST by peeps36 (Democrats Don't Need No Stinking Input From You Little People)
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