5 Facts You May or May Not Know About Left-Handedness…

I'm a righty, or so I was led to believe for nearly 35+ years of my life... Struggling with simple things like cutting out shapes with scissors and the awkward way I hold a pen in my right hand.

An icebreaker during a university lecture made for an interesting discovery! “Write with the hand you don’t normally write with”. Advised the lecturer.

Some of my peers were surprised at how neat and fast I could write with my left hand. Suddenly I was able to hold a pen…perfectly. It no longer looked so awkward. “Ah, ambidextrous,” Said the Professor in an excited tone. Being ambidextrous became a 'handy', no pun intended skill to have during my written exams!

According to Percentage Calculator, only 1% of the population is ambidextrous, meaning they can use both hands. My mother and brother were left-handed, and my father is right-handed. So yes, it made sense logically to me that I might just be ambidextrous?

***

Discovering a secret...

BUT then I started to notice some strange things…

I brush my teeth with my left hand. I often use my left hand to hold the mouse when using a computer. I stroke the dog with my left hand.

Actually, I do most things with my left hand — I just never noticed!

I thought things couldn’t get any stranger until I noticed my habit of picking up a pen in my left hand and passing it to my right hand.

A few weeks before my mother passed away; we were talking, well, reminiscing. She reminded me how she used to draw shapes and scribbles, and I would turn them into animals and make patterns.

She asked me what hand I used. “My right?” I replied. “No”, she said, “I put the pen in your right hand.” It was not a creative, fun time after all — I was in right-hand training!

I discovered that day my gut feeling had been ‘right’ all along. My Grandparents and Mother had trained me from a very young age to be a righty.

Now when I pick up a pen and pass it to my right hand, I smile…My mum hacked my genetic code to make me more ‘socially accepted’.

***

5 ‘Handy’ facts…

1. 10% of the Worlds population are lefties

On average, around 10% of the population is left-handed, and 90% are right-handed. However, the percentage of lefties worldwide is slowly getting higher as it becomes more socially accepted. For example, being a left-handed woman in the 1600s was a reason for being burned as a witch!

2. Left Handed people are more likely to have allergies

According to a study by Norman Geschwind and Albert Galaburda (1988) entitled ‘Cerebral Dominance: The Biological Foundations”,. Left-handed people were 11 times more likely to suffer from allergies, such as asthma. Their research also found that left-handers were two-and-a-half times more likely to suffer from auto-immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis too!

3. Left-handed people are Smarter and more creative

Now, this depends on the research paper you read. There are some really good arguments for and against. However, it’s worth noting some pretty impressive people are ‘said to be’ lefties. This includes Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil Armstrong, Leonardo da Vinci, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Chaplin, Morgan Freeman, Wolfgang Mozart, and Albert Einstein.

4. Lefties are more likely to have dyslexia

A study by Gordon Millichap (1993), entitled ‘Dyslexia, Handedness, and Immune Disorders‘, found a significant collation between dyslexia and left-handedness. Interestingly I am also dyslexic!

5. There is an international left-handed day.

Left-handed, then 13th August is the day to mark in your diary!

***

© Trisha Dunbar