Directional Challenge and Young Children
I was about seven years old when I realized that I was not able to correctly identify left and right.
Even though convention says that by that age a child should be able, with some consistency, tell left from right on their own bodies, and begin applying that knowledge to the world around them, at that age, I was definitely at a loss about which side was my right and which was my left.
It did not help that earlier, I showed signs of being ambidextrous, but my mother, only seeing me using my left hand particularly to write, freaked out at the prospect of having a "baff-handed" child. (I'll explain what it means to be baff-handed later on, but you can, study ahead, by looking it up on the internet.) I was strongly encouraged to write with my right hand, so all my inclination to write with my left hand evaporated.
My foray into ambidexterity was thus thwarted. What resulted was the fact I still use my left hand mainly to do some tasks, such as throwing a ball, while writing only with my right hand, yet the doing of some tasks is equally shared between both hands.
My question is, though: When a child is trending towards the use of mainly one hand to do tasks, or, as in my case, towards ambidexterity, and that trend is stymied, what is the resultant effect on that child's ability to identify left and right, and to properly navigate?
What do you think?
The fact is, there are millions of persons the world over, whether children or adults, who cannot readily tell right from left, and there is no accommodation made for these people.
So, I have written a book about being directionally challenged. It's titled Center Brained: Why you can't tell left from right, east from west or north from south. Here's a link to it on amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3XT7HPT
As the subtitle suggests, the book gives some insights into why many of us are unable to identify our left or right, and why we cannot properly navigate, but I don't want to just stop there. I want the directionally well-oriented to understand what we experience on a daily basis; that we’re not stupid; it’s because of how our brains are wired that we act the way we do.
I especially want educators to be more attuned to the condition in their students, so that any ameliorative action they can take, will be of a greater and more sustained benefit to the children and young people they teach.
I also want the captains of industry, legislators,
scientists, educators and therapists to visit or revisit the notion of
neurodiversity, so that ample consideration can be given, and full
accommodation made, to alleviate the suffering of the directionally challenged.
I need your help. I need your voice. I need your support.
Won't you join me in this endeavor?
I hope you will.
E.P.G.
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