Guest Speaker Series:

Hand Dominance In Children

Kavya Rath, Paediatric Occupational Therapist

Kavya Rath is an Occupational Therapist based in Bengaluru, India. Graduated from the National Institute for Locomotor Disabilities (Divyangjan), located in Kolkata and run by the Indian government's ministry of social justice and empowerment, she also holds certificates in both major depression in the population and Autism spectrum disorder from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Davis in California, respectively. Currently she is working as a paediatric occupational therapist for an ABA-based school.

Questions About a Child’s Dominant Hand

The hand that is used consistently is called the dominant/doing hand. Hand dominance is an essential part of helping your child to develop pre-writing, handwriting and fine motor skills. Children that do not have a dominant hand can have issues with handwriting, getting dressed, and fine motor functions.

• Why has my child not established hand dominance?

• Why are they switching hands?

• Is it necessary to have a dominant hand?

• What can I do to promote efficiency in hand functions?

Let’s address these concerns one by one:

Why has my child not established hand dominance? A clear hand preference is usually established between the ages of 4 to 6 years. You will notice that your child may be using one hand more to pick up items or when they are playing, they may use one hand more consistently.

Why are they switching hands? Switching hands can occur if the dominant lacks strength and/or if the child has not yet learned to cross their midline.

Is it necessary to have a dominant hand? NO! It is not necessary to have a dominant hand, DO NOT FORCE your child to use a hand or to not use one, let nature take its course, some kids grow to have mixed-hand preference where they get skilled at a specific task using one hand and another task using the other hand. Some kids are ambidextrous, meaning they are equally skilled to do things with either of their hands.

This being said, as parents, educators, and therapists we can always guide a child to develop a hand dominance.

How to Guide Children on Developing Hand Dominance

Promote the use of both hands: It is important to lessen the precedence of using the dominant and non-dominant hand for a while and allow children to freely use both hands.

Provide opportunities: Arrange a number of daily opportunities for your child to help develop their hand dominance. Performing in regular activities greatly helps children to advance their hand skills. It enables them to have a clear idea of which hand they prefer to use most of the time.

Practice bilateral tasks: Encourage your child to use both hands during bilateral tasks. For example, opening containers, scribbling, putting on clothes, doing up zippers etc.

Present objects in their midline: When giving them an object, rather than passing it to them from the side of their body, place the object directly in front of them (i.e., their midline). This allows the child to choose to pick up the object naturally with their preferred hand. When you present the object to them from the side, then younger children who have not yet established a hand preference may choose to use the hand closest to the object.

Observe which hand they use: Observe which hand your child is preferring the most to perform tasks. If they use either the right or left hand mostly and with ease, it’s the dominant hand for them.

Develop hand dominance and skill in the preferred hand: When you identify your child’s preference for one hand, it’s time to pay attention to developing the dominant and assisting roles for both hands.

Play fine motor strengthening games to promote hand strength and efficiency, for example clay activity; Play games that promotes midline crossing for example drawing the lazy 8.

Child development is a complex process, providing opportunities for learning, observing, and understanding the child, then engaging with the child goes a long way in the development of a child. As a therapist working in pediatrics, I often think of pediatric occupational therapy as a profession helping small hands do big things.

More Information on Kavya, and her other professional articles can be found by clicking on the links below:

LinkedIn Profile Page for Kavya

Links to read my other articles:

Article on Sensory Diet

Article on Sex Differences in Autism

Article on Hyper-Sensitivity in Autism

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