What do you know about being Mixed Dominant?

[TeresaSan]

My son is right handed, right legged, right eared, but LEFT eyed. I have known this for awhile, but didn't realize the full range of problems that it causes. Aside from learning issues, it apparently can cause some of the emotional type issues he deals with.

The lady who evaluated him said he needs to patch his left eye for a couple of hours a day for a couple of months and that it would help tremendously. I ordered his patch today and can't wait to see if it helps.

I have only done a little bit of research, but it seems possible that some of my son's ADHD issues could actually be from the mixed dominance.

What can you tell me about your experiences or research?

Thanks!

[Nancy F in CA]

I have not heard of this, but am going to look into it. My daughter (15) is right handed, but left for everything else. She does have significant learning disabilities, but she has come a long way!
If you have any websites, could you post them? We have worked with educational therapists who noticed but they never said anything about it, just that they noticed.

[Alice R]

I'm sure you already looked, but Diane Croft mentions this, doesn't she?

[LindainOK]

I can't answer your ADHD question, but will let you know that our newest is r.foot, r.handed, r.eye(well, her only eye :-), and LEFT ear. This is supposedly causing much of her memory trouble. If I understood our ND, she is randomly storing the info she sees/hears and therefore can't access it. Since we've been on the program (started last Sept) she has improved in this area. Her program is quite extensive since she experienced deprivation and neglect for 12 yrs. We plan to stay on program for quite a while; she has so much to learn and catch up on.

[laurie in ok]

I am mixed dominance and it hasn't caused me any problems - it may have as a child though. My dd is mixed dominance - right hand, left eye, and we are having problems with her learning. She is starting vision therapy soon, and I will ask about it.

[TeresaSan]

The evaluation he had done was done by a rep from www.littlegiantsteps.com - you can find information there...They will even send you free evaluation kits...

If you do a search for "mixed dominance and learning issues" you will find lots of places that talk about the issue...

They talked about his short term memory not being good enough and causing him a lot of frustration. I order some things to help him work on that, too.

I am not expecting it to cure his ADHD, but even if it helps some of his behavior outbursts...

[Shannon J.]

I really don't know much about mixed dominance issues, but my dd is right everything and left eyed too. She has amblyopia where her left eye simply starts taking over for her right since its easier for her brain to just use the info from the left eye rather than try to focus both at the same time. She has been patching her left eye for an hour a day (usually during tv or computer time since that is when her attention is most focused on something else). It really helped! After a year her her eyes work together now.

The opthamologist says that it is easiest to change vision problems before 8 years of age, but that they have had success in later years too as long as therapy is consistent.

[laurie in ok]

I really don't know much about mixed dominance issues, but my dd is right everything and left eyed too. She has amblyopia where her left eye simply starts taking over for her right since its easier for her brain to just use the info from the left eye rather than try to focus both at the same time. She has been patching her left eye for an hour a day (usually during tv or computer time since that is when her attention is most focused on something else). It really helped! After a year her her eyes work together now.

The opthamologist says that it is easiest to change vision problems before 8 years of age, but that they have had success in later years too as long as therapy is consistent.

Oh, man. My dd is almost 10. We are starting vision therapy in a week or so, I will ask about the taping thing. That would make me feel better about dd's computer time. :lol:

[TeresaSan]

my ds just turned 11...I think he will be fine once we get started...I will openly admit that consistency is a problem that I have...but I have been doing better...

[Shannon J.]

That would make me feel better about dd's computer time. :lol:

:yes: dd was really suprised when I started "ordering" her to have computer time! :lol:

[Shannon P]

I am mixed dominant, right handed and left eyed. It has never been an issue for me, except for shooting guns.

I am very cautious about occluding vision or hearing. Sensory deprivation, especially during childhood, can cause problems. DD has patched for amblyopia, but our optometrist does not subscribe to the mixed dominance theory.

[Alice R]

My son (the one with the severe handwriting problems) does not really show dominance. I'm wondering now if it's mixed dominance and we misslabeled it? (Is misslabel a word???)

Good questions...

[TeresaSan]

When you say he doesn't show a dominance, do you mean just in his handedness or at all?...People are supposed to have a dominant side in their hands, feet, ear, and eye...

For a quick test you can try:
To determine his eye dominance you will have to do a search for "eye dominance test" on google
To determine his ear dominance, you can ask him to listen to something that is really quiet and see what hear he holds the object up to...you can do it a couple of times to see if he is consistent...or see what ear he holds the phone up to when he is on the phone...
To determine his foot dominance, ask him to kick a pretend ball and see what foot he uses...
And normally you would know what hand they used, when you asked them to write...but if you are having issues with this, then that wouldn't be helpful...

then you can order the free testing things from the www.littlegiantstep.com website for more indepth testing...

Ideally you want all your dominant sides to be the same, when they aren't then you can have issues...It is worth looking into, though....

[Alice R]

You know it's funny. My husband is an OT and he has no training in this area at all. Like most things in life, you gotta learn it AFTER you graduate. He works with children who have autism/PDD so this is not a problem that is often addrssed with this group. So, even though my husband is an OT, this whole topic is kinda new to both of us.

Teresa, thank you for the ideas. I will check him. We might have been looking at him completely wrong. :unsure:

[Cari]

I never knew there was a name for it. I write left-handed, but do nearly everything else right-handed, and my right eye is my strongest. I just thought I was weird :lol: !

You've given me something to ponder since I have at least one child with similar tendencies...

Cari

[laurie in ok]

I write right handed - but play all sports with my left side. :unsure: Crazy!