Should I be concerned?

My son is only 4yrs old, so I am not sure I should be concerned. He started preschool in August and could not right anything. He can write his name now but he starts on the right side of the paper and writes to the right. He uses both hands neither are dominant. In October I had a parent teacher conference and the teacher said not to worry about it. But I do not see an improvement. I have 3 other children and none of them ever did this. He is definitely different from any of them. Has been since he was born. Anyone have any advice on this? Thank you

I have a daughter who was born with a squashed skull because of how she was carried before being born. This caused her to have torticollis (the muscle on the left side of her neck was shorter than the other.) After a lot of arguing with my pediatrician about her skull and neck he finally referred me to a PT. The PT told me that the torticollis would cause my daughter to be left sided unless we forced her to use the right side of her body. So I was given things to do to make her use the right side of her body. One thing I learned during all this is that kids are not supposed to be handed (as in right handed or left handed) until the age of three or even four. In fact, "they" do not want them to become handed until three or four. As it helps the developing brain to function better. To this day my now five year old daughter colors with both hands at once sometimes. Sometimes she cuts with her left hand, sometimes her right. The same for writing. I was told it is alright to use both hands for writing and cutting etc. In fact, it is a good thing. Eventually, your child will pick a hand he is more comfortable with.

As for the writing, it doesn't always come naturally. Have you ever heard of dysgraphia. My six year old son has it. He has had a very difficult time learning to write. There is a program that is not very expensive called Handwriting Without Tears (see www.hwtears.com). It is something you can do at home yourself.

Maja

My daughter with LD used to do the same things you describe. She switched hands frequently and would often write in the middle of the page or wherever she felt like writing. This year in second grade my daughter is only allowed to use her left hand during sessions with her specialist teacher since the left seems to be her dominant hand. Like the post above, I was told it's important to establish a dominant side and that the lack of one is a so-called "soft neurological sign" of a potential problem. I am not sure at what age a side should be established--four may still be young. Also, I should note my daughter was referred for OT testing, but she was found to have no problems with her fine motor skills. Her specialist said the lack of hand dominance and the trouble with margins could have just been a sign of some hemispheric confusion in the brain. I have no idea if that is correct since I am not a neurologist. All I know is that she is academically improving since she is sticking to one side. Also, like you, I have other kids who display none of the signs my LD daughter has. The fact that she seemed different was a red flag to me. However, four is still young. My daughter did outgrow some of her problems, and I think she is finally closer to be correctly diagnosed this year.

Like the above post, my son did not have a dominant side at four either. It wasn't until this year he developed a dominant side. I agree with all the others
in that you should have an OT eval.