site.btaExperts on Being Left-Handed Today and in the Past

In honour of International Lefthanders Day, which is celebrated annually on August 13, BTA spoke to two teachers and a paediatrician about being left-handed, whether it can be labelled a superpower, a disability or a part of humans' natural development. Only about 10% of all humans are left-handed.

Dr Diana Nencheva-Milichevich: There is no genetic mutation specifically associated with left-handed people

Paediatrician Dr Diana Nencheva-Milichevich told BTA that there is no clear genetic mutation that is specifically associated with left-handed people. She added that the brain's right hemisphere develops more in left-handed children. They tend to have more artistic personalities, which is why there are many famous actors, writers and artists who are left-handed. Some identical twins have been observed to be one left-handed and one right-handed. 

In ancient Egypt, lefties were considered demigods. A few millennia later, during communism, writing with the left hand was considered a vice, Nencheva-Milichevich noted. A likely reason was the drive to unify the working masses, with no one being superior or inferior to the rest.

One's dominant hand has nothing to do with a one's intelligence, only with their brain development. A child should be observed at the moments of its initial development. Around the age of two or three, the child will start using their dominant hand to draw or play with toys. There are already plenty of left-handed materials specifically made for lefties, such as pens and scissors, even scalpels and other surgical tools for left-handed doctors.

Teacher Djemile Misankova: Educators should not forcibly tell children which hand to use for writing

It is not right for teachers to forcibly tell children which hand to write with, if the brain dictates to write with the left hand, educator Djemile Misankova told BTA.

She added that she helps children to learn how to write letters by using her hand to grasp the child's hand to show them how to move it correctly. With left-handed children this is impossible because she is right-handed herself. Misankova said that in such cases she writes the letter on the child's notebook, making the child repeat the movements she has made.

The teacher said that left-handed children write beautifully, with no difference in the slant or the size of the letters compared to their right-handed peers.

Teacher Nikolina Vasileva: I have never taught a left-handed child

Vasileva told BTA that in her active years of teaching, between 1949 and 1985, she has never come across a left-handed child. She believes this was due to the fact that back then children were forced to hold pens with their right hand since kindergarten.

Vasileva herself is left-handed herself, but in her school years, she was taught to write with her right hand. She said: "I write much more slowly with my right hand, holding the pen with four fingers, which is also incorrect. I do everything else with my left hand, but at school as well as at home, I was taught to write with my right hand. This trained me to use both hands, which later proved to be very useful in my job as a primary school teacher."