Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-17

OF course, the left-handed child trained to
be rignt-handed is not the only whose
margin of dominance is small. At birth, no
one has it. Although many have already In
them an innate tendency toward right-handed-
left andedness, not every one does.
The young infant" Dr. Travis says, docs
not show preference for the one or the other
hand much before the seventh month. Until
this time he seems essentially ambidextrous,
reaching for articles apparently indiscriminately
with either hand
"In considering handedness one must realize
that the term includes all degrees from con-
dition of inveterate left-handedness which no
amount Of effort appears to alter, through lesser
degrees of both left and right handedness
which early training can readily change IN
either direction, to a degree of right-handed-
ness which is highly refractory to change by
training.
COME children may delay showing any pref
- srence for one hand or the other until al
most school age. few never develop any
dominance Others may have their natural
dominance interfered with by injuries to the
brain by accident or illness.
DR.. Travis was not discouraged when he
came to the conclusion that suffering was an
evidence Of a functional disorder Of the brain.
Far from it! He went right ahead and de-
veloped method for forcing the brain to work
properly
The process consists mainly of exercises to
develop that side of the brain which should be
dominant If the tests show that the sufferer
should be left-handed, his left hand goes into
training; If right-handed, his right hand re-
ceives the training
Piano playing and typewriting are banned
So also all other activities In which both
hands are used. A direct relationship has been
found between the amount of daily practice ON
the piano and the severity of suffering.
On the other hand, all games which will
develop strength and skill in the desired hand
recommended. Tennis, horseshoes, ball
pitching, punching bag have their part in
curing the speech defect when they are prac-
ticed with the desired hand.
Writing, of course, must be done with the
desired hand. But SO also must cutting the
meat at dinner, combing the hair and lacing
the shoes.
THE important thing in curing the sufferer is
somehow to make the dominant side Of the
brain control the speech mechanism.
This may seem like an impossiblity You
cannot say, Now will use the right side of
my BRAIN" and go ahead and do It, It is
much more difficult than learning to wiggle
your ears
But the psychologist has achieved just this by
training the desired hand and by the use of an
other ingenious device. He has the persQ~. :
write and speak at the same time. Writing
with the left hand is controlled by the right
side of the brain. Speech going at the
same time would naturally come under the
same control.
The person begins by copying words and
speaking them at the same time. The writing
movement is always started before the word is
pronounced. Then the words may be spoken
more rapidly and only the initial letter written.
Finally ordinary conversation is conducted In
this manner
The sufferer finds it much easier to spes1e
when he combines his speech with writing in
this manner. Gradually his speech improves
until only certain sounds give difficulty.