How Cross Dominance Affects Performance

Most people have a preference or inclination to use one side of the body. This is called limb dominance. Below we see how cross dominance affects performance.

The side of the body that dominates is influenced by several factors, such as genetic and environmental factors. The development of dominance also happens little by little during the early years of life, when young children still don’t even know which side is right or left.

Types of dominance

We can classify limb dominance as follows:

• Homogeneous dominance. This happens when eyes, ears, hands, and feet have the same dominance, either left-handed dominance (e.g. left-handed) or right-handed dominance (right-handed). This is what is most common.
• Mixed dominance. This happens when people do certain things with one side of the body and others with the other.

• cross dominance. This is characterized by different dominance for hands, feet, eyes and hearing. For example, the dominant hand is the right hand, but the left eye is dominant. This variant can cause learning difficulties, especially when it comes to reading and writing. It is common in children with ADHD.
• Ambidextrous. This is when a person can use both sides of the body with the same ability interchangeably.

It is very important that you do not force dominance. We need to let kids figure it out for themselves. For example, if a child is forced to use a certain side that is not his dominant, his nervous system can go haywire.

How does cross dominance affect school performance?

A poorly established dominance can cause many learning disabilities in children. In fact, this usually occurs in cases where the child has dyslexia. You may notice this when your child enters primary school, especially in cases where dominance is not fully established.

Next, we’ll look at how this affects certain behaviors and what the symptoms of cross dominance are:

• They have slower reactions with few immediate reflexes to certain activities.
• Cross dominance can cause dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyslalia or dysgraphia.
• When they write, they can invert certain characters. For example, they can reverse numbers and letters, as if they were mirrored.
• This can affect self-esteem, which is often low. Often they are very aware of their mistakes.

• Children with this can generally be irritable, overreactive, inhibited and hopeless.

More on how cross dominance affects performance

• When children with cross dominance read, they generally do so very slowly with many pauses. They lack rhythm and easily get lost while reading.
• Children with this problem may have difficulty reading, math, or writing.
• They also have trouble paying attention.
• These children often feel confused.
• Sometimes they can be restless, hyperactive and have difficulty concentrating.
• They may become demotivated in class and have no interest in suggested activities.
• They often have trouble organizing themselves in space and time. They also confuse right and left and struggle with addition and subtraction.

What can you do if your child has cross dominance?

Most specialists recommend early intervention to avoid the negative effects it can have on a child’s learning. If you suspect that your child has cross dominance, you can have him or her medically examined.

Once a professional finds out what kind of dominance your child has, they will set up a series of activities and exercises for them to perform. These can help them solve any problems and create positive neurobiological tendencies.

It is therefore important to take your child to a professional if you suspect that he has cross dominance. We have already mentioned how this problem can affect children’s performance and learning. That is why it is important to intervene as soon as possible to prevent future problems.