I feel annoyed !

[Zoomie]

and I am not sure if I should let it go, or complain.

My DD is 3.5y old, and started nursery (funded) at the begininng of January. At present she spends 2 sessions a week there. She is left handed.

At home she has left handed scissors and I place her on the right, so that we don't bump each other at the table etc. She has in recent months shown an interest in the computer, so after a period of letting her try the touch pad as a leftie and as a rightie, she seems to prefer the leftie way and now I always change it over for her.

However, at nursery they use a mouse and pad, and cannot or will not change it over to left-handed use for her.

When DD initially went on the computer at nursery, I asked for them to change it to left handed. They said they would have to get the IT woman in to show them how to do it.

A few weeks later, DD wanted to go on the computer again (whilst I was present) and I asked them again. They said that they couldn't because it was locked with that setting, (and I see where they are comng from because it is tied up in the 'admin control' set up of the computer so that the children do not randomly mess up the settings of the computer, but if they really wanted to change it they could find a way). They did say that DD was doing quite well 'right-handed' with the mouse.

But something in me, just wont let the matter go.

I thought that 20% of the population was thought to be LH, but have just done a google search and it comes up as 11%.

So my annoyance is why should a LH be forced to use RH equipment ? We woudn't force RH'd people / children to use LH equipment, so why should this be acceptable at nursery (or anywhere for that matter)? What about every other LH child at this school that is being discriminated against ?????????

Grrrrrrrrr

[jane5]

does she favour her left hand for everything?

My niece is left handed to write but when she is doing other things she often uses her right and kicks a football with her right foot.

If she is comfortable using her right hand for the mouse then I would let it go but if it made it difficult for her then I would kick up a fuss because this is discrimination. Try her with it right handed and then decide.

[sarah707]

It is totally unacceptable for them to refuse to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate her needs.

It's in the Equality Act 2010 and they Eyfs and every other inclusion document you can quote from.

You have every right to be very annoyed I would be too.

Ds is a leftie and things are hard enough for him already without direct discrimination like that :(

When things like that happened at his school I was straight in there politely but firmly explaining why they needed to make changes and asking them what their time frame would be.

Go for it! :group hug:

[sweets]

as a leftie myself i can see your point BUT it is a right handed world and your DD will have to get used to it,

if she is using the mouse with her right hand ok then fine but if she was struggling then i would kick up a fuss.

I remember as a child in sewing class bring made to use my right hand and ending up crying, the teacher was horrible (old) and said she would knock the left handedness out of me, it was completely wrong of course and im sure wouldnt happen today.

left handed people are a lot more adaptable than right handed and when older can do most things with either hand. i can. i never used anything specifically made for left handers, they werent around when i was younger.:laughing:

[Mouse]

Two of my sons are left handed. One uses his left hand for writing, but can use his right hand for most other things. The other son is totally left handed - writing, eating, kicking a football etc. I bought him a left handed ruler & scissors as he asked for them, but I've never got him anything else. He's a whizz on the computer and has always managed with the right hand settings.

He didn't ever have any problems at nursery or school, but if he had, I would have expected them to do what they could do help.

[Princess Sara]

As a lefty myself, I am applauded and would be making a formal complaint. Your lo shouldn't have to make do, they should be meeting her needs, not the other way around.

My ds2 is turning out to be a lefty and I have told pre-school this and would like it to be encouraged, when passing him things etc to pass to his left hand, but not changing things if he does pick a pen or something up in his right hand. (Does that make sense?) And pre-school are quite happy to do this as it's working with the parent to meet his individual needs.

I remember back at school being told to hold my pen correctly, what they meant was to hold it in my right hand. Also as a lefty it is typical to tilt your workbook or writing paper, it just makes it easier to write, and my teachers always use to walk past and straighten my work, usually while I was writing, which make me go wrong, it use to really frustrate me.

Don't let it go, it's not something small. And there's nothing wrong with being a lefty!!!

[alwaysright]

they can very easily make reasonable adjustments to help her! i am left handed and could not use the mouse right handed! thats just like telling all you right handed people to use your left hand and get used to it!! on our pc we have a cordless mouse, simple as that!! £10 problem solved!! my son is left handed as well but every one else is right handed so we are all able to use the cordless mouse by just moving it across for whoever is using it. although i do think that as a leftie it does sometimes hinder me trying to show the children how to do something so when this happens i get my husband to show them! to me i am making reasonable adjustments to help the children!!

[spowage]

im left handed too i write with my left and have leart to do most things with my right even scissors she will be fine...but the nursery dont sound like they give a monkies keep moaning at them .xx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I would write a letter to the nursery outlining your concerns and asking for the mouse to be changed. This isn't a large job and can be quickly achieved.

If you don't get a response I would speak to your local early years head as they control the purse strings and Ofsted about inclusion within the setting

[Pipsqueak]

Am in agreement... although I am RH'd my mum and sister are lefties and one of my sons seemed to use his left a lot when he was little (now predominately uses his right but sometimes uses his left).

Its overt discimination for the nursery not to be encompasing your childs needs.

[rickysmiths]

I agree with Sarah about Inclusion.

However as the mum of a lefthanded daughter and a very clearly on from the start I will say that we have bought very few left handed aids. We have left handed scissors for all things incl kitchen scissors, it is the one thing she can do right handed. She also had a left hand pencil sharpener.

I was concerned when she went into nursery in school (this was 14yrs ago) I asked about writing and was lucky because the teacher was left handed so understood.

She plays the piano, clarinet and is now teaching herself the Ukulele right handed.

She has always done things like the computer right handed and its never been a problem. I must confess I would see if at Pre School she can learn right handed because even if they say programme a mouse for left handers and the touch pad for right handers you are excluding the right handed children who are used to using a mouse so it is a very difficult one.

To be honest she will find life a great deal easier if she learnt to use the right handed mouse/ touch pad because as she goes through school, uni and into work we live in a right haned world and with the best will in the world it is not always practical to alter things especially as this could then exclude the majority. Even though we have an Equality Act it is not always practical to strictly adher to it, after all we have to live in the real world at the end of the day.

Sorry I don't mean to come accross in a harsh way, just realistic.

You may be surprised at how your dd adapts if you leave her quietly to get on with it. You will have to bear this in mind in the future as well if she wants to learn a musical instrument because not many of them are left handed nor can they be altered to be.