Cross Hand Dominance – The Lefty Righty Conundrum

Why we need more sophisticated methodologies to analyze handedness in our children

By Walter Oden

Introduction

As I have started to wrap our summer of tennis camps, I have an observation about children.  The younger the child, the less obvious hand dominance is present.  On the other hand, there are some markers.  Why do we care?  Don’t children naturally gravitate to their genetic handedness?  Parents are often very sensitive to their child using the “correct” hand. My goal is to present some theory to help you understand handedness.

The Premise

I will argue that all human beings fall on a continuum of hand dominance.  Many of you know my obsession with brain dominance theory.  This premise is not that different. There are actually (2) handedness graphs for every person.  There will be one for FINE MOTOR skills and one for GROSS MOTOR skills.

| Left Handed —————— Gross Motor Skills ———————- Right Handed|

 | Left Handed ——————- Fine Motor Skills ———————– Right Handed|

 Throughout this article, we will firm up our evidence for this hypothesis.

The Signs

The best examples of our hand dominance confusion come straight from professional sports.  We will tell stories of handedness from Baseball, Golf & Tennis.

Maria Sharapova

The hard court season in tennis is in full swing.  Memories of Wimbledon & The French Open have long passed.  Yet, I started writing this article during the French Open!  So a little memory lane is needed.

The French Women’s Final had a Romanian newcomer Simona Halep. Her opponent was the veteran Russian Maria Sharapova.  Maria was serving at 4-3 in the third set.  Then, the double fault.  It was her 12th of the match.  For you non tennis players, that is essentially giving up (3) whole games.  Maria is a hall of fame caliber player.  So, this sheer volume in double faults is truly an enigma.  On the other hand, this has happened to Maria before!

We all know she plays tennis right handed.   Yet, her serve is a constant love hate relationship.  It is both a weapon and liability.  How can that be?  How could a world class athlete have a problem with a something as bio-mechanically natural as a serve?

Rumor has it that she is naturally a lefty.  In fact, she recently had a Facebook post playing ping pong.  Yes, she was playing lefty!  Want some evidence?  Check this video out with Ellen DeGeneres.

Maria Sharapova playing Ping Pong with Ellen

At some point, there was a decision to make her a right handed tennis player.  Clearly, it worked.  Yet, how can we get it right for other young athletes?

The Tarantula Test

We do a test with little kids.  I am shocked how often parents tell us “My child is right handed”.  Then, we lay out the premise.  “Place a tennis ball on the ground and pretend it is a giant tarantula.  The net is the rain forest.  When I say go pick up the tarantula and throw it as far as you can back into the rain forest!”  This always gets laughs.  It also gives us information.  We immediately learn what side the player THROWS a ball.  In addition, they have to use GROSS MOTOR skills to pick it up and throw it.  99% of the time, we can determine a child’s dominant throwing arm.  Every now and then, there is the 1% that seems to throw equally with both hands!  That 1% includes Luke Jensen!

The Public School Test

I am always in shock how public schools make an early determination on what hand a child should use to write.  The simplicity reminds me of how they used to cut off legs “just in case” it could go gangrene.  Their “classic” method is placing a pencil on the middle of a table.  Then they observe the child pick up the pencil.  Which ever hand they pick it up with, that is the hand they designate as their hand to write with for life!  I am not kidding either.  That is a typical preschool test.  Then, if the child is having writing problems, they simply assign them to occupational therapy.  Yes, you sense some sarcasm.  That is because there are so many reasons this methodology has a failure rate.  The major failure here is that writing is a FINE MOTOR SKILL.  Whereas, moving and grabbing have elements of GROSS MOTOR SKILLS.  Below, we will address that in even more detail

Throwing versus Writing

There are big differences in writing versus throwing.  Throwing is a BIG MUSCLE group skill set.  We call those GROSS MOTOR skills.  Anything that makes the body move as a whole is a GROSS MOTOR skill.  Running and jumping are also classified as GROSS MOTOR skills.  In tennis, forehands and backhands are in that classification as well.

A FINE MOTOR skill is generally use of the hands or feet independent of the body.  Writing is a classic FINE MOTOR SKILL.  You can also think about using the fingers independent of the body.  In tennis, a volley is often considered a FINE MOTOR skill even though you must use your body to get to the ball.

Cross Hand Dominance Defined

I invented the term to describe people that have GROSS MOTOR dominance on one side and FINE MOTOR dominance on the other side.  For example, a person might throw very well with their RIGHT HAND, but write effectively with their LEFT HAND.  I will now present a perfect example of this argument.  He is Mallorca’s own, Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal

Rafa was hitting with two hands on forehands and backhands early in his junior career.  At some point, his coach “Uncle Toni” told Rafa to “pick a hand”.  Uncle Toni recommended Rafa become a lefty for tennis.  I think we can say this experiment was a big success.  Want to see the discussion? Click on this link. It is a whole interview with Rafa and Uncle Toni on his handedness!!

Interview with Uncle Toni

Can you imagine Rafa NOT being a lefty?  Would he have even excelled?  How many athletes start with the “wrong” hand?

Phil Mickelson

Even other sports have signs of left – right hand confusion.  Phil Mickelson is a natural right hander.  Yet, he is a left handed golfer.  Thanks to my PGA Professional friend Jim Beers, I know he warms up throwing a baseball with his caddie in the parking lot!  Yes, he throws with his right hand.

Golf Technique

The technique in golf is not that different than baseball.  In fact, hand dominance issues are the same.  This is why Phil Mickelson is such and outstanding left handed golfer.  He uses his dominant RIGHT HAND to PULL the club through.

The Relationship between Golf and Tennis

In 2010, my great friend and PGA professional Jim Beers and I presented at the Midwest USPTA Convention.  Our presentation, the Relationship between Golf and Tennis, was a full technical comparison between the two sports.  One of the largest conclusions we made was that the technique of a golf shot is more of a PULL than a PUSH.  Therefore, a GROSS MOTOR skill right hander should play golf LEFTY and tennis RIGHTY

Guess who else figured that out?

Ivan Lendl was famous for winning (7) majors.  He later became famous again for coaching Andy Murray to a Wimbledon victory.  He never won Wimbledon himself.  His joke was always “I am allergic to grass”.  One year, he refused to play Wimbledon and played golf during the fortnight.  Yes, he figured out the left – right golf conundrum.

How about the endless array of hall of fame baseball players?  How many of them threw right handed, but bat left handed?

Baseball

I grew up playing more baseball than tennis.  As a young Southern California youth, I probably played baseball (7) days a week.  I picked up tennis as an add-on game.  I always batted left handed.  Or maybe I didn’t.  I remember being a huge fan of Fred Lynn.  Fred Lynn was an awesome player with the Boston Redsox.  He threw left handed and bat left handed.  So, since he batted lefty I did too.  Yet, I couldn’t throw lefty.

It turns out there are tons of Hall of Fame caliber players that threw right handed and bat left handed.  One example was the great Rod Carew.  He was a fantastic hitter.  He bat left handed, but threw right handed.  He is in that amazing 3,000/1,000 club.  He had over 3,000 hits and 1,000 RBI’s lifetime.

George Brett was one of the best hitters in that era.  I never really rooted for him since he played for the Kansas City Royals. Although, the famous charge of Billy Martin in the “Pine Tar Incident” goes down as one of my favorites!

What a hitter.  He also threw right handed and bat left handed.

So what is with all this right handed throwers batting left handed?  It is all in the technique.

In baseball, the dominant hand (like Golf described above) is actually the bottom hand.  You ever see how modern hitting technique includes letting go of the top hand?  So, the dominant GROSS MOTOR hand should be in charge!  That means that the term batting “righty” is not really accurate.  A Right handed batter is in fact using their LEFT hand much more.

The Curious Case of Alison Biltz

You know how they say teachers learn much more from their students?  Alison Biltz is a highly talented Pre Med student at Fordham University.  I met her when she was about 11.  I was teaching her mom (Beth) tennis.  Beth asked if Alison could tag along.  Alison was definitely being “pushed” to try tennis.  Seven years later, she was a STATE OF OHIO high school tennis runner-up.  Alison was always an interesting student to teach because she had so many non-traditional talents.

She would describe how she wrote.  One hand was for the chalk board and another was for pencils!  She naturally threw a ball lefty.  We made sure she played tennis lefty for the serve relationship to throwing.  On the other hand (pun intended), she had a much better backhand.  She also could play right handed with no problem.  In fact, during her senior year, she had so many injuries in her left arm (wrist, arm and shoulder) she played right handed until the post season!  Luckily, she was advanced enough academically that no one stopped her from changing hands regularly.

Some final thoughts on Tennis

As we come full circle back to tennis, I would argue that it is one of the few sports where both hands are critical.  A GROSS MOTOR right hander should play tennis right handed.  Why?  So they can serve with the hand they throw.  Yet, a player with a two handed backhand will be using a TON of their left hand in this scenario.  Two handed backhands in tennis tend to USE their TOP hand much more than GOLF and BASEBALL!

Terminology & Teaching

Is the major problem in this discussion labeling?  Should we really call a right handed batter a righty?  Here is the funny part too.  A right handed batter stands on the left side of the plate!

I think the key to success is to have knowledge.  People need knowledge in sports too.  Be careful in labeling people right handed or left handed too quickly!  Also, be careful on labels that may not describe a technique.  People are all individuals.  You can have different hands to do different things.  I might even go out on a limb.

Out on a Limb

Dominant Right Hand throwers (GROSS MOTOR SKILL) should consider playing TENNIS right handed.  On the other hand, they should also consider playing GOLF and hitting a BASEBALL left handed.  This “dangling limb” theory is based on coaching technique.

David W. Smith

My old friend from Utah is used to be most known for his writings in tennis.  On the other hand, he is currently coaching a future LPGA player!  He was the Senior Editor at the highly acclaimed TennisOne.com tennis instructional website.  He is also a national proponent of teaching a two handed forehand.  His first tennis book, TENNIS MASTERY, goes into detail on this theory.  His premise allows children to develop bilateral handedness early in their career.

Carla Hannaford

I was tipped off to a real genius in teaching.  Carla Hannaford is well known in education circles.  On the other hand, I am surprised by how many supposed “neuroscience” people have never heard of her!

Carla has written quite a few ground breaking books.

Two that are fantastic are THE DOMINANCE FACTOR and SMART MOVES.  These are not books you have to read cover to cover.  Rather, you can read sections of chapters randomly.  Her premise in the DOMINANCE FACTOR was that all human beings have a DOMINANT side, but they don’t always synchronize well.  In other words, you might have a person with a DOMINANT right arm and DOMINANT left foot.  In most circumstances, these differences don’t matter. Yet, add elements of STRESS and there can be a FAILURE rate to these differences.  I am painfully paraphrasing.  I highly recommend these books.  I am fairly certain she has not received enough “acclaim” for her work.

What we might take away

I think my biggest conclusion is that we need to develop more human beings to use:

• BOTH hands
• BOTH feet
• BOTH eyes
• BOTH ears
• And BOTH hemispheres of their BRAIN!

That means allowing our children to practice all sorts of GROSS and FINE MOTOR skills using both sides of their body.  Long term, they will gravitate towards certain dominant traits.  Yet, as pointed out with my “Cross Hand Dominance Theory”, this may allow for our children to work out all their unique differences without too much influence.

As always, I really appreciate your time and energy you took to read this!

Copyright Walter Oden, July 2014, all rights reserved.  Please review global copyright notice on sidebar on home page.

Fixed versus Growth Mindset – Missing Something?

by Walter Oden

How work ethic improves all psychology

Background:

One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump  The first time I saw this movie, I was so drawn into “rooting” for Forrest.  It seemed that with every turn, good fortune followed Forrest.  The movie implies that a “feather” touched Forrest when he was young and that provided him with the “luck” he needed to overcome his cognitive challenges.

I have a completely different take on the movie.  I have seen the movie over 10 times.  I now see Forrest as a very talented human being.  Forrest has a higher “work ethic” than all people around him.  In fact, he was physically and mentally more capable of sticking to a process than other more cognitively capable peers.  The ongoing “joke” in the movie was that Forrest just kept working and trying “not know any better”.  His hard work and determination ALONE resulted in success in spite of what he knew or believed!

What is this all about?

During the fall of 2013, I attended a presentation at Laurel School of Shaker Heights, Ohio by Dr. Lisa Damour.  She is a high profile school psychologist and specializes in learning styles.  She is a colleague of Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck.

In the last year, the theory of Fixed versus Growth Mindsets has been published and touted as a positive approach to teaching students to be their best.  Dr. Damour’s presentation was nice enough to summarize the theory as follows:

Fixed Mindset:  How you are born is what you believe is your final place in the world.  You are threatened by feedback.  You are also threatened by others that are doing better than you.

Growth Mindset:  Wherever you are born is the starting point of your journey.  Your end game is after all the work has been done.  You see feedback as a positive piece in the puzzle.  You also look to others doing better than you as a model for your work pathway.

The link below goes directly to a site that summarizes the theory:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/

A theory leap that “feels good”

The Growth Mindset Theory makes a Utopian leap in that it implies that by changing psychology from Fixed to Growth, a person will naturally be willing to work hard.  I think for some of the population this is potentially true.  Yet, that population was likely on the “bubble” as a hard worker.  I wish everyone was willing to work hard once they felt good about their prospects.  As we explore below, that situation may not fit the whole population.

The unpopular truth:

No one feels comfortable having the “Nurture versus Nature” discussion.  Yet, there are certain realities to genetics and traits.  Although no one has successfully isolated the “work gene”, I would argue it exists.  It doesn’t take a scientist to observe society and notice the difference between WORKERS and NON-WORKERS.  This trait is generally unrelated to socioeconomic conditions.  In fact, human resource studies have consistently shown that what a person is paid is unrelated to how good or bad an employee they are.  Yes, a good environment and solid upbringing helps.  Yet, we can all cite examples of people that are just darn “lazy” even if they are from solid families.  Therefore, we have to realistically rate people by their inclination to DO WORK.  This could be called a WORK INCLINATION CONTINUUM or WORK ETHIC INDEX.

I challenge you as a reader to rank your co-workers based on WORK ETHIC only.  How about the students we teach?

How to score WORK ETHIC

There are two ways of looking at this continuum.  First, how do you rate yourself?  Clearly, few people will rate themselves as LAZY.  On the other hand, you might rate yourself as a procrastinator.  Procrastination does not always equate with LOW WORK ETHIC.  It simply implies TIMING of WORK.  Yet, perpetual procrastinators will be addressed in our analysis later.

The most important observations would be how am I perceived by others?  Perception of others is an important aspect of reality.

The Work Ethic Index

A real work ethic index would be some combination a SELF rating and PERCEPTION of the PUBLIC rating.  The highest index would be someone with a LOW SELF RATING and HIGH RATING from OTHERS.  This person is always looking to work HARDER because they don’t believe they are working hard enough.

The worst rating would be where I rate myself as a HARD WORKER and others see me as a LAZY BUM!

Impact on Fixed versus Growth Mindset Theory

The “Mindset Theory” is a good one, but it may need to account for a WORK ETHIC INDEX to address certain realities.  In an effort to include it, I have created a matrix that may attempt to merge the theories.  The reason this matters is that addressing WORK ETHIC may be more important than addressing mindset!

You will note in my matrix below, you are much better off having a FIXED MINDSET and HIGH WORK ETHIC INDEX than both of the LOW WORK ETHIC INDEX quadrants.  Since I am a full time tennis professional, I make some professional tennis player references.

The Oden Mindset Matrix

Fixed Mindset/High Work Ethic Index (Upper Left Quadrant – RED)

These people just work hard.  They overcome any limitations created by their lack of belief.  Often, this person is very error averse and hates mistakes.  Yet, because of their HIGH WORK ETHIC marker, they address their belief limitations by simply “going to work every day”.  The results simply come as a result of work.

Tennis Athletes:  Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.  Steffi was well known for her love practice much more than competition!

Fixed Mindset/Low Work Ethic Index (Lower Left Quadrant – BLUE)

This person says “I can’t because of” a lot.  This person also claims to “try hard” with very little evidence of this reality.  It is generally “someone else’s fault” for their plight.

This person simply sees their situation as stuck and there is no use in trying.  Improvement is futile.  Pushing this person into the GROWTH mindset might help.  On the other hand, this plan will likely fail due to a lack of WORK ETHIC.

Growth Mindset/High Work Ethic Index (Upper Right Quadrant – GREEN)

This person is very END GAME oriented.  They see the “what if” and are willing to “get to work” to achieve this vision.  These people take mistakes in stride and see them as all a part of the “bigger picture”.  They will likely take losses and immediately get back to work!

Tennis Athletes:  Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.  Listen to their post match interviews.  You will immediately hear their approach.  They are “learning” from their losses and have BIGGER goals to achieve!

Growth Mindset/Low Work Ethic Index (Lower Right Quadrant – YELLOW)

I like to call this quadrant the DREAMER.  They like to talk about all their big plans, with little evidence of action.  This person can have some great ideas and may appear to have a GOOD ATTITUDE.  On the other hand, without an injection of good old fashioned WORK, there will never be any movement.  This person is commonly called a PROCRASTINATOR!

Conclusions:

The Growth Mindset Theory is a really POSITIVE theory for learning.  I am very drawn and committed to positive coaching as a philosophy.  On the other hand, I have strong opinions on utilizing certain realities to improve results.  Sometimes the “truth” is more powerful than a “theory”.  As a final note, writing this article is an attempt to move myself out of the GROWTH MINDSET/LOW WORK ETHIC INDEX quadrant!  At least, that is how I rate myself. Thank your so much for your time and energy reading this!

Copyright Walter Oden and “I Have and Idea”, August 2013, All Rights Reserved.  Please see global copyright information on sidebar of this blog.

 

 

 

Autism, Spectrum Disorders, ADHD and Brain Theory – PART II

A possible connection with Brain Hemisphere Theory

by Walter Oden

Introduction:

In Part II of this series, I will pose a slow developing hypothesis.  I first want to talk about Attention Deficit Disorder.  You have no idea how hard it is for me to finish these kinds of articles!  In Cleveland, Ohio there is freeway know as 480.  That freeway travels over a large valley and town known as “Valley View”.  The bridge they built is hundreds of feet high over the valley.  I was driving on the bridge one day and looked up to see a billboard.  The billboard was an advertisement for a ADD/ADHD clinic!  Can you imagine the irony of all the people reading the billboard with ADD and then driving their car off the edge of the bridge?

The Set Up

In Part I of the series, I laid out a foundation for describing some brain science.  We learned specifically about Right Brain tendencies and traits.  I have struggled with ADD/ADHD my whole life.  On the other hand, things that have been a disadvantage as a child have become an ADVANTAGE as an adult.

Some Traits Considered Common to ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) & ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder) People

 Childhood ADD Traits

• Fidgeting & Squirming when seated
• Getting up frequently to walk or run around
• Running or climbing excessively when it’s inappropriate
• Difficulty in playing quietly or engaging in quiet time
• Always “on the go”
• Talking excessively
• Not paying attention or responding to details
• Sometimes poor grades in school

Adult ADD Traits

• Perpetually late
• Trouble with Deadlines
• Risky Driving
• Distraction
• Can’t Prioritize
• Trouble starting and completing tasks
• Emotional Outbursts
• Impulsive Behavior
• Blurting out
• Hyper-focus on things found interesting
• Brain Chemicals (Neurotransmitters) less active in parts of the brain that contribute to focus
• Relationship difficulties
• Financial Management Difficulties

The first connection

Notice the messaging in these traits?  Do you see the implication of negativity?  Yet, take a closer look.  You will see that each trait implies a lack or ORDER and PROCESS.  In fact, the implication is that the ADD/ADHD individual is either unable or unwilling to apply steps to complete a task.  Based on Part I, can you see that each trait could easily be explained by Right Brain versus Left Brain dominance?

Possible Discrimination

Who do you think created the lists above?  I would argue a LEFT BRAINED team of scientists.  Left Brainers are PROUD of their ability to organize steps in a process.  In fact, some of them tend to look those that can’t as “damaged” or “limited”.

We will now enter our biggest mystery; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Common Traits in ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)

ASD Traits as described by Autism Speaks

ASD Traits as described by CDC

• Insistence on sameness
• Resistance to change
• Difficulty in expressing needs
• Uses gestures or pointing
• Repeating words or phrases in place of normal, responsive language
• Preference to being alone
• Aloof manner
• Difficulty in mixing with others
• Not wanting to cuddle or be cuddled
• Little or no eye contact
• Less responsive to traditional teaching methods
• Sustained odd play
• Spinning objects
• Obsessive attachment to objects
• Apparent OVER or UNDER sensitivity to pain
• No real fears of danger
• Noticeable physical over activity or under activity
• Uneven fine & gross motor skills
• Non responsive to verbal cues
• Acts as if deaf, although has normal hearing
• Laughing and/or crying for no apparent reason
• Showing distress for reasons not apparent to others
• Tantrums

The Second Connection

It would be very difficult to make the jump from Right Brain traits to ASD traits without the intermediate step.  That step is the ADHD link.  Your prototypical Right Brainer has tendencies, but is capable of accessing and using their Left Brain.  ADHD individuals have a little less control and allow their Right Brain to “run more wild”.  Could ASD diagnosed people simply be a more extreme state of Right Brainism?  What would that look like in terms of brain lateralization theory?

My thought is that the Right Brain has completely taken over.  Now, access to the Left Brain is much more limited.  The highly emotional and disorganized Right Brain has free reign.  Imagine all the RIGHT BRAIN traits above at their most extreme!  In fact, imagine a person without the ability to do the opposite.  Could this be the answer?

A Metaphor

Remember the Angel and Devil in the movie Animal House?  Without listing dialogue, an Angel and Devil appeared and started a fight about a characters next move.  Could we replace the Angel and Devil with a Right Brain and Left Brain?

Angel & Devil Scene (Warning! For mature audiences only!)

I claim we fight that battle every day.  In a more common brain, there is regular consensus between the two hemispheres.  Decisions get filtered by other parts of the brain.  One such part of the brain in called the Prefrontal Cortex.  This is the part of the brain that helps with decisions.

Imagine a society without any law and order.  Now imagine a brain without any process or step oriented processing.  Could that be what happens when the Right Brain completely takes over?

The Blue Flag (Red Flags don’t apply here)

Based on my argument, I would like us to consider the following spectrum:

|——————|Left Brain |Right Brain|—-|ADD/ADHD Traits|—————| ASD Traits|

Could someone with an ASD diagnosis simply be the culmination of a RIGHT BRAIN and LEFT BRAIN not working together?  If the two hemispheres of the brain stop working together, who wins?  My opinion is the more primitive and emotional Right Brain takes over.  The “inmates taking over the prison”, without a plan, might be another metaphor.

Any Other Evidence – Bazinga!

Sheldon Cooper is the loveable theoretical physicist in the hit show The Big Bang Theory.  In that show, all of his friends are constantly dealing with “Sheldonisms”.  Sheldon is famous for knocking on a person’s door and saying their name 3 times.  He is obsessed with routines and consistencies.  Yet, he is considered one of the most brilliant minds in science.  Although not talked about much, Sheldon Cooper is definitely on the Autism Spectrum.  At the same time, he is the most loveable of all the characters.  We all root for Sheldon to develop.  My wife even thinks the series will end with he and Penny falling in love!

Sheldon has some extreme traits.  His mind for science is definitely in the realm of the Right Brain.  Yet, his obsession with details could be argued to be Left Brain traits.  Sheldon is obsessed with making the “right” decision.  He is driven by how his global choices impact the rest of his life.

Was Sheldon Cooper modeled after anyone?  I think he is a combination of Sir Issac Newton and Albert Einstein.  Both of these scientific legends had many traits that would be considered ASD.  Bill Gates has similarly been linked to ASD.  Why do we care?

The Rain Man – Don’t be confused by the details!

 There is a possibility to confuse and improperly catergorize traits.  Some traits may APPEAR to be Left Brain.  Rain Man (and even the Real Rain Man) had the ability to recall and see seemingly impossible details.  In fact, the volume of details made them seem “computer-like”.  But, with further analysis, they might be in fact Right Brain.

Rain Man Official Trailer

When Dustin Hoffman saw the toothpicks lying on the floor he said there were “246”….”

Dustin Hoffman in famous toothpick scene

Was that because he could “count” them?  One amazing trait of a severe Right Brainer is that they can SEE THE WHOLE picture before they see the details.  In that picture, they can see ALL THE DETAILS that make up the whole picture.  A traditional brain would have to painstakingly count each toothpick to get to the total.  Dustin Hoffman stared at the stack of toothpicks on the floor and knew how many were there.

The Real Rain Man – Kim Peek

 Have you ever seen the Real Rain Man do the perpetual calendar?  The Right Brain sees ALL CALENDERS in a giant picture.  Then, the internal vision of the RIGHT BRAIN moves down the catalogue and can pick out a detail from that picture.

Kim Peek had an amazing ability to read two pages simultaneously.  He used is right eye for the right page and his left eye for the left page.  That is very important when discussing brain lateralization.  Kim also had very specific damage to a large bundle of nerves that connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain.  That would mean that his hemispheres could work independently of each other.  On the other hand, it also meant that his two hemispheres didn’t work well together.

Brainman – Discovery Channel

The closest we have ever been to understanding the mind of someone with ASD was when the Discovery Science Channel profiled Daniel Tammet.

Daniel went on to be known as “Brainman”.  Daniel has computer like abilities.  He can learn huge sums of data and recall them with precision.  His most obvious ability is math.  He can complete long strings of multiplication and division in his head.

Daniel became very important to science because he exhibited many skills that were limited to ASD savants.  His early childhood had many of the same challenges of someone with ASD.  Yet, his social skills developed.  That meant you could ask Daniel exactly what he was thinking when he did a calculation.  The most telling trait was that he didn’t see numbers as strict numbers.  In fact, he saw all numbers (1 to 1,000) as distinct shapes.

Somehow, he could see how all these shapes interacted with each other to create an instant awareness of ALL numbers at the same time.

Daniel is considered the highest functioning autistic person ever studied.  If you watch the documentary, you can’t help to notice all his abilities stem from seeing “The Big Picture” in everything.  Daniel Tammet has superior Right Brain talent.

A New Diagnosis – Hyper Right Brain(HRB)  or Right Brain Spectrum (RBS)

I would like to propose a brand new diagnosis for parents.  Let’s assume children and adults have tendencies.  These tendencies include traits that either resembles RIGHT BRAIN TRAITS or LEFT BRAIN TRAITS.  That means the SPECTRUM is simply a Brain Dominance Spectrum.  Therefore, there are some of us that are too close to one extreme of the Spectrum.

Those too close to the LEFT BRAIN edge would appear to be severely OCD.  They would be paralyzed by the need to process everything in a specific order.  They would have a need to overly process everything.  The process would trump any bigger goals.

The severe RIGHT BRAINER might be diagnosed ADD or even ASD.  In that case, the Right Brain might simply NOT LET the Left Brain to operate.  The Right Brain is the loudest hemisphere in the room.  The Left Brain may be trying to talk, but is drowned out by all the noise.

Could ASD’s and ADD simply be a RIGHTBRAINISM?  If that is true, could we treat it differently?  Or do we already know about treatments?  More importantly, why are there so many cases of ASD’s?  The most recent data shows that 1 in 60 children are being born on the Autism Spectrum.  We will explore those questions in PART III of this series.

Copyright Walter Oden & “I Have an Idea”

Originally copyright – September 2004

Publicly presented on multiple occasions (Videotape record available)

Article prepared for “I Have and Idea” April 10, 2014

 

Autism, Spectrum Disorders, ADHD & Brain Theory – Part I

A Possible Connection with Brain Hemisphere Theory

by Walter Oden

Introduction:

April is National Autism Awareness Month.  I was in Panera and saw the display of puzzle pieces.  As a father of a daughter that has a long term educational “fight” ahead of her, I feel for EVERY parent that is dealing with a child with challenges.

I too have challenges.  I am the quintessential ADD personality type.  I probably used to be more ADHD.  Now that I am older, the hyper activity is less prevalent!

The premise of this article series is to have us consider a theory.  This theory has not been tested.  Nor does it provide solace for each and every family that works with a child every day.  This series of articles is simply a conglomeration of observations over the last decade.

Where it all started

In 2003, I was fortunate enough to compete and win the National Seminar Contest in the United States Professional Tennis Association.  The conference was held in Hollywood, Florida that year.  My presentation was called “Right Brain versus Left Brain Dominance and its Impact on Tennis and Humanity”.  I went on to present a developed concept in Palm Springs the following year.

At the end of my presentation, I put up some slides and noted a strange correlation.  This series of articles will focus on that correlation.

Some Background on Brain Lateralization

There is some recent contention whether or not there is really a RIGHT BRAIN versus LEFT BRAIN tendency.  One study in Utah argues that there is no difference between people and their brain function.

Utah Brain Study

Yet, much like the discovery of Dark Matter we need a lot more research to eliminate all the empirical and circumstantial data that says otherwise.

In addition, even if we try to separate personality traits from brain function, we would fail.  Where do personality differences begin?  Clearly, they stem from the brain.  In addition, we know for a fact that the RIGHT and LEFT brain are responsible for different functions.  So, until those conflicts can be worked out, I will present a brief summary of brain hemisphere differences.

A Summary

Early studies comparing hemispheric differences looked at patients with severe brain traumas.  Some studies looked at patients with separations between the two hemispheres.  Damage to the RIGHT or LEFT hemisphere of the brain exhibited pretty distinct differences in their post trauma abilities.  Those early studies prompted decades of research in brain lateralization.

In simple terms, the differences between the hemispheres might be summarized as follows:

LEFT BRAIN:  Responsible for Logic, Step Oriented Activities.  Organized language is often associated with the left brain.  Imagine someone using specific steps to achieve an end goal.

RIGHT BRAIN:  Responsible for things that are Holistic.  Feeling and Emotions are often connected with the Right Brain.  Imagine someone intuitively knowing the answer to a problem and then developing steps to prove their hypothesis.  The emotion of language could stem from the Right Brain.

Dominance and Implications:

My presentation at the World Conference on Tennis in 2004 was a theory of teaching tennis.  The premise included analyzing each individual student as either RIGHT BRAIN or LEFT BRAIN dominant.  You would then use that data to steer your teaching methodologies to maximize improvement.  I have presented on this topic many times.  Over the last 10 years, it has evolved.

My overall conclusion is that you can’t escape the premise of organizing people as either LEFT BRAIN or RIGHT BRAIN dominant.  Most of society has developed over the last 1,000 years because of our ability to use our LEFT BRAIN.  The ability to follow an organized process to create society has been critical.  Yet, some of our biggest discoveries were accomplished because of a tremendous access to the RIGHT BRAIN.  Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was a “belief” and “hypothesis” before it was proved.

Brain Access Theory

The perfect human brain uses both hemispheres seamlessly.  We need both hemispheres and both hemispheres need each other.  The key is to have ACCESS to your whole brain.  I see the two hemispheres like fraternal twins.  Fraternal twins shared a womb and have the same root DNA.  On the other hand, they can be completely different people.

The ultimate goal would be able to access correct parts of the brain to solve specific problems.  If I needed to follow and organized path to get a project done, it would be nice to have great Left Brain Access.  If I needed to visualize an unconceived solution to the universe, I would need the creative function of my Right Brain.  Then, there are the connections between the left and right hemispheres.  They need to share information to operate efficiently.  Current research is studying the neural pathways that connect the two hemispheres.

Some Possible Traits Common to Right Brain People

• Random
• Intuitive
• Holistic
• Synthesizing
• Subjective
• Looks at Wholes
• Uses feeling
• Big Picture Oriented
• Imagination Rules
• Symbols & Images
• Present & Future
• Philosophy & Religion
• Can “Get it” (meaning)
• Believing
• Appreciates
• Spatial Perception
• Fantasy Based
• Presents Possibilities
• Impetuous
• Risk Taking
• Identifies Patterns
• Assigns Value
• Follows
• Daydreams and Impulses
• Imagines
• Visual and Conceptual
• Negative Emotions
• Spontaneous
• Dreamy
• Suspicious
• Random

It’s all in the Messaging!

Listing the traits as I have above can be viewed a “strength” list.  In addition, the list is not great at describing the weight of each trait  It has become almost “cool” to be described as a “Right Brainer”.  Left brainers have lost favor in the public eye.  Who wants to be known as the model accountant or actuary?  It is much cooler to be the dreamer and idea person.

Part II

In Part II of my series, I will delve into the mysteries of ADD/ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Copyright Walter Oden & “I Have an Idea”

Originally copyright – September 2004

Publicly presented on multiple occasions (Videotape record available)

Article prepared for “I Have and Idea” April 10, 2014