LEFT-HANDED WRITERS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3379, 20 June 1927, Page 8

LEFT-HANDED WRITERS.

SOME SCHOOL CI’RIOSiTIES

Writing right-handed and lefthanded. last ami slow, good and bad was discussed at length by the Ahumwatn branch oi the Educational Institute on Saturday during an address by lbe Education Board’s Senior Inspector, Air IS. T. Lamboiirne. It was also stated that writing and stuttering aunt hand in hand Air Lamboiirnc mentioned that re-

cently speed tests had been conducted in some oi' the schools oi the distiict, and it was interesting to note that boys of all ages wrote faster than girls, English experiments had given the billowing results: —Boys (7 years), if) letters per minute; girls of same age, ) ) • S years, 21 and IT respectively; years, 21) and 25; 10 years, 5G and H‘ years, -11 and -10; 12 years. T! and 17; R1 years, 01 and 51. .American figures which had not separated the sexes showed that pupils under seven years could average 20 letters per minute; 7 years, ;U per minute; 8 venrs, d-i letters; 0 years, -It) letteis, ,() years, 50 letters; 11 years. Cl. letters; 12 years, 79 letters; Id years, H-l letters. A satisfactory speed lor Standard 5 and 6 pupils, in Inspector Eambonrne’s opinion, would be oO to GO letters per minute. Air A. TV. TJioinjison raised Hie ‘.jnestiou ft I' left-handed writers, and Air Lamboiirnc surprised the meeting by mentioning that in his own tests the greatest number of letters in live minutes (40d) bad' been written by a girl who was left-handed. The next best bad been 570. In regard to naturally left-handed writers, the inspector added that where those pupils had boon compelleu to write right-handed, they had imaiiab.j begun to stutter. There seemed to he some connection between hand and speech. . Air do Berry staled that American investigations ‘had found the same tiling. , , Air Lamboiirne added that there were fewer left-handed girls than boys, and there was also a suspicion that lefthanded people were slightly more intelligent than the right-handed. However be thought it would he very wrong to force a child to change its hand. , . .. Mr do Berry recalled having bad a pupil who could only write upside down, and who Was regarded as a curiosity. Another member mentioned a child that not only wrote upside down, but back to front, and stuttered as well. The child’s writing hand was changed, and it then became quite normal. Air Lambourne recalled having come across pupils who through some peculiar mental kink wrote certain words backwards and others correctly.