Since they were born, your little miss or mister learnt to use both sides of their body in stages.
As babies, they started using both hands together when performing the same action, such as doing the 'happy baby' yoga move (grasping the left foot in their left hand and right foot in their right hand while lying on their back).
Junior then graduated to tasks that keep one hand still while the other moves, such as shaking a rattle with a single hand.
Later, they began using both hands at the same time, each doing something different like holding the teddy in one hand while the fingers on the other hand explored teddy’s facial features.
Your little one may have bilateral integration difficulties if they do any of the following:
- Appear not to have a dominant (preferred) hand
- Swap hands during tasks
- Avoid using one side of the body
- Tire quickly or become increasingly frustrated in tabletop activities
- Lean to one side when doing tabletop activities
- Show difficulty in doing tasks that require two hands (e.g. tying their shoelaces, using a knife and fork, scissor tasks, ball skills)
- Struggle with construction games (e.g. Lego), cutting tasks, threading
- Have difficulty playing musical instruments (e.g. hitting a drum with two drumsticks)
- Struggle with hopping or jumping