polymathpoolplayer wrote:
I am ambidextrous, being an accomplished pianist who started at the age of 3. I started as a rightie.
I can't thread a needle left-handed but can do just about anything else.
While I have not seen any studies on this subject I believe it probable that more people on the spectrum are either left-handed or ambidextrous than the population as a whole.
Thanks for your assistance and for your interesting anecdotes!
---
Most persons in society are right-handed.
There are lists of famous persons (including presidents) who were left-handed.
---
Yes, certain instruments such as the piano/organ favor persons who are ambidextrous.
The most unusual book I have read about this topic of left, right, or ambidextrous is a How To (understand) book (1981) about ADHD Inattentive by C. Thomas Wild where he reports the effect of several FDA approved medicines on his ability to play the piano with both hands a little better (not a cure). He reports that Tirend, a FDA approved alertness aid (contains caffeine - 100 mg/14 other ingredients) temporarily made him ambidextrous vs NoDoz, a FDA approved alertness aid (contains 100 mg caffeine/7 other ingredients) which favored his right hand. He also reports that a FDA approved anti-motion medicine, Bonine, allowed him to temporarily sense the center of his body/improve body balance which is needed to skip rope in a gym or to sail a sailboat on San Francisco Bay. None of the medicines (Tirend, NoDoz, Bonine) are cures. His How To book about ADHD directly addresses such ideas as body balance, crossing the midline of the body, gross and fine motor control, hyperactivity, normal activity, hypoactivity and so on. He also discussed other medicines such as Ritalin and Dilantin.
Words
Body balance
Gross and fine motor control
Crossing the midline of the body
Hyperactivity (Hyperkinesis)
Normal activity (Normal kinesis)
Hypoactivity (Hypokinesis)
Dyspraxia
Apraxia
Corpus callosum
Lateralization of the brain
Reticular formation
Cerebellum
and so on