Learning Difficulties = Information storage and retrieval issue in the brain
Hemisphere control in the brain
The brain is naturally divided into right and left hemispheres. The left side of the brain predominantly controls the right side of the body and the right side of the brain predominantly controls the left side of the body. So, neurologically, the right side of the brain controls the left eye, ear, hand, and foot and conversely, the left side of the brain controls the right eye, ear, hand and foot. In the right-handed person, the left hemisphere of the brain is normally the dominant hemisphere containing fine motor skills functions that are usually indicated by right handed eating, writing, throwing, hair brushing, and etc. In the left-handed person, the right hemisphere will normally control the dominant left side of the body and fine motor skills.
Mixed Dominance in the brain
Neurological disorganization develops when there is mixed dominance between the dominant hemisphere of the brain and what is supposed to be the dominant eye, ear, hand or foot. Mixed dominance and neurological disorganization occurs when for instance: a child eats, throws, and writes with the right hand, kicks with the right foot, sights a telescope with the right eye, but listens and takes in information with the left ear. This child will accomplish other tasks with the dominant right side of the body but will listen to the phone with the left ear or may turn their head to the right to favor the left ear when listening intently. This mixed dominance is not limited to just the ear but can occur in the eye, ear, hand or foot in any combination.
Why Mixed Dominance is a problem
The problems caused by mixed dominance are brain disorganization and neurological processing inefficiencies.
Mixed dominance can be found at the root of many problems such as dyslexia, emotionality, slow thinking, poor judgment, poor sense of time, distractibility, poor coordination and control of motor function, academic shortfalls, stuttering, bad judge of distance, and a host of other inefficiencies of the brain.
You cannot achieve organized function in a brain that is disorganized!
The brain is partitioned into two hemispheres. These hemispheres are right and left and are tied together with a small bundle of nerves called the corpus callosum. Information is transferred between the hemispheres via the corpus callosum. One of the brain’s hemispheres will be dominant and the other subdominant.
When the brain stores information in the subdominant hemisphere that should be stored in the dominant hemisphere of the brain it then has to retrieve the information across the corpus callosum.
The solution to this dilemma is to retrain the brain to store the dominant hemisphere information in its proper place, and the subdominant information in its proper place.
Testing for eye and ear dominance:
Observe and note which hand is preferred for skilled activities like eating, writing, throwing and fine motor skills. This hand preference will normally indicate which hemisphere of the brain is the dominant hemisphere. Once you have established which hemisphere of the brain is dominant and which one is subdominant you should observe which eye and ear are dominant. The eye and the ear should follow the dominant hand. For instance, if the subject is right handed then they should be right eye and right ear dominant. If the subject is right handed then looking through a cardboard tube like a spyglass the subject should use the right eye. When pointing a finger at an object with the arm extended the right eye should lead down the arm and straight to the object.
To test for the dominant eye of the subject have them point at an object both near and far. Then have the subject close the right eye and leave the left eye open. If the object moves in the subject’s field of vision and they have to re-align the pointing finger and arm then the right eye was dominant. If the object stays still and there is no re-alignment of the pointing finger then the left eye is dominant and the subject is mixed-dominant. If the subject is right hand dominant then the right eye should be dominant. If the subject is left handed then the left eye should be dominant.
Using observation determine which ear is dominant. Which ear is used for listening to the telephone? If the subject is handed a wind-up watch and asked to listen to the ticking the subject should prefer the appropriate ear by holding the watch up to the dominant ear. If the subject is right handed then the ear preference should be the right ear also. If the subject is left handed then the left ear should be dominant.
Solutions for Mixed Dominance:
If the subject is mixed dominant in the eyes then the errant dominant eye can be simply occluded with an eye patch for several hours a day and especially during reading, math and other academic functions. For instance; if the subject is right handed but left eye dominant then patching the left eye for occlusion will allow the information to enter the right eye and thereby be properly stored in the dominant hemisphere of the brain. Conversely, if the subject is left hand dominant but right eye dominant then occluding the right eye with a patch will bring about the desired results. (It may take several weeks or even months of occluding to establish the appropriate eye dominance.)
If the subject is mixed dominant in the ears then the errant dominant ear can be simply occluded with an ear plug for several hours a day and especially during listening activities, reading, math and other academic functions. For instance; if the subject is right handed but left ear dominant then plugging the left ear for occlusion will allow the information to enter the right ear and thereby be properly stored in the dominant hemisphere of the brain. Conversely, if the subject is left hand dominant but right ear dominant then occluding the right ear with a plug will bring about the desired results. (It may take several weeks or even months of occluding to establish the appropriate eye dominance.)
Occluding the appropriate eye or ear can bring amazing academic results in short order. As you occlude the errant eye or ear function you provide specific and intense opportunity for the brain to build and establish the desired neuro-pathways. These pathways may start out like a small ant trail but the more traffic you send down the ant trail the bigger the trail becomes. So it is with the brain and with neuro-development. The more neuro signals you send to an area of the brain the bigger the connection becomes and the more efficient the information traverses the neuro- pathway. If the brain has a bigger pathway built to the wrong part of the brain as in mixed dominance than limiting the traffic on that pathway via occlusion will allow that pathway to decline while you effectively build the new pathway to the desired area of the brain by sending all the traffic in that road.
Copyright 2008, Craig Stellpflug
