[Help a child!] Left handers - mouse use

[Moses]

Please help!

My left-handed 7-year-old daughter has started getting into using the computer at home. Until today the mouse hooked up to the computer is an adult right-handed contoured mouse. I just bought a very simple universal hand two-button mouse for her to use.

MY QUESTION(s):
Should I be putting the new mouse in her left hand and switching the buttons (i.e. - index finger button is 'select') while she is young and let her learn to use the mouse with her left hand?

Is it better to just let her use the new (easier to use) mouse in her right hand so as she grows up so she is used to the de-facto standard mouse hand?

Does anyone have any experience in this? Any thoughts? Advise? Any lefties out there?

Please help me help a little girl begin to navigate the online world.

Thanks in advance.

[Dobber]

I have a bit of knowledge here as I am right-handed but tendonitis forced me to train myself to use a left mouse about 10-12 years ago. It took about a week of forcing it and now I prefer it. Just last week I bought a contoured right mouse and am using it so I've officially switched back. (Tendonitis is gone because of exercise the last few years) I still prefer left, but I can use either one very well.
My daughter, 9, is left handed. She uses the right handed mouse fine.

I guess the moral of all this is 1. It's easy, in my experience, to train either hand and 2. lefties can use their right just fine.

[Jouko-Pouko]

I would advice all youngsters learn to use a mouse with both hands. Wrist issues are very common these days for people who work on computers (which will be most people by the time they're adults). I've had wrist issues myself as well but fought through the pain because I was too busy to learn to use a mouse with my left hand. It was probably a stupid idea but I'm a workaholic so I have bad ideas at work.

My doctor said it's actually better to use a mouse with your left hand because most keyboards have numpad on the right side which means your shoulders are too widely open when using the mouse on the right side (I also had shoulder issues). So in that sense, your child might be better off learning to use the mouse with left hand.

[Eskimo Brother]

On two separate occasions I have been forced to use a mouse with my left hand, even though I'm right handed (when I broke my collarbone, and when I tore up my right palm mountain biking).

It was a very quick adjustment I found, and I really don't see it as being something that matters a whole lot either way. She will pick it up very fast no matter how you have it adjusted. I would say it would likely get annoying for her having to switch mouse settings all the time, so maybe it makes more sense to leave it with the right handed settings on the left side of the computer. That's how I use it, with the middle finger of the left hand doing the main clicking.

[Moses]

I have a bit of knowledge here as I am right-handed but tendonitis forced me to train myself to use a left mouse about 10-12 years ago. It took about a week of forcing it and now I prefer it. Just last week I bought a contoured right mouse and am using it so I've officially switched back. (Tendonitis is gone because of exercise the last few years) I still prefer left, but I can use either one very well.
My daughter, 9, is left handed. She uses the right handed mouse fine.

I guess the moral of all this is 1. It's easy, in my experience, to train either hand and 2. lefties can use their right just fine.

Thanks Dobber. I certainly don't want to force her to be right-handed as was done in the past. She 'ain't no left-handed devil child'! LOL. Thanks for the first-hand anecdotes.

I've tried looking this question up online but the responses are a mixed bag. The answers follow this pattern.

1) let her figure it out for herself
2) make her use it RH as she is going to run into RH mice most of the time for rest of her life
3) teach RH mouse use as you get the superpower of being able to write (with LH) and use the mouse (RH) at the same time.
4) put it in LH because that is the one she is going to want to use and if you change the buttons for her she will use the tool (mouse) as it was designed to be used -- in dominate hand with dominate index finger.

[Doug Glatt]

I'm left-handed and have used a right-handed mouse my entire life. No issues. Leftys are versatile. I am certain your kid wont have any problems.

[EvanScott3]

I use both hands on my mouse and it’s awesome

[Rylant]

I am left handed. For the longest time, I just used the mouse with the right hand. It never bothered me. Now, and for some time, I have been using 2 PCs simultaneously. So, I regularly have a mouse in each hand. It did not take long to get used to.

I would say let her do what she wants. Being left handed, she, like all other southpaws out there, will adapt quickly to living in a right handed world. Also being a younger generation, I would think that she would adapt also faster than people in my generation would, being that new generations are more encouraged with that kind of thing. Also, getting used to a mouse with your non-dominant hand, is not particularly challenging.

She will be fine.

Rylant

[chuckcouples]

Shouldn't the proper techie answer to this question be*...

Teach her to use only the keyboard. There is a shortcut for everything and having both hands on the keyboard is much faster than trying to do anything with the mouse.

*I am sure I have read this somewhere but I don't know if it is true as I use the mouse in my right hand.

[B3tt3rMan]

Stick to the norm.

- Anytime they want to use another computer be it at school, work, library, or where ever they end up might as well be able to use what is set for them.
- Having the ability to use fine motor skills on both hands is a rarity, it promotes strong brain functionality and overall brain health.

Best of luck.

[Moses]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I am going to tell her it works with either hand and then give it to her and just let her figure out what to do with it.

[Loch]

As a someone who is kind of left handed (long story) I feel semi-qualified to chime in.
One advantage of the right-hand mouse is that you can write whilst using the mouse without having to pick up and put down your pen. In my office monkey life I find this useful.

I did try left handed mice in my youth but they were uncommon enough that going with the flow proved to be easier.

[SeaDawg]

As part of my job, I've been working with a computer for 8+ hours a day for over 20 years and have developed tendinitis first in my right-hand, so I switched to a left-handed mouse, and then in my left-hand, so I switched to using both a left and right-handed mouse at the same time.

Throughout the day I alternate between right and left-handed, and on days when the pain is worse in one hand, I mostly use the other.

I also use keyboard shortcuts as much as possible.

My point is that she will be fine using the left-handed mouse, but may end up switching to the right-handed at some point. Don't sweat it either way.

[lucafen4]

I'm LH'd and have always used a right handed mouse... it's not something I'd really worry about since everything is becoming touch screen anyway