Brain laterality test: do you use more of the left or right hemisphere?
In the stage that goes from the eighteen months to the six years is when the Complete cerebral laterality of the child. With this test We can check if our child is well lateralized or needs to perform some exercise to develop his dominant side.
All the tests of this stage are evaluated according to the criteria "right" (if you always use the right side in each test), "left" (if you always use the left side in each test) and "mixed" (if you ever change) . You have to ask him to do certain tasks and point out which side he does them with. Then, we will wait a few hours and we will check it again. Cerebral laterality tests will be repeated on three separate occasions with at least 4 hours, at a time, each time.
Test to know if it is well lateralized
1.- Use of the hand
We must begin by observing the use he makes of his hands: does he do everything with the left hand, with the right hand or alternate both?
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
- Write or paint
- Eat
- Throw a ball
- Knock on the door
- Brushing teeth
- Use the hammer
- Cutwith scissors
- Say goodbye"
2. Use of the foot
Now we have to examine the use of the foot.
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
- To kick a ball from a fixed point
- I raise marbles with my bare feet
- Maintains balance with one leg
- Make a circle in the air with one foot
- Jump to the lame leg
- Draw a cross on the ground
3. Use of the eye. Vision from afar
If the boy wears glasses, we can let him keep them. You have to make a small tube of paper (worth the tube of a roll of kitchen paper). We will give it to the child to look through it while holding it, with both hands, and with arms extended some distance from the face. Make sure you keep both eyes open and look out the window at a particular object. Now we will tell you to slowly bring the tube to your eyes without losing sight of the object. It will bring it close to one of the eyes. We will repeat the test twice more choosing different distant objects. We will consider each object as a different test
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
- Object 1
- Object 2
- Object 3
4. Close-up vision. Which eye do you use for each test?
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
- Look with a magnifying glass
- Look through a slit or lock
- Look through a paper with a hole
- Look inside a bottle
- Cover one eye and read with the other
5. Writing position
We will ask the child to write his name or, if he does not know how to write, draw something. We will watch him as he does so to see the position of his head. If you move your head from one side to another you are making constant visual adjustments and you will need help to develop a predominant eye.
We will now watch him face to face. If he is right-handed, his face should be slightly tilted to his left to get to see with his right eye as best he can. If you are left-handed, you should tilt your face slightly to your right, putting your left eye in a better position to see.
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
6. Reading
Let the child read aloud from a book in which approximately half of the words offer a difficulty, but the rest is easy. When we are convinced that the child is reading, more or less, half of the words easily and the other half with difficulty, we will tell him to cover one eye and another alternately.
We have to count the number of words you can read with each eye, in each of the three 3-minute periods. Then we will add the results and the eye capable of reading a greater number of words is the dominant eye. If both eyes are the same, it will be mixed.
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
7. Auditory side. Close hearing
We will put a clock under the center of the table on which the child is sitting. We will ask you to put your ear against the table to see if you can hear it. We will write down what ear he has heard.
- Move two boxes of matches to see which is fuller. What ear do you hear about?
- Listen to the heartbeat of the other. What ear do you use?
- Put your ear to a watch to see if it works
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
8. Remote hearing
- We will tell the child to approach a wall of the room to try to hear what is happening in the other room by sticking an ear to the wall.
- What side does he turn to when we call him from behind in a low voice? He will turn to the side with which he hears the most.
- Listening through a door
Write down if it is: Right-handed, Left-handed or Mixedby asking him to perform these activities.
Beatriz Bengoechea. Psychologist and Family Counselor
