Re: Corrected RSD

[SadieMoon]

By change of dominance I mean the person who was right handed and now  due to a CVA or whatever has a nonfunctional right UE, so they must learn to use the left as dominant.  Some people have more fine motor competence in theri non-dominant hand than others.  Just for fun I have attempted feeding myself and signing my name with my left and my fine motor in my left is pretty poor.  But I just try to help them over the hump as they make this transition, practicing handwriting, practicing left handed feeding, maybe using a high sided dish and non skid mat under it, and whatever else the formerly non dominant hand needs to do now.  Here is another example that comes to mind - I had another patient  with hemiplegia - very independent, she lived alone.  She came home from rehab with a button hook, and asked me how to use it.  I demonstrated, using only one hand ( my right ) and it looked like a ! piece of cake.  My patient then challenged me to demonstrate with my left, since she only had her left available to use.  I was not able to use it with only my left.  I can't remember if this had something to do with the direction my clothes button ( I think mens and womens are made differently, one is R laps over L, and vice versa) but I think it was mainly the fine motor skills.  Oh and another one from that same lady.  She needed a way to open food packages. She could not use scissors with her left hand, not even the ones made especially for left handed people.  But she could use some springy cutters I had from Pampered Chef.  I can't describe them very well, but Fiskars makes something similar.  They look a little bit  like miniature garden shears.  The handles are straight, no loops, and you squeeze them together to cut, then they open automatically by a spring mechanism.  I will try them again for anyone who needs! to cut with a non dominant. -- Jody Van Ness