Mixed Dominant (Cross Dominant)
Mixed dominance is also called cross dominance. It usually means a child does not favor one side for everything. Some children have no clear favorite hand. Others favor a hand and an eye on opposite sides, like right-handed and left-eyed. The terms have no agreed meaning. Neither one is a diagnosis. In the research we hold, neither is a clear sign of a learning problem.
What is mixed dominance?
These words are used loosely. Writers do not all mean the same thing by them.
The APA’s psychology dictionary has two close terms. “Mixed laterality” means using the right side for some tasks and the left for others. “Crossed dominance” means the favored hand and eye are on opposite sides. We found no expert body that defines “mixed dominance” or “cross dominance” as such.
One review uses “mixed dominance” in a narrower way (Ferrero and colleagues, 2017). It says the term now usually means no clear favorite hand, or no clear favorite eye.
Right-handed and left-eyed: what it means
A right-handed child who favors the left eye fits the APA’s term “crossed dominance.”
But which eye counts as favored depends on the test. One study gave 40 adults two eye tests (García-Pérez and Peli, 2019). The two tests agreed for only 11 of them. The study was of adults, and we could read only its summary. A different test might name your child’s other eye.
Is mixed dominance normal in young children?
Mixed hand use is expected in young children. One review looked at how children pick a hand (Scharoun and Bryden, 2014). It says young children’s pull to one hand is often weak. They may not pick the same hand each time. Their choice gets more steady with age. We found no agreed age for it to settle.
If movement worries you, ask your child’s doctor or the school. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
What the research shows
One review pooled 26 studies of 3,578 children (Ferrero and colleagues, 2017). It compared children whose hand, eye, foot or ear did not all favor one side. The review found no reliable link with school results or intelligence.
Twenty-three of those studies looked at reading. Four found these children read worse. Two found they read better. The rest found no clear link. Most of the studies are from the 1960s and 1970s.
Mixed-handed children are a separate question. One large study in Finland followed nearly 8,000 children (Rodriguez and colleagues, 2010). About 87 of them were mixed-handed. They more often had trouble with language and school than right-handed children. Teachers, parents or the teens reported it. The study looked at the hand only, not the eye. We could read only its summary. In a press release, the lead author said most of them had no such trouble.
A link in a group is not a sign about one child.
Our longer page on mixed dominance goes through these studies in more detail.
What to do for a cross dominant child
In our view, start from the schoolwork you see, not the hand or eye.
Some programs sell exercises to set up one strong side. One review says these have never been tested in rigorous studies (Ferrero and colleagues, 2017). Its authors found no solid reason to use them. Using them in place of help for the trouble itself had even less support.
Reading improves with reading instruction. Keep any movement work alongside reading and handwriting teaching, not in place of it. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
If only the writing worries you, start with the teacher. If movement worries you, ask your child’s doctor or the school.
If your child is struggling at school
Maybe your child is struggling with reading, writing or math. Start from that, not from the hand or eye. Our free screener is a set of questions you answer about what you see at home.
- Free
- Questions about what you see at home
- Reading, writing and math
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis.
If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing, or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too — that’s the only route to those supports.
Common questions
Is cross dominance the same as mixed dominance?
Is mixed dominance a learning disability?
Should I train my child to use one hand?
Does mixed dominance go away?
Sources
APA Dictionary of Psychology: entries “mixed laterality” and “crossed dominance.” dictionary.apa.org
Scharoun & Bryden (2014). Hand preference, performance abilities, and hand selection in children. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 82.
García-Pérez & Peli (2019). Psychophysical tests do not identify ocular dominance consistently. i-Perception, 10(2).
Ferrero, West & Vadillo (2017). Is crossed laterality associated with academic achievement and intelligence? A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One, 12(8), e0183618.
Abbondanza et al. (2023). Language and reading impairments are associated with increased prevalence of non-right-handedness. Child Development, 94(4), 970–984. (Correction: doi 10.1111/cdev.14004.)
Siebner et al. (2002). Long-term consequences of switching handedness: a positron emission tomography study on handwriting in “converted” left-handers. Journal of Neuroscience, 22(7), 2816–2825.
Klöppel et al. (2007). Can left-handedness be switched? Insights from an early switch of handwriting. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(29), 7847–7853.
Rodriguez et al. (2010). Mixed-handedness is linked to mental health problems in children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 125(2), e340–e348. Press release, 25 January 2010, via ScienceDaily.