title: The effects on auditory and linguistic deprivation of lateral preference of deaf children.
abstract: In the light of recent evidence for an altered pattern of cerebral specialisation among the deaf, this study compared hand and foot preference of age-matched samples of deaf and hearing children. Significantly fewer deaf children were fully right-handed and there was a small shift to the left on the handedness continuum. This shift was more marked in children with a greater hearing-loss but was not particularly related to the cause of deafness. No significant difference was found in foot preference. The variation in hand preference is thought to be a function of the differences in hemisphere specialisation found in the deaf, but other explanations are also considered.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003638:Deafness / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*