Comments on: A single genetic fault makes one hand mirror the other's movements

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 02:24:11 +0000

I have had this all my life, but no one in my family has it. No one seems to know why. You can go to facebook and search Bimanual Synkinesis to connect with more people with this condition.

By: linda

linda — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:09:08 +0000

For a long time I couldn’t work out why our son, now nine and the older of twins, had both hands moving when he coloured in and brushed his teeth. If I ever said anything to him he just sat on his hand, but I could still see it moving under his leg. He has also had trouble tying his laces. The simple fact that we have always had a twin to compare him to has show us how much further behind his manual developement has been. Dont worry, it has never been a big problem for him but it has been great to find a website and a name for it.

By: eren

eren — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:07:55 +0000

I turned this mutation into the artistic talent.It’s cool when u draw a picture.So love your talent and use it.It works!

By: Krista

Krista — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:44:38 +0000

My daughter has this, I had her tested for a learning disability and the doctor said that it was linked to her learning disability. I never investigated any further because he said there was nothing we could do about it. As she has gotten older it has begun really bothering her, she is now 16 and seems to get embarrassed about it. She will sit on her left hand to keep it from moving and others from noticing. I don’t think she has ever been teased over it. She wanted a keyboard for Christmas and tried to play it unsuccessfully because of this, I think this is when she really became frustrated over it.

By: sara

sara — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:59:11 +0000

My son is 11 months old and we have just started noticing the mirror movements he dosent do it all the time thou. He also has a rare genetic disorder called klippell-feil syndrome x

By: lidia

lidia — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:49:14 +0000

I totally have this. Whatever I do with the left it affects the right and vice versa. I had asked a doctor about this and she said its not something to look down on..it can be a privilege, because it means we can be more motor advanced than others. She explained its like your brain is working double sending signals to both of the hands instead of just one. Surprisingly she guessed that I was an artist. She mentioned people that have this are usually artistically skilled or skilled with other motor type activities. So I see it as a blessing heck maybe I can train the other hand to draw at the same time .

By: KK

KK — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:38:53 +0000

Susannah and Joel,

I kind of get the same thing except in reverse. Left hand copies right, not the other way around. (I’m left-handed.)

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:53:11 +0000

3. Waltz Says:
April 30th, 2010 at 10:27 am
How do they masturbate?

I have this disorder so i guess I’m in a position to answer your question I have to clench the other hand. By doing so I gain a measure of control over it, it’s quite interesting

By: mario

mario — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:31:10 +0000

I was born this way and I always tried to find answers. It’s good that I found this website. I too could not do the monkey bars during basis training. People make fun when they see my hand move when I get change from my pocket or when I throw darts at the bar. I’m 37 and it doesn’t seem like it will ever go away.

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:39:19 +0000

Hey Lucy and others,

I know your feelings. I’ve had mirror movement (hereditary from my father’s side) since birth and the family knows to watch for it in the kids each generation. It affects me most in the hands, but “shows” itself in most left-right side body movements when I’m not thinking about it. (Yeah, the occassional odd twitches are noticable to others.) I was taken to neurologists when I was 4 at University of Michigan who were fascinated by it. It was a pain (sometimes literally like when you drop things on your foot) as a kid myself and I did have some early ed teachers who were very cruel when it took me longer to figure out how to do the same things other kids did. I took piano for 7 years, practiced like crazy typing (got up to 75 wpm), and just stubbornly kept at a task (took months to tie shoes) to develop the concentration needed to be pretty dextrous– just in my own way. (So kudos to the surgeon up commenting earlier, great job!)
Now that I’m older,and a teacher myself, I kind of find it an odd blessing. I’m VERY adaptable, a creative, independent learner, and I have loads of empathy and patience when helping kids find their own way to get a job done. I don’t think I’d be half as good a teacher without it. (So take that early-ed mean teacher Take heart folks, it’s all in how you work with it. Besides, it does make an astonishing party-classroom trick when you can write you name forward and backward at the same time.