Left-handed people could be at higher risk for some neurological disorders: study

Amanda Harpell-Franz, mother of a 7-year-old boy with autism, shares how the boy's service dog, Kalvin, has helped him socially and emotionally. Left-handedness and certain neurological disorders could go hand-in-hand, a new study revealed, though the researchers and others acknowledged potential limitations. While about 10% of people in the world are left-handed, people with autism are 3.5 times more likely to have the trait, according to an international team of researchers that analyzed data from over 200,000 individuals. The study, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, indicated that left- and mixed-handedness also appear more often in people who have diagnoses such as schizophrenia, autism and intellectual disability. Mixed-handedness refers to a situation in which people may use their left hand for a certain task and their right hand for others, according to psychology experts.