THERE are many possible problems that pass through the minds of concerned parents when their young child shows behavioural or learning difficulties.

From dyslexia to autism, the potential worries are endless. But sometimes the solution is a lot simpler and less distressing. The child is simply left-handed.

Thankfully, the days when left-handers had their more dominant hand tied behind their back to force them to write with their right are over, but children still encounter problems.

About one in 10 youngsters are left-handed, or sinistral to use the technical word, and yet, despite their difficulties, there are very few support aids.

But, after coping with the left-handedness of their own son, now a husband and wife team from Worcester have produced a series of books which is gaining interest around the world.

The reason why this is so important is that left-handedness has been proven to lead to lack of self-esteem and stress when children find they cannot write as well as their friends.

Mark Stewart says the difficulties encountered by young left-handers often led to these more deep-seated problems.

"There are so many things they find hard," he says. "Many struggle tying their shoelaces or they find they can't use wind-up toys.

"For a young left-hander it can seem an unhelpful world. Some adapt and struggle through, but others have an awful time."

Mr Stewart is right-handed but was so moved by his son's struggle, he was inspired to write the books.

Left-handed children often display symptoms usually associated with dyslexia. Some even automatically do 'mirror-writing' because it is more natural for them to write from right to left, which, Mr Stewart says, can scare parents into thinking something is seriously wrong.

There is no firm scientific explanation why we have one dominant hand, but the most commonly accepted theory, however, is connected to speech.

Most of us use our right hands to write because we use the left side of our brains to control how we talk.

Other primates are not either right or left handed because they do not speak.

Why 10 per cent of us are left-handed is not quite so clear but foetuses being exposed to a larger than normal amount of testosterone, or stress during birth have been linked in some studies.

"There are still repercussions for children who are left-handed," says Mr Stewart.

"They have trouble handwriting which, in turn, leads to them not wanting to do their homework.

"In common with other young left-handed people, I saw my son struggle. We got him left-handed scissors and a left-handed fountain pen but it was appalling that we had to drive 120 miles away to buy them."

Mr Stewart says left-handed children often learnt to write with pencils and problems only surfaced once they picked up a pen, often around the age of eight or nine. They either write with their hand like a 'claw' or they smudge everything they have written.

But there is good news.

"It's definitely not too late by that age to change the way they write," says Mr Stewart.

The new series of books, Left Hand Writing Skills, written by Mr Stewart and his wife Heather has already received orders from Spain, Australia and Canada. For more details log on to www.robinswoodpress.com or visit Formative Fun, in Charles Street, Worcester.