Can you tell your left from your right?

So interesting. I’m also academically high achieving but struggle with left and right and middle timestables. I’ve just been to a conference where they were talking about cognitive load. You had to think of three numbers then add 1 to each. So for example 352, then 462 etc. the whole point was that everyone struggles with the cognitive load of remembering the ever changing numbers….i struggled more than everyone else. I get on fine in life but definitely have weird quirks

I don't have to think about it. I'm autistic too.

Goodness, yes, I couldn’t cope with this at all. I think I’d probably crouch down. (I have a PhD 😭)

No. I’m NT, not dyslexic, I’m fine with numbers. I am left-handed, but then so were both my parents, and most of my siblings, one of my sons and two of my grandkids are, and none of them ever had any trouble knowing instinctively which is which.

I wear a ring on my left-hand and either feel for, or quickly glance at, it when giving or being given directions.

I've never thought about this, but this thread has now got me thinking.

I don't think I do instinctively know. Over the years I've conditioned myself to know, by remembering: (1) which hand I write with (2) which side of the car the steering wheel is on (3) which side of the road we drive on.

That's how I remember - in a situation where I need to know left from right I think quickly about one of those things, then I know!

Thanks for this thread, I've never given this any thought but now I have!

Yes, I would have no idea what you meant.

No, not at all. Highly academic, humanities doctorate, pick up languages easily, was reading fluently long before I started school, but mathematically illiterate, poor number recall and can only remember phone numbers or car registration from their sound patterns.

It used to make it hilarious in ore- sat nav days when a similarly afflicted friend and I used to go on long road trips in her car. We just ended up pointing, because ‘right’ and ‘left’ didn’t really mean anything to either of us.

This thread explains why when cycling on a shared use path if I shout “passing on your right” 50% of people panic and run from side to side 😂

Yes I have to think about it (I usually raise one hand as if I'm going to write something, that will be my right hand so that's how I know which is right!).

I also have gaps in my times tables, and also have problems with some addition bonds (but higher level maths is fine - A level Maths & Further Maths, BSc Physics, MSc Stats).

I was diagnosed autistic as an adult.

I also find map-reading difficult (I manage it but often spend ages turning my phone around and facing different directions, and sometimes walking the wrong way for a while), remembering any sequence of instructions, and recognising faces out of context.

As a child I struggled until I worked out that my right arm was the one I couldn't do the button up on my school shirt cuff - used to ask my dad to do it.

Then I knew which was right by thinking which arm I couldn't do the sleeve up, then it became instinctive. But I still feel I know my right better than my left - left is "not right"!

I always have to stop and think about it. If I'm in the car giving directions, for example, if I open my mouth to speak without taking a beat to think, I will always say "left" when I mean right (and vice versa).

I also had trouble learning how to tell the time, which perplexed me as a child because I was academically bright.

ETA: I'm right-handed.

I am neurotypical (and in particular very much not dyslexic) but I have difficulty with this. I am also left-handed. It is a problem when giving and receiving directions whilst driving!

ETA: no problem with times tables

Not at all! But I'm hyper mobile and I think it might have something to do with proprioception.

I have to move the hand on the side before I can tell if it’s left or right. I also can’t tell which is my side of the bed- if I stay in a hotel with DH I spend a long time trying work it out and even then get it wrong half the time.

Also struggle to tell which is naturally left and right. Either need to life my hand and see the “L” with your thumb or mimic writing because I’m right handed so the right hand will do the action. Still struggle with spelling and as a PP said about ‘necessary’ I still have to use the spelling devices such as ‘one collar, two socks’ for necessary or ‘there’s always a rat in separate’. But there’s quite a few words I can’t spell and word can’t figure out what I mean so I have to put random gibberish into google can work out what the hell I mean.

I know left and right instinctively. For some reason I really struggle with east and west though.

Instinctively yes! No problem. I’m 53. But as a kid, I really struggled with left and right and time telling (clocks totally threw me). Times tables, I was a wiz at but I was taught an excellent method! We sang them in school every day and did flash cards. It was a combination of learning by rote and understanding how many times 4 fit into 20. Basic but it worked.
But after age 10, it all came to me seamlessly: time telling and right/left. I used to say ‘You write with your right’ to remind myself which side was right. My brother was a lefty so, he couldn’t use my cheat.

I was kind of gifted in some areas, slow in others. I was a violinist for 20 years starting at age 6 (couldn’t read music properly until age 13 and played by ear, which sounds great but I felt rather inept), I could ride a bike at age four (never had stabilisers, just got on and hoped for the best) and could tie my shoes at that age too. I spoke two languages at home, English and German.

I was really smart in certain areas and in others, my brain would scramble and let me down. I did very well in school overall but knew my shortcomings.

I’d probably have a diagnosis of something today but as a kid, I just sort of worked with what I had.

That's interesting about the directions.

I do instinctively know right from left and I think DH does, but sometimes with directions he will get the wrong word. If ,say, we are walking somewhere he might say "We go left at the end" when he means right. When I look surprised and say "Left! Are you sure?" I will get the eye roll and "Oh Ok, right then" in the tone of voice that implies I am just being unnecessarily nit-picking about details!

I can’t. Never will be able to. I have to do this way that way and point.

I can do up and down but I can’t do left and right. I don’t get it.

Trying to work out which paw the dog has hurt or which tyre needs fixing is hard!

Nope, it’s not instinctive at all! I usually wear a watch on my left wrist and a bracelet on my right, which helps me remember, but often I will specifically think about it and still get the wrong one. I an autistic so wondered if it was connected with that.

Not instinctively like I can tell up and down. I have to think about it and often get mixed up. I am neurodivergent (autism & ADHD). I also struggled with my 6, 7 8 and 9 times tables once they got past 5x and have never been able to recall them quickly, to work out 7x8 for example I would start with 5x8 and then add on 2x8 to get to the answer, can’t just recall from memory and so can’t recite them fluently, but I got As at GCSE, never really considered that to be an ND thing before but maybe it is.

I also struggle with getting peoples names mixed up a lot more than other people seem to, I’m a teacher and am forever calling kids by the wrong name despite knowing exactly who they are. I’m the same with friends and family and pets too, I’ll call them a name from the right ‘group’ but often the wrong one - so i’d never call a child at school one of my nephews names or a family member the name of a friend, but I’ll get my nephews names mixed up and the kids in my classes names mixed up all the time. It’s like when my brain can’t think of the name fast enough it just reaches into the bag in my head called ‘students’ or ‘nephews’ and grabs out any old one.