Can you tell your left from your right?

I absolutely do know left and right but often say the wrong word.

Au contraire!

When I was doing my psychology degree one of my lecturers was talking about people who dont have a strong left/right hand dominance and how that can mean they struggle to know left and right. Thats me. I do write with my right hand but do lots more with my left hand as dominant. I dont know my left from right instinctively

Cant stand it also when people use North and South and what not in directions either. Not a clue what direction they're talking about.

I don’t struggle with left and right, that’s instinctive to me, but every time I have to think about east and west, I have to go through the Never Eat Shredded Wheat process! Are you okay with east and west, OP? 😁

This is why I don't use sat nav. And people giving me directions have to point.

I'm catholic so I've always know my right from left as I know which hand I bless myself with 😆

When I think about my right arm or hand, I always think in terms of which hand I hold my pen in. Same with my right leg - I think of it in terms of which leg I lead with. This kind of processing always flits through my head, so it’s not automatic in the sense of being completely instinctive. Also I completely lose the plot if I have to distinguish someone else’s left and right. I find myself stupidly confused. As for following directions, I’m the queen of the magical mystery tour🤣

Takes me a few seconds to register which is which and have to turn my hands out first, yet I have a really good directional compass.

Left has an L if the thumb is at right angles
You write with your right if you are right handed
You screw righty tightly… lefty loosely

That being said I still can’t get it.🤣. When I drive I often get it wrong when listening to Waze. Passengers who are giving directions have to say my side/your side.

It is something I've had to get used to over the years.
My sister works as a surgeon. My mum used to joke that at least she would operate on the right side.

I think it is quite a common problem. I don't have a problem with the basic left hand/right hand but it comes out in other ways. I find it incredibly difficult to steer to the left or right because it is doing the opposite of what you expect. Dancing can be tricky for the same reason and it took me years to look at a photo and realise that if someone was said to be on the left of picture it was my left and not the mirror image. I am undiagnosed but am sure I have mild dyspraxia - neurodiversity runs through my family - and am incredibly mixed handed, almost to the point of being ambidextrous. It's very useful for music. When I started school, I could read, spell and do maths very quickly. I was about two years behind with my writing and found it very tiring and difficult. As I grew older, I found that every ball game (at which I was hopeless), I naturally played left handedly and I am very left footed. I asked my my mother if I was very undecided as a small child which hand l wanted to use. She replied that I probably was so "of course" they encouraged me to be right handed - this was the thinking in the sixties if a child did show a particular hand preference by a certain age. I think that if I had been allowed to wait a few more months I would have settled on my left hand. I can write with my left hand but not as well as the right and use it for many things. My mum now acknowledges me as ambidextrous rather than right handed.

I have think I write with my right. And I can’t do east and west either - I have to think WE. I get lost in new buildings, can never remember where the loos and the exits are - it’s really embarrassing. I’ve never come across anyone who struggles as much as I do.

This is very common and I know why (or at least have seen an academic explanation as to why - I haven't attempted to verify the veracity of it).

As a number of posters have commented, they had issues when learning to drive with left and right and as an ADI I can definitely confirm it is a common problem when learning.

The explanation I saw was in an instructor magazine years ago from a cognitive psychologist who said that it was a particular problem for women more than men (hence the large number of people on mumsnet who have it to some degree or other). The story went that it depends on how many cross connections there are between each side of the brain. More cross connections tended to lead to a slower processing time for left and right. As women on average have more cross connections than men, they are more likely to find it a problem.

Of course when you are driving everything is time sensitive, so any delay or difficulty in processing left and right becomes much more obvious. Some pupils will say they knew they had an issue with left and right, and some don't know until they drive.

Whether the explanation is remotely correct I don't know, but I can definitely say that in 13 years I've only had a few men struggle with left and right and a large number of women (I would estimate 25-50% have some degree of difficulty - often obvious because I see them do their thumb and forefinger on the wheel every time I give them a direction)

Aah, I can see I’ve found my people! My family all know that if I ever say the words ‘left’ or ‘right’, in any context, I mean the opposite to whichever comes out of my mouth.

It’s weird and very frustrating, because I can ‘see’ the correct action in my mind’s eye - I’m picturing the car turning right, or I know we need to go through the left hand entrance - so it’s not like I’m confused about the physical direction. But if I have to say it aloud, I’ll always say the wrong one. Every single time.

And yes, I’ve had a growing realisation throughout my 50s that there may have been some neurodivergence at play my entire life, a thought that’s only really crystallised through trying to help my ND children. It may not be the case (I might just be really crap at certain things) but when I look at the traits and impacts of particular conditions and compare them to situations in my own life, it would explain a hell of a lot!

From my experience in group fitness classes, quite a lot of people struggle with (1) knowing left from right and (2) being able to march in time to a beat.

I immediately imagine both my left and the object's left, if you see what I mean? So someone will say: "turn on the left tap" and I then think: "MY left or the tap's left?", but I know they mean my left, so I get it right, but with a moment's pause. It is not instantaneous and automatic for me.

I have some autistic traits, but no diagnosis and I can't catch a ball easily, but I have no problem with left and right. I also have a good sense of direction, like there is an invisible compass in my head and put me in a strange place and I know which way is North straight away.

I have autism and adhd and it was not knowing my left from right that flagged me for my mum to have me diagnosed xx

OP I have found my person!
bar the times tables which I was able to memeorise (I was good at that), I am left handed, suspected some kind of ND (whether that’s ASD or ADHD I’m unsure), but I have always been very aware how much I really struggle with left and right. It’s like it just doesn’t stick in my brain no matter how hard I try!

I dunno if anyone else has this as well, but sometimes I get N and D mixed up in my mind. And maybe a little bit with M and B also.

I know my left and right instinctively, I thought everyone did until I met DH! It made me smile the first few times I noticed he really had to stop and consider which way was which, and when I eventually mentioned it to him, he told me that his Dad and sister were the same! DH's Mum and bothers are both "instinctive left or right" people, but I do wonder if there's an hereditary element, as DH and I share 2DDs, one of which has the "instinct", and the other does not.

Interesting question though!

I don’t automatically know my left from right. I have to act out writing my name with a pen. My son finds it hilarious. I could never follow an aerobics or dance routine if the instructor was facing me and struggle with yoga. I also find it hard to find my way around new places.

Yes I automatically ‘know’ however my (very intelligent) husband and son both really struggle with left and right. Both are absolutely maths whizzes (which I am not), but also both have to work hard to remember spellings where I (and the other equally intelligent son) just know spellings.

One thing I found out last year was that I have aphantasia, which means I don’t have a minds eye as such, I can’t picture things, I can only see what’s in front of me. So if you asked me to describe my child I might list the things I know about him (black hair, brown eyes, brown skin, scar on cheek etc) but I can’t picture him at all so unless he’s in front of me and I’m looking at him I couldn’t give you any more detailed information. I assumed that was normal, but apparently it isn’t!

My husband is dyslexic and we wondered if his left and right issue was connected but the one boy who can’t do left and right either definitely isn’t dyslexic. I have lots of adhd traits (as does that son) but I don’t think either of us actually have adhd.

And me to the list. Of course I know my left from my right, it just takes me a few seconds to process while others know instantly. I went the wrong way in my driving test but as I indicated and went the same way, I didn’t get penalised. I also have trouble with:
East and West
Clockwise/anticlockwise
People reading numbers or letters to me - I have to visualise them before I can write them down

There is autism, ADHD and slow processing in my family but I am not diagnosed. The problems come when someone else is giving me the information. If I was to think to myself which was left and right, I’d know quicker. Maybe a mixture of slow processing and pressure