Is knowing which way is left or right as automatic as up and down?

[Dramatic]

Saw a video online about this, apparently for some people knowing their left and right is as automatic as knowing up and down. Is this you?

I struggle so much, I can be confidently saying left and pointing right or vice versa and when someone gives a direction it takes me a good few seconds to know which way they mean. Whereas if someone said up or down it would be instant.

YABU left and right are as easy as up & down
YANBU left and right takes a few more seconds to think about/I quite often get it wrong

I have asd and adhd and directional dyslexia is part of it. It is not in the least automatic for me, I have to concentrate but up and down is fine.

I find left and right pretty easy, but nothing like as automatic as up and down. The cardinal directions are another layer of difficulty, I find it fascinating that some languages just use those and don't have words for left and right. I would have to think hard to work out which was my easterly hand!

I drive, I just can't follow verbal directions, I smile and my mind goes AWOL.

I have driven for almost 20 years, you ask how people drive? Well, I need a bit of notice so I literally have to wiggle my right hand so I know it's the one I write with (weird I know!)

Under pressure or a time limit my mind literally goes blank, and like I did on my actual driving test, I will probably go the opposite way....

I instinctively know my left so the other must be right.

I know someone who is severely dyslexic and this doesn't work for him as he can't distinguish which hand resembles the capital L.

This is fascinating. It's genuinely instant to me without needing any pause for thought. Can't say it's any longer than up and down although I do see why that's more obvious. I never understood needing the whole L with fingers thing but know many use it.

I sometimes need to wiggle my hand with a writing gesture to be sure that one is 'right'. Up and down, I am absolutely certain of!

I do this but then slightly struggle to work out which is the "L" as they both look the same 😂

I’m rubbish and absolutely dread being asked for directions as I usually wave my hands around aimlessly trying to remember which is which. I even managed to turn right on my driving test when the examiner asked me to go left. Fortunately I still passed as I did the manoeuvre correctly.

It takes ages for most children to learn it because it isn’t intuitively obvious.

With up and down, gravitational force is your friend!

I find it really hard especially under pressure!

I had an L and an R written on the corresponding hand for my driving test. And now always form an L with my thumbs and fire fingers to check which is left. East and West I have no problems with. (Or up/down).

Oddly I don't struggle with left and right despite having a horrendous sense of direction/spatial awareness and absolutely no coordination.

Clockwise and anti-clockwise are also easy for some, harder for others.

Pretty instinctive for me. Honestly I attribute it to playing Twister a lot as a kid 😄 The feeling of right is almost an instant sense associated with my right hand.

There can be an additional layer of complexity compared to up or down at times eg. If I'm giving instructions to someone on right / left turns when they're coming from differing directions I just mentally put myself in that direction of travel to then talk about the turns needed, but that's pretty instantaneous too.

Whereas up or down is always just simply up or down.

My right (dominant) arm/hand is much stronger than my left. So I can feel which is right, although I don't struggle to know anyway.

If you lay both palms flat down, keep fingers together and make an L shape between the thumb and fingers, the left hand will have a proper L and the right hand will have a back to front L. Showing clearly which is your left hand.

I'm no good and need to really think about it. I hate to say it but all the men I've known seem to be far more able when it comes to left and right. I know a few women like me or worse but no men.

OK, but during the driving test and the examiner asks you to turn left or right...

I’m terrible with my lefts and rights. I have got significantly better over the last 16yrs after being a driving instructor because I gave a coping mechanism- left is the easy way, right is the harder way.

Take me out of the car though and I’m back to being clueless.

Yes, but if someone tells you to press the button for the lift that's on your left or whatever you don't have time for this.
I have to think which one I write with, but it takes too long.

You can ask them to point. And even then, going the ‘wrong’ way isn’t a problem as long as it’s safe and legal.

its not something I have to think about before saying, but then I’m wrong half the time! I can’t make my brain slow down enough to think out the right answer.

This is so interesting to me. I recently read something about 'women with autism' that made me wonder if I might be on the spectrum, though never diagnosed.

I really struggle with distinguishing left and right, I always have to think twice or even thrice. Yet my general sense of direction is actually very good. In an unknown place I can always navigate in the right direction without a map or compass. How about you?

Oh thank god I have found others like me. DH despairs of me when he asks left or right and I point and say that way. I also went the wrong way in my driving test but passed as I indicated correctly. I also do the wiggling hands thing.

I think I have slow processing - I also struggle to write down numbers and info that people have verbally said to me, takes me a bit longer to process before I can see it and write it. I did get 2 degrees so didn't impact me too much, but people probably think I'm a bit stupid not knowing left from right straight away