Can you tell your left from your right?

[TeaAndCakeMakeThingsBetter]

Had a random conversation yesterday where a friend and I discovered that neither of us instinctively knew our left from our right. It was part of a conversation around neurodiversity and it got me wondering whether it’s just a random blip in our brains or part of something wider. So - do you just KNOW left from right or does it not come automatically? I also struggled at school with random bits of timetables (6/7/8s - could never remember the ones where the answers were somewhere between 40 and 50, but had absolutely no problem with maths overall and got straight As st GCSE. That’s not a boast, more just that it wasn’t linked to academic intelligence!). Am also left handed if that’s relevant (but still have to consciously think about which hand I write with if asked 🙈).

YABU- duh, obviously I can tell left from right 🙄
YANBU - No! I have to really think about which is which 🙈

Yes; the left are usually quite normal, emotionally intelligent people.
The right, not so much.

Yanbu. I do talk about this with people and it’s more common than you would think but people are embarrassed to admit it if I don’t go first. It’s nothing to do with intelligence. What I’ve found helps is making a right angle with your thumb and forefinger - your left hand makes a ‘L’ 😁

That wasn’t really the question, was it? Maybe you could start another thread if you want to talk politics?

I’m not diagnosed myself, but definitely have neurodiverse traits.

I have always struggled with remembering Left vs Right. I used to (and still do) use a range of tricks to try to remember which was which, but still always had to stop to think & check.

Randomly I also always confused the words Green and Orange. I absolutely can tell the difference (so not colour blind), but literally I would find myself saying “Orange” when I was trying to find the word “Green”.

No I don't. I have to think about it.

Yes agree - I have a small scar on my right wrist that I check! But if I’m under pressure, for example when giving directions, I quite often get it wrong 🙈 My husband is used to me now and just says ‘did you mean the other left?’ 😂

I can’t.

When it’s mattered, I’ve written it on the backs of my hands. Also East and West.

I cannot and never have bern able to. I have to really think about it!

Same here. I remember when I gave my driving test I told my examiner I had this issue and he was quite supportive. He also signalled with his hands along with telling me right and left.

I think the comment was in reference to being left handed/right handed which you also mentioned in your OP.

It’s utter claptrap of course - there is no scientific evidence that left handers are more emotionally intelligent, creative, etc. But I’m ambidextrous so what do I know?!

I played the piano as a child, and that is one of the ways I remember Left. I have to visualise myself playing at a keyboard and practicing “the Left Hand part” …

I don’t know it instinctively either - I have to check my hands.

From what I’ understand, I think the majority of people do know it, but there are enough of us who don’t to make it not weird iyswim

I still have to think about it and if I’m in the car navigating for DH I often get left and right muddled! Fortunately he’s mostly good humoured about it 😬 I’m left handed and ADHD but never linked it!

@TeaAndCakeMakeThingsBetter
Hello OP - did you know this is one of the classic symptoms of Dyslexia?
And Dyslexia isn't all about difficulties with reading - that's only 1 of a list of symptoms, and it's possible to have Dyslexia yet still have learnt to read easily as a child.

No problem with L & R but the times table thing definitely resonates, certain ones would not stick no matter how much I tried. Same with some spellings, ‘necessary’ (thank you auto correct!) is one that I could not get right even if my life depended on it. No idea why…

That's so weird OP - I've always had that problem with left and right (and just marked it down to one of those things) but I have a similar problem with "middle" times tables which I've never really thought about before. It's almost like I have a tiny brain panic whenever I get to those ones and feel like I have no way of working then out. I do know 7 x 7 = 49 though! (FWIW I also got A or A* Maths at GCSE, can't remember, and I'm quite good at mental Maths generally.)

I’ve never been able to tell my left from right automatically, I have to think about it. 2 sisters the same. Neither of our parents had this, no neurodivergence or ADHD in any of us.

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.

Ha, yes I did - my son is dyslexic and we have a few neurodiversity traits running through the family (autism, dyspraxia, suspected ADHD…). I was actually hyperlexic as a child hence musing whether others who have the same are neurotypical or neurodiverse even if undiagnosed!

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.

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!

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!

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.

Ooooh this is so interesting that others struggled with the ‘middle’ times tables as well! Thought that was just me. I wonder if there’s some weird brain pathway that’s misfiring!

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