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 🙈

I don’t know if this sounds weird, but I only know my left and right in context to my own perspective. Like I know which side is left and right of my body instinctively (I do use the L of my hand sometimes too)
But I cannot get my head around left and right from any other perspective than my own and would have to reallly think to work it out. I.e to the left of X building, I would have to imagine myself standing in front of the building to work that out.

I'll buck the self-selecting trend.

It's been a total eye-opener for me. I only clicked to see all the responses of "yes of course I can tell."

But there you are.

I remember struggling at nursery, but since then it's been for me almost, as one poster put it, like up or down.

Which actually it kind of is isn't it - if you think in a North, South, East, West way?

But we are clearly all very different and these threads are helpful in that sense.

6/7/8 are the hardest tables so that seems logical. And that's from someone decent at maths too. I have to think briefly about left and right; it's not instinctive like up and down.

What about when you're looking in a mirror?

Your left. No, the other left.

very common and necessary instruction in any dance class I have ever attended.

@LeaderBee interesting question! I just tried and no I still have to use my hands to make an L and see which one is correct. I cannot tell shoes either so if you give me one shoe i cannot tell if it is a left or right one. I need a pair to do so.

I know it’s slightly different but my husband is fantastic at mending things. Cars, washing machines, any diy - absolutely amazing.
Can he remember which way to tighten a nut? Nope.
He’s dyslexic so I don’t know if it’s related but he has to recite the whole ‘righty tighty lefty loosy’ to remember.
Always amazes me.

i still have to put up my hand and make an L shape to figure out left from right. Especially when driving and someone is giving me directions

Also for children learning the piano.

I've always been good with left and right. I'm left handed, and I've always 'liked' my left in comparison to my right, which may be why it is instinctive?

I'm also great at map-reading (used to navigate for my dad from age 7) and at visualising 3D things - body structures etc.

I cannot do mental arithmetic to save my life.

I’m really bad at this, I have to look at my hands to jolt my memory

I'm fine with left and right, but I'm useless at east and west.

I play a lot of video games that use n/s/e/w for directions and I end up writing a giant E and W on the back of my hands once I get sick of chanting "never eat shredded wheat".

One collar and two socks are always necessary

Knowing left from right was automatic for me until we moved 3 years ago from a left hand drive country to a right hand drive one. Now I can't find the word "left" & "right" and can only point the direction (which my husband loves when he'd prefer to watch the road rather than me - he drives while I navigate).
It's not something I expected to happen and I keep hoping I'll revert to my normal, competent self...

I could have written this post!

My class have a tally against me now so if I get more than 5 names wrong each day, we have an afternoon play on Friday afternoon! It doesn’t help, but it adds a little bit of fun.

What you say about up and down, when I am driving with my sister and daughter, as they are the same as me, instead of saying left or right, I say up it down depending on which way to move the indicator! I can do that without thinking about it, so it works for us when giving directions.

Same here, i have to think about it if im giving directions. I also sometimes mix up cutlery when setting a table.

I can’t tell my left from right either. I have a birthmark on my left hand and have to look at that. I haven’t been tested but I wouldn’t be surprised if I had ADHD. I’ve always assumed that I don’t have dyslexia because I’ve never had issues with reading or spelling and have a degree etc. interesting that this is a sign. I struggle with facial recognition and also spatial awareness. I always struggled with shape and rotation questions in maths too but would get most of the number, algebra etc questions correct.
Glad to know I’m not alone, my sense of direction really is shocking, even with a sat nav I’m still very capable of going the wrong way! 🤦‍♀️😂