Welcome to our lefty information section
We have built up a huge library of information about lefthanders and being left-handed over the past 25 years and we are adding it all to this website so you can share it, add your own comments and advice and pass it on to others.
You can use the horizontal menu at the top to choose the main sections of our site and then the menus left and right to select what you want within those sections.
 |
ShopClick Shop Online then choose the product sections you want or use the search box to find things. |
 |
InformationThis section – our pages about being left-handed. You can add comments to the pages and we will add relevant new material to our pages to keep them up to date. |
 |
UK Partner ShopsWe have found UK based suppliers of left-handed and related products and put them all in one place for you |
|
US Partner StoresWe have also found US based suppliers of left-handed and related products and put them all in one place. |
 |
BlogWe write blog posts to highlight new items on the site and all sorts of small “news” items. Use the “News Categories” menu on the right and the “Latest Posts” section to browse posts. |
 |
SearchSearch for information or products using one of the boxes above. |
 |
SubscribeClick the RSS News Feed at the top right to add our feed to your favourite Reader and you will be sent details of all new items that we add to the site. |
 |
Questions?Click here to see our page on how to get your questions answered |
 |
Join The ClubThe Left Handers Club has been going since 1990 and we send a monthly email newsletter to all members. |
 |
CommentWe love to get your feedback and a lot of the information and products we have created are as a direct result of requests from customers and site visitors. |
Print This Page
Several years ago I was working for the Employment Service. A number of issues drove me to represent my left-handedness to head office.
My work required me to quite constant use of a computer keyboard, and the entry of numbers (National Insurance numbers in particular) I pointed out that because the number keypad was on the right, my efficiency was affected. I was asked if it was possible to get left-handed keyboards. I replied that they were, although they tended to be more expensive than the generally available right-handed keyboards (though with the numbers of left-handed people around the worlk, I do not understand why this should be so).
I was told that clearly they should be considering the needs of a quite large minority. I asked how I could therefore get a leftie keyboard. I was told that I would need to acquire one through the Disability Employment Advisers’ route. I couldnt believe it. The person to whom I spoke (a fairly senior person in the organisation) quickly said that it didnt mean I was disabled (well what does it mean then), just that it was a route for the acquisition of non-standard equipment.
Why should it not be standard equipment?
I am the only one in my family who is left handed and after being forced to write with my right hand as a young child am now ambidextrous. It is very annoying when half of my family thinks i’m weird because I write with my left hand.
Hi! I’m from Argentina. I am 19 and being left handed is great! None of my parents is left handed, but my brother and I are.
Whenever I write, my left had is full of ink and everybody asks me: Oh! Are you left handed? ..really?
Well, anyway, I love being lefty.
I am a dominant lefty. Coming from a family of 10 children, 4 of the 10, including myself, were lefties. I have no idea where we got it from, since both of our parents were right handed. I believe that left handedness is indeed, genetic, and that it must skip generations. My husband is right handed and our children are right handed, so I predict their children will also be lefties. Growing up in a right handed world, I struggled, but learned to adapt to using right handed scissors and desks, etc. Now I am an elementary school teacher, and I am going to make sure that I make adaptations for the lefties in my class.
I also don’t know if all you lefties are like this, but I find myself a very emotional person. I’m also a musician and my involvement in music over the years has helped me to channel my emotions in a healthy way. I think the best artists (for instance Leonardo Da Vinci) have been left handed because their work is a reflection of their emotional passion. I think I get into it way more into my music than the average person. I am wondering if this has anything to do with right brain dominance. I know I’ve read that the right side of the brain is more emotional and creative than the left side. I saw someone put a comment about this on facebook that lefties are psycho but genius!
Hi, Connie! pretty nice your comment.
Sometimes I think the way you do now. Being left handed makes us different not only for the obvious reason, but also because of our inside characteristics. Last year I started University and almost went mad trying to find a left handed desk. Unfortunately or not, I got used to the right handed one.
Some days ago, a friend was saying that lefties are clumsy. But I think that it is not true! Lefties try to use right handed elemnts so that we don’t need to change things, and wjen we use those elements of course we do not use them the same way right handed do!
Hi, Connie! pretty nice your comment.
Sometimes I think the way you do now. Being left handed makes us different not only for the obvious reason, but also because of our inside characteristics. Last year I started University and almost went mad trying to find a left handed desk. Unfortunately or not, I got used to the right handed one.
Many lefties learn to use right handed things so everything is eassier for the others, but not really for us. T
Hello,
I am lefty and the only 1 in the family. I am 11yrs. old and i have no cousins that are leftys!!! I cannot belive this. Are you guys like this?
I also am the only leftie in my family. The only other leftie that I know of was my fathers uncle. I’m much older than you and I’ve managed to survive in a right handed world. Those desks in college almost got me in trouble. Twisting to write made it seem I was trying to cheat. I learned to sit near the aisle in the second seat and use the desk of the first seat for writing. I’ve also learned how to knit and crochet “backwards”. Watch how someone is doing something and turn it around in your head….you CAN do it.
I, too, am a “natural” left hander, no-one in my fmily is left-handed except myself. My parents, God bless ‘em, encouraged me to “be yourself”! When I starteed writing, I tended to write “mirror image” i.e. from right to left, and all my Dad said to me was “When you pick up you pencil, start on that same side of the page.” I later discarded the hooked or over-writing technique and started writing from the underside of the line, or “under-writing” as I hated washing my hand frequently and/or smudging my papers (the teacher were not tolerant of “dirty” pages)! As I grew older, I found myself doing final corrections of right hander’s work (I am a painter by trade), because most of the errors in painting were caused by the awkardness of the area in which the deffect occured. I have also become fairly proficient at Faux, or method painting (which earns me quite a bit more money than standaard house painting). Learning to adapt to function in a right handed world has taught me that I am gifted, as I have had numerous right-handers try to do the things I do, and immediately throw their hands up in the air, stating “it’s impossible!”.
Hi all,
I’m 20, living in Europe…& I’m a lefty too
Actually, I can use both my hands..it’s very odd. When I was first learning to write, I had this insane teacher who said that “only devils use their left hands”…she would smack my left hand if I tried to pick up anything with it…crazy! She got fired (yay!) but the damage was done (booo!) So, now I write with my left hand, but I sketch with my right. Paint with my left, but erase with my right. It’s all so muddled up. I play sports with my left-hand (tennis, softball), but I brush my teeth with my right. I hate….. spiral notebooks, scissors, ATM machines (always pull out my card with my left hand and then awkwardly have to swap)…doorknobs can be annoying too! I just got my first flat & the first thing I did was get new swing doors put in, with the doorknob on the right on each side. It’s hilarious seeing my friends & family get stumped trying to open the door (hee hee..revenge! 
). There’s still a surprising amount of stigma related to being left-handed, especially in Africa & the Middle East (we moved around a lot when I was growing up). Eh bien, you adapt (right hand handshake is almost natural now) & that’s life!
all the best to my fellow lefties
xxx
A
Interesting story since i had a similar experience growing up in Europe. I had my left hand tied up behind my back when i was in school and was taught to write with my right hand. Using my left hand was a sign of the devil. And on top of this i’m a red head (double whammy…) So now i write with my right hand but use my left for absolutely everything else.
I just joined the club. I have been reading all the comments and deffently can relate.
But the one thing I want to say is ITS GREAT BEIING A LEFTY!
Yes, I am also a LEFTY. And August 13th is also my birthday. Sharing my birthday with this positive awareness date. Can’t get any better than this. Life is Good.
Hello fellow Lefties! I am intrested in the way that we think about things, our artistic thoughts are in some ways greater that those of the Righties. I have been practicing how to draw manga and anime for about 4 years now, and I’m pretty good. I like to draw with charcoal pencils a lot, but my entire hand turns black in a matter of five minutes. Is there any way to not smudge up my entire pictures? And, please, if any Lefty out there knows the answer, what makes us who we are? Why are we said to be more artistic? Is your dominant hand determined before birth, or after? If someone out there knows, please tell me.
i am a right handed person and believe that being ignored for such simple reasons like being left handed is utterley unjust. its disgusting, rude and it simply outrages me that such stupid prejudice happens in this world. Its people like you who make the world a happier (and safer) place for our children.
I’m a 45 year old mexican lefty. I have always felt SPECIAL and different.
I do everything with my left hand, except answer the phone and kicking a ball. Through my life I have adapted to try-the-other-hand-jokes, desks, scissors, notebooks, ink pens, and all drafting paraphernalia needed when studying architecture 25 years ago. No SWEAT!!
Buuuut….I have an ENORMOUS problem trying to follow directions based on GO LEFT, GO RIGHT and so….and don’t get me started with trying to MIRROR anything in my brain or coordinate in front of a MIRROR, I simply don’t get it!!….but the WORST, trying to cut and serve yourself a piece of pie with a cake knife!!
Anybody else?
my mom was awesome i’ve been left-handed my whole life. my mom apparently what she told me is when i started school… kindergarten at a catholic school she told my teachers “dont you dare try and make my daughter right-handed” to this day i love my mom for that. there are some things i can do with both hands.but mainly its all leftie.
I am a lefty and proud of it. As a young child I too was encouraged by teachers to use my right hand thus my being able to use both. I write, brush my teeth, eat, and shoot a gun only with my left hand. I have never turned my paper at an angle to accommodate my left hand. I have been told that, to see my handwriting one would never guess that I wrote w/ my left hand. However, I comb hair , cook, bat a ball, kick ball,vollyball, play golf,tennis, wave,drive and mostly everything else w/my right hand. Also, My mother was right handed, my father left handed and myself and 3 other siblings are leftys. All kinda odd to me:)))
i am chance gomez i am left handed and proud i am from utah and none of my family is left handed besides me. and when i have my baby i hope that he or she will be left handed like their daddy. i really love this web site. being left handed is the greatest thing i can say that i love about my self
Hi there, i have been introduced about this website, and been doing research and trying to understand
the difficulties many of you faced. Being left handed in this society is not easy but i respect the hard work
many people and places make for making a easier life for many of the left handed people out there.
As myself, i am right handed but am currently doing a project on Left handed (the forgotten minority).
My plan is to inform those who may not be aware of the difficulties that left-handed people struggle with in
their daily lives.
And I am trying to do this by finding quotes or maybe collecting personal experiences from you all about, difficulties of using tools (everyday tools such as scissors, craft knife, tape measure, peeler, computer mouse & keyboard).
If possible it would be great if anyone that could spare their time after reading this could
leave me a reply of a sentence or two would be a great help for my project.
many thanks.
I am a 44 year old left handed Canadian. When I began kindergarten, my best friend was also left-handed, therefore I didn’t think left-handedness was unusual. My teachers never tried to ‘correct’ my left-handedness, either. Only my mother had no patience with me, especially when I offered to help her in the kitchen. I’m sure many other lefties can identify with the frustration of trying – in vain – to use a serrated knife, a wooden spoon, vegetable peeler, or any other kitchen implement. Home Ec. was another nightmare. I remember being reduced to tears and having to stay after class because I couldn’t knit or crochet properly. As a result, I still loathe cooking or any ‘domestic’ chore.
I can relate to fellow lefties about finding the precious few left handed desks at university. It’s torturous to have to use the ‘normal’ desks, which are already too puny to write on.
None of these adversarial experiences made me feel inadequate, however, just irritated. I’ve always enjoyed not following the crowd, and being left handed underscores this attitude.
When I was in Grade 4, one of the substitute teachers was left handed, and he asked for all of the left handed students to raise our hands. He felt compelled to share the sentiment he held dear, that left-handed people are like pearls in the sand. What a champ!
I do everything left-handed, including writing check marks ‘backwards’ (my Grade 5 teacher taught me by his example). I use a computer mouse with my left hand (though I’ve adapted to the right hand), and wear a watch on my right hand so that my left hand is free to write.
Whenever I see elderly left-handed people, I smile at them in solidarity. They’re especially cool, since they didn’t succumb to the pressure to change to being right handed or give in to the bad press about being a ‘lefty’.
Like most lefties, I love being left-handed.
Hi Pamela, I sympathize with your frustration with knitting and crocheting. However, I found my left-handedness to be an advantage when I started to crochet an afghan from a pattern design that was not symmetrical. My afghan just didn’t look like the picture in the pattern book, because the instructions were written for righties. Instead of trying to correct it, I created a different motif, entered the finished afghan in a contest, and was awarded honorable mention. A half-page color picture of my afghan appeared in a later issue. All because I am left-handed! If you want to learn crochet and/or knitting my suggestion is to find a lefty to show you how or find a booklet that shows you how to do it left handed. When someone asks me to teach them to crochet, I tell them I can’t unless they are left-handed. Good luck!
BTW, I am a 64-year-old American in Illlinois.
I wonder if this is of interest to you. Several years ago when I secured a position as a Sales Executive for a manufacturing company I had to spend time working in various departments in the factory. A fantastic experience in the main until I realised why I had a problem undertaking some of the tasks on the shop floor. Hand assembly machinery and tools were designed for right handers. Certainly difficult to master and effected, in a way your equilibrium. What surprised me the most was that you were expected to use the machinery irrespective of your handedness. Luckily for me it was only short term. Imagine the number of people being forced to use righthanded machinery who did not have a voice, still do not have a voice and just have to carry on regardless.
When I progressed through the management structure over the years I always made sure I took note of positioning so its beneficial for right and left handed people. Little things like which side of the desk your phone is, is extremely important.
It seems odd to me how in a working environment so little allowance is made for a left-hander within the workplace whether office or shop floor environment.
As a separate note, I am the only left-hander from both sides of my parents families. I don’t like anyone sitting to my left and make sure I am seated to the left of anyone. I lay a table left handed and constantly get ‘told off’. I like my peculiarities.
I am totally left handed. Back in the early 80’s at University we did a study on degrees of left handedness. It was quite remarkable to see the number of people who were not ambidextrous, but who used a particular hand for different tasks, e.g. writing with the left, using a knife with the right, etc. There were only a small percentage of us who exclusively use our left hands. Much of this seemed to come down to societal influences, such as how people were taught as children or the coping strategies they developed to live in a right handed world. I don’t know if I was luck or just stubborn, but I resisted all attempts to make me write with my right. I find I am good at problem solving and lateral thinking. I enjoy complex puzzles, although anything based on pure memory is hopeless. I have kitted mu home and work with as many left handed implements as possible, much to the frustration of my right handed husband when he picks the wrong tool. My biggest frustration now is the number of computer software programmes and games, which don’t allow for left handed cursor or mouse operation.
Hi Im 44 and a southpaw, there are only two living LH. in my immediate family my nephew and myself my great grandfather was too. I have never been treated any differently and although I realised that I was the only one on my family the have never made concessions or alterations . I have never had difficulty using scissors and can use my right almost equally as well , its probably as strong . I can write and draw with my right too. I think i did that because I m quite competetive and liked having the satisfaction of knowing that I could do tasks equally with my right, because there are some narrow minded right handed idiots who make stupid remarks about LH. being cack handed and Gammy. They are unaware of how many prominent figures in society are held by left handers, presidents, astronauts .
Hello everyone,
My name is Tenish, I am 31 and am a proud left handed woman! My Grandmother, Grandfather, Mom & Dad and one of my four brothers are left handed also.. I had the hardest time finding lefty scissors as a kid so I just learned to use the right handed ones. What I want to know is why is it that when I’m holding cards in my hands (Playing Spades) my numbers look backwards or upside down? This happens everytime, is that a lefty thing or is it just me? Please respond, Thanks…
Left Handed People Make Good Lovers….
That happens to me too!! I thought that it only happened to me!!
Ohhhh, that is SO true!
I remember playing as a kid and not being able to figure out how to hold the cards… it’s really uncomfortable!
So there’s an idea: ambidextrous cards! (Not left-handed, otherwise you’d have to find other lefties to play with!)
I am a twenty three year old lefty. I believe my paternal grandmother was also left handed and one of my cousins on my mom’s side is left handed. Writing was always a challenge and I was never willing to curve my hand like most left handers do so I simply turn whatever I’m writing on to make it easier. I’ve had my fair share of detractors, mostly I remember my kindergarten teacher who insisted she had to force me to write with the ‘proper’ hand. My mom had to go and talk to the school about it as my parents had no problems with my left handedness. One of my other cousins began using his left hand and was forcibly stopped by my aunt who believed it meant he would ‘owe the devil’. I have no idea what that means! I have always felt it was special to be a lefty though and I always look out for anyone who is. We really are amazing.
Responding to comments:
I am 61yo and related to a lot of lefties! Every family has at least one on both sides (except the uncle that married a lefthander, oddly enough). I’m convinced it’s genetic. Growing up one brother was righthanded, the other three of us were lefties (he had to sit at the end of the table!) Later on, another righthanded sibling and half-sibling were born. I have seven children and seven grandchildren. My children: the first is “mostly” righthanded after appearing strongly lefthanded for the first year and a half of her life, the second is ambidexterous after appearing strongly lefthanded for the first year and a half of her life, the next three all lefthanders, and the final two righties! My grandchildren: The first is ambidexterous. Of the other six, three are righties, two are lefties, and the youngest (18 mos) can’t seem to make up her mind! She is the tie breaker…
My grandmother wanted my parents to turn me into a righthander, but they said no. She got so many lefthanded grandchildren (I was the first grandchild) she eventually went with the flow, lol. When I was in first grade, my stern teacher VERY unhappily kept turning my paper the direction for righthanders, scolding me. As soon as she moved on, I turned it back–so I could write!
I ended up deciding to use a computer mouse with my right hand (though it’s not quite as quick) for two reasons: 1) so my left hand is free for writing while doing so, and 2) switching click & rightclick really messed with my brain. In school I was always picked last for P.E. softball due to my perfect strikeout record. My very last game, I thought, what the heck, and decided to bat lefthanded, and actually hit the ball both times, much to everyone’s astonishment. (Shortstop still caught the ball, still out, but at least I hit the darn thing!)
I struggle so with locks & keys, and directions (I have directional dyxlexia). Sometimes my handwriting is really nice and other times terrible, depending on position, writing instrument and surface. Always a struggle. In college, I would take notes writing one line left to right, the next line right to left and backwards, and then repeat this pattern over and over. I read magazines back to front.
Pet peeves: rightie schooldesks, potato peelers, knives, and can openers! Working as kindergarten teacher aide, my lefthandedness was appreciated much by the teachers who found teaching lefties to write very difficult. I had a Bible School teacher once, an elderly woman, who said she had been forced to be righthanded, and it was the hardest thing of her entire life! Maybe it’s the rebel in me, but I like being lefthanded and am proud of it. I think it was an advantage for my piano and flute playing, mixed feelings on violin/guitar. I do think it is handy to have your quickest fingers fingering on the strings.
Do I do anything righthanded? Yes–sweeping and vacuuming. I always sit on the left side of a room. So used to righthanded scissors I can’t make lefthanded ones work.
Nice site; glad I found it.
I’m a 13 years old, left handed. I’ve adapted to some things, when I was younger my brother wouldn’t let me switch the computer mouse (I don’t think I’d have wanted to use it left handed anyway though since it had a curve to it for right-handed people of course. I’ve only just realized why I’m so bad at cutting and stirring when I’m cooking stuff. Does anyone else feel wrong with using the big wooden spoons to stir left handed? I do. Unlike most people, I prefer to sit on the right side of everything. For that, I’m not adapting to anything, but I actually get slightly bothered seeing things in my right-sided peripheral vision, so I sit to the right. I’m very left-oriented, I usually sleep on my left side, learned left and right by thinking “left is your writing hand”, do cooking left handed, pick things up left handed, and just about everything. Sports are a big challenge for me. I’ve basically gotten used to the “do the opposite” for the commands in softball, but I remember this one volleyball camp when the coach was calling “left-right-left!” and I kept on tripping over myself because you just sort of go for the calling instinctively. When I was six years old, I played in a little league baseball team where I was the only girl. I basically sucked so bad even the other kids could outplay me. I remember brilliantly my brother telling me it was because I was left handed. I cried about that, and I’m so happy that my coach sat me down and told me about a famous baseball player who was left handed (Babe Ruth, I think?). Nowadays on my softball team, you realize we’ve got the advantages. I have to take one step less running to first, don’t have to turn my back on the action when catching on first, the fielders aren’t used to where I hit, and the pitchers have to adapt to me. Bonus. Being left handed rocks, right-handers are the norm, and famous artists (I want to be an illustrator) like Michelangelo, Mozart, Picasso, Beethoven, and even Da Vinci favored the left hand. Some of my favorite left handers are Marilyn Monroe, Ringo Starr, JF Kennedy, Joan of Arc, Alexander the Great, and Albert Einstein. There’s more, I found these guys at http://www.left-at-the-start.com/famous.html We are awesome.
my name has 1 less l than yours
Hola tengo 37 años y soy un zurdo a mucha honra, cuando era niño mi maestro me golpeaba porque yo escribia con la mano izquierda, pero cuando vio que no podia dominarme dejo de golpearme, en lo personal me siento bien ser zurdo y a la vez orgulloso aunque muchas personas me han querido ver de menos pero eso para mi no significa nada.
creanme hay racismo en ser zurdo, esta es mi contribucion muchas bendiciones…
My husband and I are both lefthanded and both 64 years old, so we have long since adapted to the right handed world. Our email reflects our circumstance, starting out “leftytwo@.” I write the “right” way with my paper tilted toward the northeast, so I don’t have to curl my hand around to write. I have always felt lucky that some kind person helped with that early on, though I have no memory of it. No one tried to force me to be right-handed. My husband writes the “other” way, with the paper tilted to the northwest. He grew up with smudges on his left hand from dragging his hand across the page. Our sons are both righthanded, and I never even considered that a factor in teaching them how to do things. Dumb me! I have an identical twin who is righthanded, making us mirror twins. My older (jealous) sister used to say I was the black-sheep of the family, being lefthanded. Not only that, she declared that my twin and I weren’t really twins–just born on the same day. I never took her seriously, but I still remember it.
My son painted a tshirt for me that has an outline of his left hand with the words I requested written on it: “I’m left-handed. What’s your excuse?” I love it!
Leslie
Hi,
I’m 28 and left handed, my father tried to get me to write right-handed as a little girl but I resisted (I’m rebellious in many areas of my life it would seem!). However, unlike many of the other comments, I have no problem distinguishing my left from my right, I use a computer mouse in my right hand, I use the kettle in whichever way it’s facing (so either hand), I’m fine with right-handed notebooks etc as I angle the paper so that I don’t move my hand across the spirals. My mum is left handed where my father is right handed, so I guess I grew up in a household where I would have seen both ways of using things and went for whichever one felt right (ha – no pun intended!) for me.
Luckily I didn’t get any trouble at school for it.
However, my younger brother (he’s 21) was also made to write right-handed as a child, and he does in fact write with his right hand. His handwriting though does look rather spidery, and he uses his left hand for other things. So I think he was forced to use his right hand against his natural preference, and I don’t like to think what effect that may have had on him & other areas of his life.
Just thought I’d add my contribution!
Thanks,
Nikki
Hello.
I am a left-handed U.S citizen. I’m 23 years old, and I’ve lived in the U.S. my whole life. I’m the only left-handed person in my immediate family, and I only have one other left-handed cousin that I know of. Anyway, I remember my Mom always telling me I was no different than anyone else. She always told and tells me that’s just the way I am. I’m SO glad no one ever tried to get me to write right-handed. I totally suck at doing most things right-handed. My Dad too always strove and strives to teach/taught me to play sports left-handed. I remember getting a left-handed hockey stick, but I kick right-footed and I got a right-handed guitar, but I REALLY want a left-handed one. I also have some common lefty problems: I have a slight stutter and I reverse left and right directions all the time. I say “turn right” but I mean left. Someone asked if lefty kids should be forced to write right-handed, and I say NO! Right-handed people aren’t forced to be left-handed, why should I be forced to write with my right hand to accommodate everyone else? I’m proud of being a lefty, it makes me unique, and I feel I’m way better off than the rest of my family who are all right-handed. I’m way better with my right hand than I think other right-handed people are with their left hand.s. Yeah, I say do what comes naturally to you, if you’re left handed, be left-handed!
I’m a left hander but grew up in the sixties being made to use my right hand for everything else so I adapted eventually and now only write lefthanded.I’ve recently read that the theory is all left handed people are one of a twin-maybe the mother miscarried early on without knowing etc etc but..I find this very intersting-has anyone else heard of this theory.?
I’ve heard the theory about miscarried twins, and while there may be some truth in cases, it certainly doesn’t apply everywhere. I know a young lady whose maternal grandmother has 22 grandchildren, 19 of whom are left-handed; the miscarriage explanation would be stretched mightily thin to explain that one. (I gave her a Yoropen for her birthday, and she raves about it. If you don’t have one, you’re just a few clicks away from Truth, Beauty, and Meaning where it involves writing utensils.)
I write left-handed, but many other things (like using a computer mouse) seem natural right-handed. It probably depends heavily on the initial experience; computer mouses (mice?) were foreign to practically everyone’s experience when introduced.
I am in the process of converting to right-handeness under duress. A neurological condition in my left arm has led to the paralysis and atrophy of the muscles in my left hand; I can’t hold a pen anymore, nor feel some of the fingers, and writing is out of the question. Hopefully this is temporary, but trying to learn right-handed writing has been a real revelation. Everything is backwards — you pull when you used to push. I don’t wish to permanently join the ranks of The Rest Of Them, even if practically everything is biased toward their perverse orientation in ways even we right-minded sort don’t realize.
My mom miscarried twins a few years before my sister and I were born…my sister was born first and is right handed and two years later I was born and I’m left handed.
When I was at school they tried to make me write with my right hand, but they gave up and this was in the late sixties
Ive heard the twin theory, but I dont believe it , funnily enough, my nephew and his brother are mirror twins, one is left handed with hair crown to the left, his brother is right handed with right sided crown.
Jane.
For people in the military, we have to use semi-auto rifles that eject empty cartridges out from the right side of the rifle. As lefties take aim using our left eye with the butt of the rifle against our left shoulder, this leaves our right eye fully exposed to the hot, expended ammo cartridges that ejects out. Sure there are deflectors designed for lefty use but in my experience, it does not work, often gets lost or misplaced, or simply not issued.
I am left handed. When I was in school, the chairs had desk surfaces built in on the right side. I would always look for a seat where there was a vacant chair to my left and use that to take notes. Otherwise I had to scrunch up and turn my shoulder toward the teacher. I never saw a single left handed chair in elementary, high school, college, or graduate school and wonder if they exist. As for notebooks, I got tired of the spiral binding digging into my wrist, so I now buy only notebooks with the spiral at the top or composition books.
I don’t feel I need a left hand keyboard for my computer, but it would be great if you could move the scroll bar to the left side of the monitor where my mouse is. I’ve looked for programs to switch it but haven’t found one. Has anyone else found such a program?
When I went to college, most classrooms had at least one if not a few left-handed desks. I always made sure I got to class early to grab one.
HI
Regarding your question about web pages and scroll bars located on the left: Web designers can do this, in fact, I’m surprised they haven’t done this with this website!
I used to make scroll bars on both the left & right when I was web designing – it was very easy to do. Although I haven’t been a web designer for some years now, I should think it will still be possible to make left scroll bars. You would have to contact the sites you use most frequently and ask them if their designers can indulge you and us other lefties. Personally both myself and my partner are so used to using the scroll bar on the right now (we had to get used to it) that we don’t really notice it any more. (An added note: I used to design web pages in html and java in the notepad program, nowadays web designers just use wysiwyg programs and don’t really need to know any coding any more.)
Alternatively, you could rest your hand on the mouse and scroll up and down the page by:
Using the page Up & page Down keys
Using the up and down directional arrow keys (to the left of the number pad)
Or using the Home and End keys
Hope this helps? And good luck
Jay, Thanks very much for your reply and useful suggestions
I am left-handed, and my son is right-handed. He wants to be a lefty just like me…. I said that wasn’t possible. But then reminded me about my oldest son, who was lefthanded but broke his left arm at the age of 2 and learned to write like a righty. He thinks he can do it then other way around.
My daughter Naomi is left-handed, too. He wants to be like her.
My question: is it possible to make yourself a lefty? If you tie your right arm to your back, and your right-handed, and you use your left hand for a while, can you make yourself lefthanded?
Thomas Fokhart
IM a lefty, the only 1 in my family. When i was a kid- my Mother was scared becasue i read books from right to left- we also used to turn toilet paper around the opposite way & I wont even discuss the iron. I work in music (plays keyboards), but my left hand is stonger than my right. Im proud of being a lefty & I too comment when i see someone else whos a lefty. Its lonley out there!………..say does anyone know if you can get a mortgage for left handed people?????
Hi Rhonnie,
I thought I was the only one to turn the toilet roll the other way, it drives my mum mad when I change it in her bathroom. I would say Im probably as dexterous with my right as my left because in a right handed world we have to be adaptable.
It fascinates me the way in which we do things differently , I wear my watch on my left too.
Jane.
I am left handed, left footed ,and sided, but yes bizarrely, i text with my right hand, I have looked into this and it does depend on the left or right brain dominance – apparently i,m equal dominant although i,d have strongly argued on that point as i could never adapt to sewing machine, peelers, set and t squares, hockey sticks etc etc, One of the questions asked by you is whether children should be forced to write with their right hand. If you are doing developmental psychology you should know about speech development. forcing a child to write opposite their dominance can cause stammering or stuttering.
Interesting you should mention stuttering when you force a lefty to use their right hand. When i was a child, i was forced to learn how to write using my right hand, having my left tied behind my back and i used to stutter a lot. My mom actually helped me a lot with the stuttering and now it only comes out when i’m very stressed out and very angry. It’s kind of fasinating to think those 2 things to be related on some level
Hi Everybody,
Initially had difficulty in eating (being Indian we use hands to eat) as eating with lefthand was not right… maybe learned to adapt at a younger age, writing was time consuming but picked up in due course.
Major problems came when got enrolled for Interior Design Diploma, first day of drafting class was a nightmare blank sheet at the end of class, well using two tools( T square and set square simultaneously) meant for righthanders was a challenge… again learned to adapt.
This site has been very encouraging and helpful.
Thanks.
One more thing – my bank has supplied me with left-handed chequebooks since I registered with them. They make writing a cheque so much easier! Alack, alas, cheques will soon be consigned to the dustbin.
Hi there.
I am proud to be a lefty and, like many of the people here, am the only one in my family (well, my step-dad’s a lefty,too, but obviously, I didn’t inherit it from him). I always notice if someone else in the room is a lefty, and I do comment upon it – but in a positive way, i.e by pointing out that we are both members of an exclusive “top 10%” club.
I am a “proper” lefty. This made it easier for me to learn the recorder and flute when I was younger, but I was – disgracefully – refused guitar lessons! Now, at age 33, I’ve tracked down a cheap left-handed guitar for beginners and am finally going to learn to play after all these years…
Being a lefty made it harder for me to play hockey at school, as sticks are designed for the majority. However, I adapted – eventually. I still smudge when I write, so never use fountain pens. I found knitting difficult to learn at first, too, but again, I picked it up in the end. I use my left hand for everything bar texting – bizarrely, my right thumb is my texting digit of choice. And, of course, I use my right hand for those things that, over the years, we lefties have been forced to adapt to, such as knives, scissors, tin openers and the computer keyboard and mouse. I keep meaning to buy a lefty kit, but of course, this is only good in your own home, not elsewhere. I only use the top row of numbers on a keyboard, though – never the numbers pad on the right.
Anyway, happy left-handedness. Enjoy your sinister and gauche status!
I am both hands bot mostly lefty. Just sayin!!! I dunno how but i just picked up a pencil with my right hand and wrote but I am left-handed.
Weird.
Totally left sided in all things…………………..except when I use a cricket bat, but I bowl left-handed, I can only assume the first person to ever show me how to hold a cricket bat was right-handed. I well remember my mum sending a letter to my primary school in the ’60’s telling them I was not to be made to write right handed and the teacher getting quite sniffy over it, especially as we used those horrible “nib on a stick” type pens, with ink in an ink-well……………….happy days !!!
Gary
S.W. London
To answer those who intrigued by people who are left handed I give this answer.
I am left handed for writing, reaching for things, playing sports, lifting things in fact just about evrything including writng this answer I tend to favour my left when typing words. Curiously though I use a computer mouse and touch pad with my right hand never been able to work that out also I favour my left foot when climbing steps, jumping and kicking. As joiner and carpenter being left handed often comes in very handy when helping my fellow right handers and yes i have learned to adapt to a right handed world of tools and machines, well it was either that or lose a finger or two. With out sounding smug as left hander and footer I have found that I have learned the art of adaptability.
However theres the question of, should adult right handers try to coach child left handers to write with their right hands, absolutely not there is nothing wrong with either hand methods and it will simply cause distress to those being complelled to change. For academics to try to put some analysis to this is shear folly and smaks of there being some future idea to “cure” left handers once the reason for it found. After all why try to find the reason for being left handed if your not going to do something with the answer, it would be a waste of time.
I’m a 19 year-old lefty neither of my parents, grandma’s or my 3 brothers are left handed my one grandpa was a lefty my other grandpa no-one’s sure about. I find that there are certain things that don’t feel comfortable in my hand like hair and tooth brushes some hair dryers. When I was little I had trouble with telling my left and right sides from each other, I also used to put my shoes on the wrong feet. I also used to open my school excercise books the wrong way too. My eldest neice is also left handed but uses her right hand for some things. Does anyone find it annoying that people comment on you being left-handed?
Lynette
That’s an interesting story. I am left handed and have two brothers , also LH. My parents are both RH. I did have a grandmother, who was also LH and she used to talk about a LH AUNT WHO WAS FORCED BY HER FATHER TO ALWAYS USE HER right hand. i’VE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD of BEING A LEFTIE OR SOUTHPAW. i ALSO HAVE A LH NEPHEW IN Connecticut ONLY ONE IN HIS FAMILY.
Hi there
I need some help and I hope that u can help me, I’m a right-handed person and I’m studying developmental psychology, one of my assigment questions are (should teachers and parents urge left-handed children to use their right hand? Give reasons for or agianst the change.) In my opinion i would say no they should not, there are nothing wrong with someone who is a lefty. But I would like to know from the eye of a lefty what would your answer to this question be?
Hi there,
It is only myself and two of my cousins in my whole family who are lefties.
With regards to your question, I agree with you. We should not be forced to use our right hands but sometimes we are unintentionally. I use cutlery and kitchen appliances as a right handed person would (although I do mix sauces, etc as a leftie). I believe I do this because I learned through observation as a child and I often wonder if I would still do this if one of my parents was left handed. I did struggle with my hand writing when I was younger and although noone in my family tried to force me to use my right hand, they did try to correct my posture which in fact made it more difficult to write (but it did prevent future back problem so I’m not complaining at all). My school was very supportive and arranged for me to have separate handwriting lessons. My tutor taught me how to hold the pen comfortably and angle the page so I didn’t smudge the ink. Now I am often complimented on my handwriting! I work in catering and sometimes find that when I set a table, I will place the cups so the handles point to the left and have to go back and change them, but I usually just laugh about it – no major disaster.
As soon as my parents realised I was a leftie, I was not forced to use my right hand for anything, however I have been surrounded by right handers both in my family and society in general, so I have unconsciously learned (maybe naturally or adapted – I may never know now) to do a lot of things as a right handed person.
I hope this helps you with your study
Kind Regards
Being a Southpaw is probably easier now than in the past and society tends not to consider us to be cack handed or linked to the devil ,( Ive researched this quite alot and most countries have derogatory terms for the left which really irritates me.) I am 43 and although my teachers tried to discourage me from sprawling across the desk, and gym teachers were a little rude if I missed the ball I experienced no problems, Who cares if I missed it , I was great at javlin , hockey and hurdles. I can hit a ball quite well with my right, more than most rights are capable of.
My paternal great grandfather was the only other southpaw in my family and my nephew too, although his twin is a right.
In answer to your question , children should be encouraged to use their dominant hand, I find that most southpaws are ambidextrous anyway and adapt to activity or exercise, a lot of schools and nurseries are happy to provide left handed scissors, and even pens, Ive never had a problem using scissors but as a nursery practitioner I have seen children struggle using standard type. I believe discouraging children to change handedness from left to right would have a detrimental effect on the child , both physically and psychologically. I would be interested to know the results of your research.
I am a lefty, and I think that the child should be allowed to use the hand they are more comfortable using. Being left handed is not a bad thing; afterall, I’m the only left-handed child my mother had. I turned out great compared to my right-handed siblings. Just thought I’d throw that out there. There is nothing wrong with being left-handed.
I grew up in the U.S.; specifically, a small town on the coast of central California. It’s a little shocking to look back at how attitudes were so primitive and downright silly when it comes to left-handers. My first grade teacher (while teaching us how to write) insisted that the papers on each desk should all be tilted in the same direction. That made it virtually impossible for me to write. There was a member of my (adopted) mother’s family who was related to my mother’s sister’s husband by marriage. This aunt felt it was her duty to make the community aware that there was an undesirable in their midst. I was the undesirable because I was adopted and my mother and father are unknown. According to her, nothing good could possibly come of an abandoned baby and that, by definition, I was should be viewed as suspect. When you added left-handedness to that, it leads to a very frightened and insecure child who was amazingly clumsy and self-conscious.
I am so gratified that people are finally recognizing this is simply a difference in how we use our brains, or how the brain is constructed. This opens the door for more understanding. Applause for you and this website.
Attending high school in the 1960s, the cartridge ink pens would smear across the page and on my left hand as I wrote on the page. That was the “mark” of a lefty back in the day. But my most embarrassing lefty moment was on a vacation to Acapulco and I borrowed someone’s waterproof camera. As I was trying to take a picture of my husband surfing, I just held up the camera and snapped away. I could not wear my contacts on the beach, so my vision was not at best. Well once the pictures were developed, they were photos of everything behind me… my beach towel, the parking lot in the distance, etc. It appears that I had moved the camera over to look through my left eye, and having it backwards, all the shots were behind me! Also, when they first invented blow hair dryers, the motor cage was on the left side. My hair got caught in it and it took a straight edge razor to cut it and my new hair cut was extremely short. There are numerous items that are designed strictly for the right hand use. We should stand up for our lefts!
Thats why I like dugital camera’s, its easy to tell which way round they go, and you dont have to hold them up to your left eye while fighting with the tiny button on the right!
I love being left haneded! My best friend is left handed too so we can share the same problems! It means that we’re unique! Left handers do it right remember! My mum has taught me how to do stuff right handed, so I question whether I do it right… I do it left *hehe* It’s a pain though, as I’m starting secondary school soon, and I’m going to have to adapt to all the things AGAIN!! It would be better if there was a left handed class! For all the left handers at school teachers should do that. I always go on this site! It has helped me with so many things! Writing the lefty way, I’ve even learnt how left handed sharpeners are different to right handed sharpeners etc. I love the clothes too, left handers do it right, just the way to get recongnised when I’m out and about that I’m a lefty!!! LEFT HANDERS RULE!
Hi there
I grew up in South Africa nearly sixty years ago now and both my parents (from the U.K.) and brother born after me were right handed. I just had to fit in and have always used a kettle right handed and I usually stir my coffee right handed but always use my left when cooking at the stove. At school I was told I could hit a ball against the wall as I wasn’t good enough to play with the other right handed children – hence grew up with no interest in sport. I would play golf or hockey right handed (two hands) but tennis etc. would be with my left only. I have adapted perfectly (I think, anyway!) but our natural tendency is to fold things from right to left and not the other way around, and that is how my right handed daughter does it too, having grown up having to help me at home. I have read that we have many more lefties in the Southern Hemisphere but am not sure if that is really tue. I work in an office with 12 people on the staff and 4 of us are left handed which is much higher than the usually quoted 10% of the population.
One thing I have taught myself when giving directions is to turn my body in the direction I am talking about. This way I don’t confuse the person I am giving directions to. B/c I also have a tendency to confuse my right/left with directions, which my husband thinks is funny, I just end up turning my body. He understands that being a lefty I do things backwards. It is nice to have a r/hperson actually understand. when we go out to eat I always have to sit to the outside and when I was in college I always sat to the left of the classroom and at the end of the tables. this helped not only disguise the fact that I was left handed, but also kept me from getting into the way of other ppl. It sounds bad but that was something I just grew up with just to make things easier for myself. So next time you have to give directions, try turning in that direction and maybe it will help.
I’m another lefty who finds a hard time telling my right from my left when giving or receiving directions from and to other people (I’ve confused a few cab drivers!) Although in my language “right” does not mean “correct” I have come to more or less the same conclusion as Ree Gibson, that we assume “right” is correct, but for our brain left is correct.
And to Donna, not only your grandchildren are not the only siblings both lefties, my dad and another one of his four brothers are lefties, while one is ambidextrous by nature, making the weird the norm in my family! Me and my son are both lefties and I’m expecting another child (hope she’ll be a lefy, too)
As most lefties, I’m kind of awkward, but creative and good for languages. What about you?
I have a freckle on my left hand that i’ve always used to tell left from right so i gues i’m lucky that way.
I just learned a couple days ago that they make left-handed notebooks and special scissors and everything so now i’m all excited and want some for christmas!
I have a freckle as well. That doesn’t help me with right verses left though…I still do the L thing occationally. Holding both index and thumb of both hands up and whichever one make the L is left…yeah lol. I didn’t know they made left handed notebooks. That is really cool and would be helpful with the binding getting in the way all the time…
I try using the L with both hands, but the one on my right hand looks just as much like an L to me as the one on my left – I figure it has to do with being so accustomed to doing things backwards
i am both handed. i can remember when i learned to write, having the pencil taken from my left hand and put into my right hand. i was trained to use my right hand, but since i have grown up, i have gone back to using my left hand for many things.i can even write with either hand, but since i don’t have as much practice with my left hand writing, it is not very neat. it took me years to even know which was my left hand and which was my right hand.and i do still struggle at time with the directional problem. neither of my children were left handed, but both of my grandchildren are left handed. i think they are the first brother and sister i have seen who are both left handed, although i imagine plenty of them exist. just sharing some thoughts.
I had the exact same situation as you. The pen was taken from my left hand and put in the right hand. Now i’ve gone back to using my left hand but I can now write with both just as neatly as each other.
I am left handed, and frequently transpose directions, say right when I mean left, etc. I also try to avoid giving directions to others to avoid leading them astray.
Spatial awareness about myself and which hand/side/foot is left or right is not a problem. The knowledge that I have adapted to and am living in a right-handed world has raised the question-”is this natural for me as a lefty, or is it a modification to the right-handed world?” Curious. We definitely have a different thought process than the other 90% of the people around us. I also think we have much more flexible thought patterns.
I’m left-handed and have spend my life adapting right-handed equipment to my needs. Now, as an occupational therapist, I find I have creative ideas for what will work for a lefty that my right-handed counterparts don’t have. I have ordered several of your products to use in my practice, and have recommended them and your website to their parents.
Also, in response to what Ree Gibson wrote, I have the same problem! I thought I was the only one. I did figure out how the problem came about. When I was little I was told “you write with your right hand” as a general truth. No one actually bothered to tell me I didn’t. So I had no idea it was a directional thing. I thought your right (write) hand was the one you write with, whichever side that might be, and the other was… well, your other hand… I have since learned the error of my ways, but I continue to have difficulty with left and right.
I’ve had people tell me the thumb and index finger of the left hand form an L… I said they both do. People tell me,”Well, yeah, but one of them is backwards.” Since I’m also dyslexic, I just look at them and say, “Yeah… one of them is…but which one?”
I don’t know whether this directionality problem is inherent in lefties, though.
I’ve never thought of being left-handed as being an issue, and I’ve never been bullied for it. It was because of my left-handedness, though, that my primary school invested in left-handed scissors. However, one thing I stuggle with daily is telling my left from my right. I’m always mixing up which is which, and once in a driving test (I’ve had a few!) I turned right when asked to turn left; it wasn’t what failed me, I hasten to add! I also say ‘right’ when I mean ‘left’, and the other day I came up with a theory – Right is correct, but my left is correct, so in my head my left hand, being my ‘correct’ hand, is my right hand. Thus, right is left and left is right.
I just thought I’d throw this out there and see if other left-handed people have a similar issue and if I’m right (no pun intended), perhaps more study can be done to investigate this intriguing notion?
I just realized today. My daughter is 9 and i never knew that being left handed was an issue. Now that I have realized and I am trying to help her learn properly I realize that schools should do more about this…no one has ever told her how to even hold her paper the correct way. Being write handed and not familiur I had no idea..