My teenage DD has a terrible time keeping her left and right straight. At least once a day she has to stop and use her hands to figure out which way to go. She's been in dance for 9 years, karate for 2, archery for 4, has learned hundreds of routines or forms, but STILL needs to reference her hands. She's a pretty good sport about it, but I feel terrible that she struggles so much.
I don't know if this contributes to the problem, but she's right handed, left eye dominent. Is this confusion something she's just going to struggle with for life? I dread her starting driver's ed! Any ideas you have to help her master this once and for all would be greatly appreciated!
(BTW, why does my location suddenly say "Eastlake CO?" I certainly didn't move between yesterday and today!)
Thanks too all who responded. It's interesting to hear from those who have the same dominance issues that DD has. And those who never outgrew it but have learned to get around it! I love the suggestion that you "write with your right". Well, we'll keep working on it. I suggested the Hokey Pokey and got a really good eye roll out of it. Shoulda suggested that one a few years ago I guess :)
I used the fact that I wore a watch on my left for years to tell left from right. Something's are just difficult or some people, mom! We need clues!
I'm almost 44 and still have to look at my hands ... My dad is the same way. Someone once told me I have left-right dyslexia ... I don't know if it's real, but it sounds good!!
One thing that has helped me is wearing a ring on only one hand. Since my wedding bands are always on my left hand, I know which is left. Perhaps let her pick out an inexpensive but nice piece of jewelry that she ALWAYS wears on the same hand / wrist will help instill it more for her.
I promise she will survive when driving ... just use "this way that way" directions vs "left right".
My best friend is 42 and a computer programmer and still can't get right and left, same with my 65 year old structural engineer neighbour. Aside from their trouble with direction they have both done all right and both drive. Sorry I can't help, but she isn't alone!
I'm 45 and still sometimes have to stop and think about right and left. (This makes asking me for directions to go somewhere a little risky.) Like your daughter, I also have mixed dominance, but am right eyed and left handed. I don't know if that figures in. Anyway, I can tell you that I've survived this long without having an instantaneous grasp on right and left, and I drive just fine. :-)
My daughter, as brilliant as she is, occasionally STILL uses her hands to tell left from right!
She is 30, and just finished her doctorate in Microbiology at Johns Hopkins......
Through HS my husband sold shoes. His left was other people's right. If I am giving him directions I tell him to take a shoe salesman's right which actually means left;)
can you help her by referencing back to sports? Like with the archery Im not sure of the terminology but right hand is the pull back hand. or with baseball your throwing hand is your right hand. dribbling hand = right hand. Lazy hand = left hand????
I still struggled with that at 17 (sometimes in yoga class I have to stop and think) Wearing a watch helped me and then I got married and wore a wedding ring. Tell her to wear something on the same hand or wrist everyday until it becomes automatic.
I don't know if it's anything you can really learn to just know. I am in my late 30's and still have to pause for a moment to figure it out.
It is not too uncommon though, when I was taking driving lessons way back when, my instructor always kept a little sheet of L/R stickers in the glove box for people like me, which I then used to label my hands ;)
My DD is 5 and is already better at telling left from right than me. We taught her by making her remember that her right hand is her "write" hand. (she is right handed)
Good luck.
she "writes" with her "right" hand.. maybe that trick could help.. this reminds me of a friends of mine, during her 6hrs of driving with and instructor &for her driving test to get her license, she had to write in marker an L and an R really big on her hands so she wouldnt mess up.. we all laughed at her, which wasnt a big deal because she always laughed about it but honestly after like a week of her driving she never had to think about which way was left or right anymore, she just knew
I still have to check my hands periodically for right or left and I'm approaching 40. Most of the time I will just get it right, but when I'm stressing about getting it exactly right is when I start to question myself.
It's not that big of a deal (although I did fail my first drivers test because I turned the wrong way into a very difficult section of town, lol) and she will either learn it or not. You can't really do much more to "teach" it to her. She knows it, but she has to take time to think about it in some situations.
Your left index finger and thumb make an L (look at back of hand with all fingers splayed, point with index, fold other three under, form bottom of L with thumb) and are on the left. The right side makes a backwards L. It is what I used to helped my stepdaughter. Good luck.
It is not something to be too concerned with. She will grow out of it and Left and Right will become natural to her. If you want her to be less obvious with her hands give her something she can put on her left hand like a ring or a bracelet what will help her to not look at her hands but then will train her brain to know it without looking.
(I think the location has to do with population of users...)
I had issues with it too....until I got engaged. Now I know left is my ringed hand lol. Maybe a ring or bracelet would help also?
