Are you left handed, right handed, or in between?

[cory]

I know there are NTs who visit this site and I would please ask any NT not to vote in this survey. I have a theory on handedness in individuals with ASD/Aspergers. So left and right handedness are pretty self explanatory. Ambidextrous means you are equally comfortable using either hand in all tasks. Mix handedness is something I can describe in the context of myself. I write, throw almost everything, use a fork, lift things up, etc. with my left hand. There are a couple of things I use my right hand for; playing an instrument, throwing a Frisbee. In those tasks my left hand feels as foreign to me as my right does in most tasks. The only thing I would be ambidextrous in is playing tennis; although I strongly favor my left. So I'm mostly left handed but a little right handed. If you fall into this group choose mixed handedness, (for me mixed handedness, dominant left).

A definition of cross handedness/mixed handedness from wikipedia:
"Cross-dominance, also known as mixed-handedness, or mixed dominance, is a motor skill manifestation in which a person favors one hand for some tasks and the other hand for others. ... It can also refer to mixed laterality, which refers to a person favoring eyes, ears, feet, or hands on one side of the body."

A definition of ambidextrous from wikipedia:
"Ambidexterity is the state of being equally adapted in the use of both the left and the right hand, and also in using them at the same time."

If I get enough responses I can run a statistical analysis and see if there is a difference in handedness between NT and ASD/Aspergers handedness.

 

[Suzanne]

I have always thought I am right handed, because I most certainly cannot write with my left hand, but a really, well mundane thing occurred and my husband said that it seems in some things you are right handed and others, left handed.

Basically, I was bemoaning the fact that the lip of a saucepan was on the wrong side and I felt so awkward actually pouring from it. My husband informed me that it was on the correct side and that he was surprised that I find it difficult, because I clearly use my right hand to write!

So you see, I have spent my entire life thinking that I am right handed and why, it seemed to me odd that I could not pour properly and assumed that it was made for left handed ones ( no idea why). Which means I prefer to pour, using my left hand and yet, can only use a knife with my right hand.

I guess that is pretty minor really, but I voted for right handed but can use my left hand for some things.

 

[ksheehan88]

I am right-dominant but some things I do left handed... For instance, I always pick up and put down the kettle left-handedly, which drives people mad because they then have to turn it round lol.

I also have to write and draw at an angle, I can't have paper straight or I'm not comfortable, it has to be almost horizontal, which I;m not sure if most people do but I've only ever noticed it with lefties.

I hold my knife in my left hand and my fork in my right hand, I think thats the right way round for righties?

 

[xudo]

I'm entirely right handed. I always describe my left hand as useless, because although obviously I can and do use it for things (I type with both hands and use my left hand while using a knife and fork) I never use it on it's own for any tasks.

My sister is NT and left handed. It was annoying when we were kids, because you could only ever find the single pair of left handed scissors in our house when you needed a pair

 

[ksheehan88]

I'm entirely right handed. I always describe my left hand as useless, because although obviously I can and do use it for things (I type with both hands and use my left hand while using a knife and fork) I never use it on it's own for any tasks.

My sister is NT and left handed. It was annoying when we were kids, because you could only ever find the single pair of left handed scissors in our house when you needed a pair

Left handed scissors were basically mythical objects when I was at school... I can always remember there being like 10 pairs of red right handed scissors and one pair of yellow/green left handed ones lol... It was somewhat amusing watching the two lefties argue over them

 

[flynn_gabriel]

Entirely left hand. I mean sure, opening doors, shifting etc. Then I use my right hand.

 

[cory]

I have always thought I am right handed, because I most certainly cannot write with my left hand, but a really, well mundane thing occurred and my husband said that it seems in some things you are right handed and others, left handed.

Basically, I was bemoaning the fact that the lip of a saucepan was on the wrong side and I felt so awkward actually pouring from it. My husband informed me that it was on the correct side and that he was surprised that I find it difficult, because I clearly use my right hand to write!

So you see, I have spent my entire life thinking that I am right handed and why, it seemed to me odd that I could not pour properly and assumed that it was made for left handed ones ( no idea why). Which means I prefer to pour, using my left hand and yet, can only use a knife with my right hand.

I guess that is pretty minor really, but I voted for right handed but can use my left hand for some things.

That may be cross handedness. Let me see if I can find a published definition of cross handedness

 

[cory]

Left handed scissors were basically mythical objects when I was at school... I can always remember there being like 10 pairs of red right handed scissors and one pair of yellow/green left handed ones lol... It was somewhat amusing watching the two lefties argue over them

I use right handed scissors but didn't really think about it until now

 

[Mia]

Right handed, lead with my right foot when walking. My left hand is slightly less dexterous, when I injured my right hand and shoulder and ankle, had to use the left and it became much better with constant use. Still eat with my left hand as the dominant one, it's reverted back to being less dominant than the right with less use. Eating is pretty much the only holdover. My father was left-handed, but forced to use his right growing up. He still ate left-handedly all of his life.

 

[ksheehan88]

I don't know if its related to handedness, but I hit the ground heavier with my left foot than my right when I walk.. I've tried to even it out but I can't, its annoying because it means my left shoe always wears quicker than the right and my left leg hurts more when its a particularly fast or uphill walk

 

[Mr Allen]

I discovered that I'm right handed a few years back when I was doing Karate, I was always best in left leg stance, right leg kicks or right hand punch, my left punches and kicks were, and still are, a bit weak.

Until then I was a bit mixed up, couldn't tell left from right.

 

[toothless]

im ambidextrous,my brain often gets confused over which hand to use when faced with a task of some sort.

 

[cory]

im ambidextrous,my brain often gets confused over which hand to use when faced with a task of some sort.

Ambidextrous is the most rare group of 5 I have put up. Please cast a vote.

 

[clg114]

Lefty. However, growing up in a right handed world as a left handed person, I am a little of both. I write left handed, wear my watch on my right wrist and carry my wallet in my right rear pocket. Just the opposite of a right hander. But I throw a ball and play golf right handed. Playing baseball or tennis, I am all right handed. I play pool or shoot a rifle/shotgun left handed. This is very interesting when I shoot my AK because it ejects the spent brass out and back. The hot brass just misses my right ear, most of the time. It does not make any difference which hand I use when shooting a hand gun, eating or using a knife.

 

[toothless]

Ambidextrous is the most rare group of 5 I have put up. Please cast a vote.

sorry i didnt realise there was a vote cory,ill do it now.

also,im surprised of the results also,i remember years ago when ive been on autism forums,ambidextrous was VERY common.

 

[kris]

I'm a lefty. My dad and son are also both lefties and aspie as well.

 

[puzzlingbill]

 

[Adder1234]

I'm right handed, but for some reason my left hand is much stronger and has faster reflexes

 

[NLD?]

I discovered that I'm right handed a few years back when I was doing Karate, I was always best in left leg stance, right leg kicks or right hand punch, my left punches and kicks were, and still are, a bit weak.

Until then I was a bit mixed up, couldn't tell left from right.

I'm a martial artist too!!

Mainly BJJ, but also some Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling and MMA.

So I would guess what you mean by right handed is you stand conventional, with you left leg forward right?

Because of course the power hand and power kick are the back hand and back foot, meaning if you are righty/conventional then your cross and uppercut in boxing will be thrown with your right hand (back hand) and your round house kicks mainly with your back leg (right leg).

I also am conventional and stand left leg forward, but I REALLY want to learn to stand south-paw (lefty with right foot forward) because it throws people off.

Anyways...I LOVE this topic because ambidexterity/mix handedness is a major interest of mine since I am basically ambi/mixed handed...not sure what the difference is.

Here's how I am:

I write and always have written almost exclusively with my left hand, but I do almost EVERYTHING else with my right hand.

I throw a ball with my right hand, as mentioned, throw my power punch in martial arts with right hand, pick most things up with my right hand, hold a fork in my right hand, everything except for writing I do righty, and everything else I try to do with my left hand feels just as foreign to me as writing with my right hand does.

However, I've become really into practicing writing with my right hand because it used to be so awkward for me and now that I've been doing it at least once a day most days for the past couple years I'm becoming MUCH more comfortable writing righty!!!

It's a cool feeling.

I haven't gotten into practicing doing many other things I am most comfortable doing righty with my left hand, but I am going to, and want to eventually become as close to purely ambidexterous as possible.

Because this post is already long, I am going to stop here and make a new one to continue this tangent because it excites me, and on other forums I've found that people get tired reading long posts and stop reading half way through, but if I make two average length posts they are more likely to read them both.

 

[NLD?]

So to continue: it started off when I was about 4 years old in pre-school where I'd paint pictures on a big canvas and when I was painting something on the left side of the canvas I'd hold the brush with my left hand, and then as soon as I got to the right side I'd switch the brush to my right hand to paint that side.

So being young, they were going to teach me to write the alphabet because I didn't know how to do that yet, and my parents discussed with my teachers whether or not they should try to cultivate me as a lefty or righty with writing cause they wanted me to be comfortable.

The teachers said that with my case it was really hard to tell which hand I'd be most comfortable writing with, but they thought maybe I was a bit more of a lefty with writing so when teaching me the alphabet they put the pen in my left hand and I was immediately comfortable so it all started there and I became a lefty with writing.

However, it's an interesting question as to exactly WHEN I realized that I did almost everything else with my right hand, and to be honest I actually don't know how old I was when I realized it.

Being 36 now, I know that I was fully conscious of being right dominant in everything but writing all through my 20s, but how much earlier I knew I'm not sure.

I probably knew it in highschool too, but I don't know if I realized it when I was any younger than highschool, and I think I might not have, that I just wrote lefty and did everything else righty and never thought about it.


I too have wondered if more Non-NTs are lefty or ambidextrous.

I don't have Aspergers or most of the other neurological labels here, but I am almost certainly somewhere on the Autism spectrum and my therapists think I have what is called "Non Verbal Learning Disability/Disorder" which is related to Aspergers, as well as Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression.


One of the key markers for NLD is that you have a very large discrepancy between your abilities in quantitative work (math mainly, also sciences, etc) and humanities (English, writing, reading, everything related to that).

Very early in life my teachers realized that I was one of the most gifted students in the school in English, writing, reading, etc, but had a really really hard time with math and spatial orientation and anything to do with those things and I am still this way.

So one thing I've wondered about left and right handedness is: they say the right hand relates strongest to the left brain and left hand most strongly to the right brain, so when we do things with our right hand does that mean we are increasing our left brain competency and strengthening that part of the brain, and vice versa, when doing things with our left hand do we strengthen our right brain functions??

Since I'm becoming better at writing with my right hand, does that mean I might be increasing my left brain functions, and if I become better doing other things with left hand, with my right brain functions become stronger??

Because I still don't know if I am more "left brained or right brained".

They say that the left brain is strong in language (which I am) but also in "exact mathematical calculations", which I'm VERY bad at, so that's odd...

Then they say that the right brain is used for spatial abilities (which I'm bad at), face recognition (which I'm good at), and music (which I'm good at).

So with that said: I can't tell if I'm more right or left brained.

What do you guys think about these questions of left vs right brain and whether practicing using different hands could strengthen other functions of whatever side of the brain that hand corresponds to??

And would you guys consider me "mixed handed-ness dominant right" like I voted, since I write with my left hand but do everything else with my right??