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

[Totallysteff]

I'm totally left handed. I use my left hand for everything unless it is an activity that could hurt it. I would be in a lot of trouble if my left hand stopped working properly. This is an interesting topic. I have often wondered if there was any connection between lefties, and autism. I have also wondered if there was a greater connection between INFJ, and Autism/ INFJ, and Left handedness. Scorpio, and left handedness/ Scorpio, and INFJ. I don't know if I'll ever find out if there are connections in the other areas I mentioned, but it is cool that this survey is happening.
Good on ya,
Steffanie

 

[AspieOtaku]

I would say mix handed, dominant left, I write with my left but throw with my right hand. In short, partial ambidextrous!

 

[NLD?]

I would say mix handed, dominant left, I write with my left but throw with my right hand. In short, partial ambidextrous!

Yup, you sound like me, if you also do almost everything else other than write with your right hand.

Writing lefty is so natural and writing righty is so awkward, but everything other than writing is super awkward to do lefty.

I really think there probably is some connection between non-NTs/Aspies and left handedness, but can't prove it.

I also think there must be something genetic in handedness, especially being a lefty, because in my family my father and brother are both TOTALLY left handed and only my mom is a righty, and my grandmother (father's mother) is also ambidextrous (not sure about the handedness of other grandparents).

I think it is no coincidence my brother and I are largely left handed and so was my father, and I bet these connections go deeper into dominant regions of the brain and similarities in the brain, etc.

 

[NLD?]

I'm totally left handed. I use my left hand for everything unless it is an activity that could hurt it. I would be in a lot of trouble if my left hand stopped working properly. This is an interesting topic. I have often wondered if there was any connection between lefties, and autism. I have also wondered if there was a greater connection between INFJ, and Autism/ INFJ, and Left handedness. Scorpio, and left handedness/ Scorpio, and INFJ. I don't know if I'll ever find out if there are connections in the other areas I mentioned, but it is cool that this survey is happening.
Good on ya,
Steffanie

Well like I said, writing is the only thing that feels natural doing lefthanded for me, and I tore a ligament in my right wrist and was in a cast for months.

Sure, it was nice that it was still easy to write with my left, but being that everything else feels awkward to do with my left, it was hard not being able to use my right hand.

But since I'm close to ambidextrous I admitted.

That's an advantage for sure to being able to use both hands.

It's probably a good idea for everyone to practice using both hands for more things.

 

[inabox]

I am mainly right handed. My writing with my left hand is not much worse than my right hand though. It seems that things which need to be aimed, I am left handed at. Pool / snooker, archery, air gun. So far I've noticed that those things I automatically do left-handedly and I do quite well. If I try to do them right-handed it's disasterous.

 

[cory]

I was hoping for some more responses to the poll but some things jumped out at me and I wanted to crunch the numbers. These statistical analysis only become more accurate with more data so keep voting and if I get enough votes I'll run the math again. I'm using a chi squared test to compare the observed rates in the general population to the rates self reported on this poll. By using this test you end up with a percentage value of your differences being statically significant. So say my end value was 90%...that means I am 90% sure that there is a significant difference; but there is still a 10% chance that the difference was due to random chance and there really is no difference at all. The commonly accepted value in scientific literature is 95%. To start off with right and left handedness jumped out. I excluded the one ambidextrous answer from this data set. The rate of left-handedness in the general population is around 11%. I grouped left and cross handed left onto one group and got 37.5%. Running the chi squared I got a value of 99%. This means there is a 99% chance of there being a difference between ASD/Aspergers and NT and a 1% chance that there is no difference. This value would be accepted in a scientific journal. This indicates that it is highly likely that ASD/Aspergers individuals express left handedness more often than NT. I also found a poll on wrong planet that had similar ratios. What I was initially looking to test was the degree of cross handedness in ASD/Aspergers individuals. The problem I ran into was that the reports of cross handedness in the general population vary widely; so much so that the results cannot be accurate because this test has never been done, or isn't available in a free journal. For instance the two numbers for cross dominance in the general population I ran across were 1% and 30%. So if I use the value of 1% in the general population vs 37.5% (percentage of cross dominant left, right, plus ambidextrous) in the poll the numbers indicate a 99.99% likelihood of a significant difference. But when I use the value of 30% there is only a 35% chance of the differences being significant. When I average the two published polls and use 15.5% I get an 99% chance of the value being significant. So I conclude that more Aspies/ASD are left handed than the general population. And I suspect we express cross dominance at a higher rate, but can not be sure because the rate in the general population has not been published. Well, time for my annual Christmas party. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
edit:math

 

[kris]

That is seriously cool... makes me wonder if our clumsiness is attributed to the left handedness, poor depth perception or the asd.

Ooh.. I have a friend with diagnosed aspergers who is also a lefty. And 2 more lefty friends who I suspect are somewhere on the spectrum as well but I don't know for sure.

 

[OkRad]

I am right handed, but did a lot of things with my left on purpose. For instance, in 8th grade, for some reason, I started to write with my left hand because I figured all my life I had written with my right. It was not easy or pretty because I am truly right handed. I also was forced to do some tricks in sports that were left instead of right handed. (Sloppy coaching)

Shortly thereafter my life fell apart. Haha. I am sure they are totally unlinked, but I find that funny.

 

[Axeman52]

Strongly left handed and left footed here, although I play musical instruments right handed (wherever it applies).

 

[cory]

Strongly left handed and left footed here, although I play musical instruments right handed (wherever it applies).

I'm left handed but my music teacher had me try/learn on right handed insturments. Turns out I am right handed musically. It is a blessing bc the majority of instruments are for righties so I have access to more instruments bc I can play them rightie.

 

[cory]

I am right handed, but did a lot of things with my left on purpose. For instance, in 8th grade, for some reason, I started to write with my left hand because I figured all my life I had written with my right. It was not easy or pretty because I am truly right handed. I also was forced to do some tricks in sports that were left instead of right handed. (Sloppy coaching)

Shortly thereafter my life fell apart. Haha. I am sure they are totally unlinked, but I find that funny.

My life fell apart about 7 years ago also. It took a really long time but I'm finally back on the right track. It feels so good to have full access to my talents/mind again

 

[cory]

I am mainly right handed. My writing with my left hand is not much worse than my right hand though. It seems that things which need to be aimed, I am left handed at. Pool / snooker, archery, air gun. So far I've noticed that those things I automatically do left-handedly and I do quite well. If I try to do them right-handed it's disasterous.

I find that if I'm trying to do something new I have no idea which hand is dominant. I just pick it up and instinctually feel which side is more comfortable/dominant.

 

[cory]

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.

That is so interesting because I am a leftie but I favor my right leg. I ran track in high school for four years. I was the captain my senior year. I was a sprinter and long/triple jumper. I was absolutely right sided in the way I run and jump. I've never found a group of people who share my cross-handedness like Aspies.

 

[cory]

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??
/QUOTE]

 

[cory]

You're echoing my questions about mixed handedness. I think for people who show some sort of ambidexterity we express left and right brained textbook abilities at once. That is; we aren't as bound by what neuroscience says about skills attributed to the left or right brain. We have equal access to both. Which I see as an advantage.

 

[Jimbo]

Definitely right handed. Not at all amphibious.

 

[okamiSolus]

^amphibious haha.
I'm amphibious.

 

[Irene Helrose]

Mix-handed. I eat with my left hand, write with my right (although I can use my left if needed), use the space bar with my left...it depends on what I'm doing.

 

[kris]

I'm left handed but my music teacher had me try/learn on right handed insturments. Turns out I am right handed musically. It is a blessing bc the majority of instruments are for righties so I have access to more instruments bc I can play them rightie.

Me too! Guitar was more natural to learn righty for me.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

Right-handed.