left handed rulers etc Any good?

SingleSue

I am left handed and have never used anything adapted for a left handed person, I even used a mouse on the right hand side!

Mind you, being left handed was rather frowned upon when I started at school, the teacher snatching the paint brush out of my left hand and putting it in my right.....I promptly painted the teacher and the surrounding area whilst saying I couldn't control it...they let me use my left hand after that.

Savvy_Sue

drutt wrote: »

Aha, you really are right-handed in a right-handed world, huh?!

LittleMissAspie is also non-NT in an NT world (neuro-typical).

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Screwdrivers are symmetrical.

I suspect they could have a contoured handle which would feel more comfortable in one hand rather than the other, but I've never found one like that. However, rather than the original comment being sarcastic, I think it was a joke. The kind of joke my Dad used to like to try on unsuspecting children, like "can you phone the zoo and see if Mr C Lion is there for me?" Getting us to go and try to buy a left-handed screwdriver would have given him great delight.

DVardysShadow wrote: »

There are also definite conventions in maps and all sorts of coordinate systems, which are handed. So it is better to have an ordinary ruler, rather than one he has to turn upside down to use - else it will confuse the hell out of him and any right handed teacher who tries to help.

That was rather my thought: our writing and reading system goes from left to right, so having rulers which go in the opposite direction is going to make life interesting.

We have a couple of lefties in the house. I have one of those breadknives where you can set a guard to keep the slices a consistent thickness. That's impossible for them! And DS3 likes a potato peeler with one of those 'Good Grips' handles. I can't get on with it at all ...

paddedjohn

If left handed people sit on their left hand does it feel like their right?

Hetty17

In a right-handed world, left-handers learn to use right-handed tools. And for most of us, and most tools, it's rarely a problem. But sometimes (and it differs from person to person) it feels much more natual to use the left-handed version - quicker, easier and more "dextrous". So, I'd recommend that people (including children) experiment with left-handed tools for tasks they do a lot, and where greater expertise is important to them.

I'm capable of using right-handed scissors, but it's easier to do a better job with left-handed ones; drawing lines with a ruler that goes in the "right" direction is more straightforward; I'm quicker and less likely to make mistakes with a left-handed tape measure; preparing food is safer and quicker with a left-handed knife. And so on.

But I only use the left-handed kit where it makes a significant difference, and you do have to make the mental "gear-change", to stop adapting to right-handedness (particularly so with scissors).

It's also fun watching a right-handed person try to use a left-handed corkscrew.

getmore4less

shy-but-need-help wrote: »

I have a family member who always sets the table for me back to front as she seems to think left handed means I'd cut with the other hand, the first time she did it I was genuinely confused as I'd never come across anyone left handed who didn't have knife in right, fork in left like right handed people do.

When eating fork left, knive right and cut things that way

When just cutting knive left.

Decent knives blades are mostly symetrical if sharpend correctly there are a few that are sided, bread being the most common as are other serated types which will not work left handed so best avoided and go for non serated.

writing left,
throwing right,
batting

• left one handed eg tennis
• right 2 handed eg cricket,golf hockey

scizzors left
cans right
mouse left
power tools left, this can be a real problem and potentialy dangerous

Jo_F

I'm left handed, brought up in a right handed world, and was at school at a time when they tried to 'encourage' you to use your right hand.

My biggest problem was learning to write, but that was because I watched a world of right handed people, so I wrote backwards, as I was doing what they do, and writing 'across' my body, so I wrote from right to left, but was soon taught to write the correct way round, I also don't hold a pen in that strange way that some left handed people do.

I do pretty much everything the right handed way, the only thing I ever struggled with was fountain/cartridge pens, writing in a file folder/thickish book and cheque books.

Both of my kids are right handed, and for some reason have always favoured the left handed way of having their cutlery.

skipsmum

flora48 wrote: »

My now adult son is a leftie and we made v little concession to this through his childhood. He eats right handed as I always set the table that way and uses regular scissors. The one thing he has discovered he needs is a left handed potato peeler. He was chuffed when he got a LH cheque book and he sets his mouse to LH use. We live in a right handed world and if we make too many adaptions we make it more difficult for our children. No doubt some psychologist will tell me that I have caused irrevocable damage to him!!

I was made to eat right handed so what I actually do is hold things down with my knife and tear at them haphazardly with my fork

pollyskettle

My eldest daughter is left handed and the only concession we made for her was a special pen thing my OH found. I think the ink dried quickly so her work wouldn't smudge. She lost it a while ago though and we didn't get her another one.

I'm right handed for writing but am cack handed (as my grandmother used to call me) for a lot of other things. Particularly playing tennis!

greatgimpo

I have a genuine left handed hammer.

It's an American claw hammer where the handle is of a semi rigid rubber, moulded to fit in the palm of the left hand. It has an 'L' moulded into the base.

AprilLady

Like lots of other people on this thread, I've just learned to adapt to things. I can't actually use left handed scissors! I remember being frustrated when we had to play hockey at school and the sticks were the wrong way round for left handers - just made P.E. even more unbearable!!
Another thing I've struggled with was the chairs with arm rests/desks attached at uni. Often there would only be a couple of left handed ones and you'd have to wander around the room looking for them. I gave up in the end and just stretched over to my pad of paper on the right hand side!