left handed rulers etc Any good?

rachbc

drutt wrote: »

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

Screwdrivers aren't symmetrical. The standard screwdrivers you use screw clockwise to tighten and anti-clockwise to loosen. Left-handed screwdrivers are the other way round.

The same applies to left-handed corkscrews or can-openers. It's not a gimmick. There's a reason why left-handers have more accidents and it's because utensils are designed with right-handers in mind.

errrr what? its the screws that have a thread that determines which way you turn it not the screwdriver....

However me and my oh are left handed and have managed to restore a victorian house without any accidents or left handed tools!

I use standard scissors btu make sure I buy tjem without moulded handles. I am more ambidextrous than oh -I use mouse with right hand etc. We both eat the normal way but oddly rioght handed ds eats left handed lol

lisawood78

Another lefty here, the only thing I struggle with is potato peelers, but I can't use the lefty version either so I generally don't bother, and use a knife instead :-)

It's all a gimmick IMHO and not a lot of it really helps.

It wasn't fun at middle school however when they decided everyone should use a fountain pen grrrrrr.
Blotting paper, blisters and smudged work springs to mind!

bratz81

I'm left-handed and was brought up using right-handed things. There didn't seem to be a lot of left-handed things when I was growing up so I've adapted.
I do use left-handed pens, as they're so much better but that's about it. I just end up doing things 'back-to-front' to other people.

I do have trouble with the tin opener but can usually manage to get it eventually or get h2b to do it.

Oh actually, I just remembered I have a left-handed cheque book which is so much better and I have gotten left-handed notebooks before which would have been invaluable in school if they'd been around then.

RAS

We were all left handed and it is only with time that I realise how much our different skills are affected by our handedness. The extent to which we are left handed varies though.

I am actually dual handed, partly because of problems with my left arm. So I use a mouse righthanded and write left-handed, simultaneously. I can play pool or use a screw driver either handed depending on how easy access is. I cannot use left handed scissors at all, but my siblings cannot use right handed ones. My sister is incapable of using a sewing machine, because the set up is so right handed but I adapted. I knit and crochet left handed but have taught other to do it right handed, which is a struggle.

Sometimes it is confusing; I started learning something recently left handed but because of the weight and grip involved, transferred one piece of kit to my right hand to allow me better grip on heavy items with my left hand.

I really would suggest letting your left handed child try left handed tools and see how they feel, and to seek out left handed tools if you find a piece of equipment that your leftie struggles with. On the other hand it is probably a good idea to teach them to eat "normally" if possible.

Mrs_Ryan

Tin openers here :mad:

I simply cant use a tin opener full stop. I had an electric one at uni which was a godsend but it broke and I've never been able to afford to replace it. I usually have to call right-handed OH to come and open my tins for me! I'm pretty much right-handed for a lot of things, I dont use a mouse on my lappy but when I do use a mouse at work or whatever I'm right handed with it, and I'm fine with right-handed scissors.
I used to have a left-handed chequebook which was brilliant but writing cheques now is a royal PITA as Santander dont do them :mad: I grew up in a right-handed household but luckily OH is quite tolerant of me as his Mum, stepmum and stepbrother are all left-handed so if I'm struggling with something he will come and help.

bestpud

I think this should be decided on a case by case basis, personally.

My dad and my two daughters are lefties, but they differ a lot in the way they do things!

My dad uses his left hand for most things but manages to adapt right handed tools somehow. I've got to say it is painful watching him use a saw!!! He can do it very well, but it just looks wrong and I can't watch! :eek:

My eldest dd is a leftie for writing only. Pretty much everything else is done with her right hand.

However, youngest dd struggles the most as she is a definite leftie and just cannot master a veg peeler, tin opener or scissors.

That said, she can use a protractor ok(ish), but she still struggles with a ruler. She eats 'properly' but she struggles with cutting meat and things like that. She also uses a right hand computer mouse ok.

After spending a few months working one to one with her (home education), I can see she definitely needs left handed scissors, kitchen equipment and a ruler.

Gimmick or not, I see no sense in making life more difficult than it has to be.

I wouldn't just go out and get it all because she's a leftie though - look at how they cope, see if they can use right handed equipment with a bit of help and take it from there.

CallaLily

cheepskate wrote: »

Hi All

Our child is left handed. For all us right handed people its a bit difficult to imagine everything being the opposite way round- such as rulers etc.

So i was looking online and saw rulers , protractors and set squares to name just a few for left handies.

What im wondering is do they make life easier or more difficult for left handers- are they really needed and what benefits do they have.

Any left handers used these, your views would be appriciated before i go and buy them.

I'm left handed and other than scissors that I find to be a nightmare I've never felt the need to purchase anything else specifically for left handed people. I would consider buying left handed goods (Scissors, saws, etc) if I felt I needed them , but I do feel that an awful lot of companies make left handed goods to cash in on a "Disability" that does not exist.

newcook

Another lefty here!!!! the only thing I have really had a problem with is writing in books/ringbinders/spiral sided notepads etc and vegetable peelers.


apparently all left handed people had/have an identical twin even down to if its when the egg split but the other half didnt develop!


forgot to add - I struggled with can openers until I was a teenager and my mom bought one with chunky arms/turners which made it easier to turn with my 'weak' hand. I have also found that doing arm and hand excercises helped strengthen the right hand to use 'everyday' things.

newcook

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.

even though I have always eaten with a fork in my left and knife in my right I always used to set the table 'backwards'! I used to have my stepmom follow me round the dining table putting it right!!!

gilly1964

Most of my family are left handed - except DS who is a bit of a muddle

The only everyday thing we really struggle with is eating with a spoon - this must be with the left hand or we seem to miss our mouth :rotfl:

Me
Badminton - right hand
Tennis - left hand
Table Tennis - either
Pool, Snooker - left hand
Throwing - left hand
Knitting - right hand
Crochet - right hand
Sewing - left hand
Mouse - right hand

Brother
Ice Hockey - right hand
Golf - right hand
Pool, snooker - left hand
Throwing - left hand
Mouse - left hand

DS
Writing - right hand
Badminton - left hand
Pool, snooker - left hand

My Mum and Dad
Everything had to be left handed, but they just adapted as when they were growing up there was no alternative.