Left or Right...

[partly]

I have a hard time processing "left"/ "right" issues. As in, when people say "Go right" I have to think -- really think -- about which way right is. I would say that more than 50% of the time... my first instinct is to go the wrong way. My daughter -- who when she was younger had the same problem -- tells me: Hold up your hands in front of you, fingers up, thumbs point toward each other; the one that looks like an L is the left. I tell her that they both look like L's to me. That's not exactly true -- it's more like, when I look at my hands side-by-side, I can't remember which way the L is supposed to go. The only way I can reliably distinguish right and left is to pretend to write. Since I know I write with my right, all is good.

I've accepted this shortcoming. People give me hell over it, and it's source of amusement for friends and family, but I can deal. The problem is, of course, that not knowing left from right is way up there on the 'dumb' scale. No matter how intelligent you are, not matter how articulate you sound, not knowing right from left wipes that all out. Head the wrong way and it's "No. Your other right." and Bam! there goes a 100 points off my IQ.

Worse than the right/left thing, though, is the switching of numbers. Take a phone number: 555-4253. If I'm reading that to someone I'm more than likely to say 555-2453. I know that's wrong -- I know it's wrong while I'm saying it, but I can't get the numbers to come out right. And when I try to fix it, the chances are that I'm going to transpose the last two numbers instead of fixing the first two. I have to stop, pause between each number or, better yet, read the numbers as pairs 'forty-two fifty-three' to get it reliably right.

I've taken to telling people that these are signs of dyslexia -- and they are.

I find that I don't transpose letters often. I do, occasionally, write a p instead of a b or a d. More than likely, I transpose entire words. I notice it most when I read aloud. I'll read the words "Jack said" as "said Jack". Is it "quickly went" or "went quickly". I really have no idea because I'm not sure which way it really is, even when I'm looking at it.

Myria has a few of these problems; it was worse when she was younger. My mom has them, too; those are getting worse as she gets older.

I'm not sure if I am dyslexic, but it's nice to have a name to give the problem.

Comments

[imbri6.livejournal.com]

Question... when giving directions, if someone says to "head north" on such-and-such a road, or that the shop you're looking for is on the east side of the street, does that make sense to you without having to think about it?

Just curious....

I'm not one for getting left/right correct very often at all, but if it's an area I know at *all* I rarely screw up east/west. I think it's odd/weird/fun how the brain works sometimes...

[partly.livejournal.com]

I don't have problems with East/West. However, I don't do street names very well, I navigate best with landmarks. So: Turn east at the Dairy Queen -- that would work best for me.

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

My sister was dyslexic and didn't figure it out until her 4th year in nursing school, by which time it was too late to fix her grades and she was dropped. I transpose stuff all the time, but it's not dyslexia, it's just a wandering brain.

[partly.livejournal.com]

Dyslexia is much quicker to be diagnosed than it used to be and this is a very good thing.

My transposing things is just a minor annoyance and I know when I'm doing it, so I can generally fix it.

I love the term "wandering brain", however. I think I'll lay claim to that, too. *grin*

[kitap.livejournal.com]

I think most people have some sort of learning quark; some are positive, some are negative, some just are.

I don't think 3-dimensionally very well; remember when we used to have to block cheese at Taco Bell? I would literally have to turn the cheese around to figure out where the second and third sets of cuts would go.

I notice that I will use a d for a b or something like that sometimes; mostly it's when I'm writing in a hurry and my thoughts (such as they are) are getting ahead of my writing.

[partly.livejournal.com]

I think most people have some sort of learning quark; some are positive, some are negative, some just are.

Very true. For those lucky enough to be able to recognize and compensate for the quark, it's never an issue.