lovinmomma Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Any tricks or suggestions to help dd10 learn her right from left? For school, I'm thinking about putting a sticker or something on her hand, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to help dd remember which is her left and which is her right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Apparently I read something to ds about thumb dominance when you grasp your hands, because he remembers whatever the results of that were and uses it to check. I think we read somewhere it's genetic, so if you clasp your hands together it will be the same thumb on top each time, making a dependable check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 DH still has trouble with this and he's in his 40's. When I tell him to go left he has to hold up both hands, put out his index and thumb to form a corner (approx 90 degrees) and see which one makes the L for left. Of course that means you have to remember which is actually the shape of an L and which is the reverse. Didn't help my kids at all. But it did help DH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 DH still has trouble with this and he's in his 40's. When I tell him to go left he has to hold up both hands, put out his index and thumb to form a corner (approx 90 degrees) and see which one makes the L for left. Of course that means you have to remember which is actually the shape of an L and which is the reverse. Didn't help my kids at all. But it did help DH. Exactly! Mine too! It's weird to me, but every single time, he has to stop and think about which way is left (though he doesn't have to hold up his hands). If we are driving, I both point and say which direction, out of habit. Just a weird glitch he has. It isn't going to change after all these decades, and it hasn't had a major effect on anything. He just has to take the extra step to think it through, rather than just respond instantly, as most of us do. I wonder if it can be taught? Or it is just an oddity that some people have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I wonder if it can be taught? Or it is just an oddity that some people have? Left/right , over/under confusion are often associated with the umbrella dx of dyslexia. I live with dyslexics. "Turn left. No, the other left." is a usual driving conversation. OP if she's right handed, I agree the write/right thing is helfpul. The L in the air thing never helped anyone here because well, letters don't look right to them either. You could also do nail art (or get nail stickers) on her thumbs. A Leaf for the left thumb, a Rose for the right thumb for ex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allyphoe Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Which one makes an L doesn't work for me, because I have a hard time telling which one makes an L (even though I never, even as a child, reversed L or had trouble reading). You write with your right doesn't help me, because unless I am have a pencil in my hand, I don't know which that is. Being an experienced driver helped me a lot, because left hand turns are much harder than right hand turns. So now I think about making a hard turn, and that direction is left. The other direction is right! (Note that it's easier for me to identify left than right - it's possible I'd have had an easier time as a kid if someone had tried to get me to reliably identify left, rather than right.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Left/right , over/under confusion are often associated with the umbrella dx of dyslexia. I live with dyslexics. "Turn left. No, the other left." is a usual driving conversation. OP if she's right handed, I agree the write/right thing is helfpul. The L in the air thing never helped anyone here because well, letters don't look right to them either. You could also do nail art (or get nail stickers) on her thumbs. A Leaf for the left thumb, a Rose for the right thumb for ex. Well, that might work. The L thing was never done here, and so far as I know, husband is certainly not dyslexic. But instead of "the other left", I say things like, "Turn right up here, while also holding my hand forward so it can be seen peripherally, and gesturing "that way". ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Instead of a sticker on one of her hands, how about a watch or a bracelet? That's a lot less stigmatizing. Even as an adult, I find myself having to "make the L", but I can't abide having things on my hand, don't even like having to wear bandaids, so that's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 I wonder if it can be taught? Or it is just an oddity that some people have? Focus Moves includes some posters/activities to work on left/right. We've done them a little, but not intensively yet. You start off by doing them gross motor and then you add in speech. Our VT (dd's) have them identify up/down/left/right for an E shape. We did it with flippers, patches, all sorts of ways, all sorts of sizes. I would assume if you did it that intensively, working on it 5-10 minutes a day for several weeks, you'd probably get a breakthrough. The Focus Moves posters were more diverse, with handslapping games where you would read the R/L and chant as you did it, gross motor (like directing planes on an aircraft carrier), etc. Those were considered more advanced posters, which is why we've only done them a dab. So there's a lot of foundation they want you to build with bilateral function before you try that. Of course if you want to work on it in isolation, maybe it will work? Just would have been a big leap for ds. Yes, we had a lot of "the other left" with dd before VT. It resolved with those up/down/left/right exercises in VT. She had bilateral issues and did OT as well. And she's not dyslexic. With ds it's a bit different. He's just sort of ungrounded spatially, so things flip and move and exist more directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberly Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/mythhandclasp.html Ok, your genetics update for the day. Apparently the idea that it's genetically based is in dispute. Never the less, it seems people do have a built in preference, whatever the explanation. And ds found it interesting enough that that's how he sorts it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I'm not sure if this will help you feel better, but I still have to hold my hands out and mutter "left, right" to myself to remember. I almost always tell people to go left when I mean right. DH and I have a standing joke, if I tell him to turn left when driving he asks if I mean my left or his. I'm left handed though. I was messed up in elementary school when the told me to "just do the opposite" for everything. :001_rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Something simple that you could try? Is to have her practice tossing something from hand to hand back and forth. Saying Left-Right-Left,etc, as she tosses it. Left and Right, are something we concieve of, as opposing points. Their is no Left without Right. Where tossing something from hand to hand, develops a stronger concept of the hands as opposing points. You could tie some beans in a small piece of clothe, and use that for tossing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Third the watch. That's the only way I ever figured it out. Until I was working in hospital in my 30s (and had to take my watch off for hygiene) I always wore it on my right hand. Now, I can feel the watch there even when it isn't, so I know. Get a tough, waterproof one. I've destroyed more watches than you can imagine. :-} I could never figure out the L thing, and I don't know which hand I write with. Drove my mother (and everyone else) nuts, until I got a watch..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arctic Bunny Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I was so happy the day when I was about 10 and discovered that my hand with a birthmark on the palm was always left. What a relief! Oddly my kids have had no issues whatsoever (they must get it from dh!), and at their young ages have already moved on to righty-tighty, lefty-loosy, which I did not "get" until I was about 30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I don't know my left from my right. My optometrist offered to enroll me in a class that would teach me. It's very expensive, so I didn't go. I'm lysdexic. If all else fails, ask the doc. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdahoHomeschooler Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Well, I'm 39 years old and still haven't nailed left from right ;) I frequently have to make the "L" with my thumb and forefinger to figure it out. When I give people driving directions, I actually use north/south/east/west, because my brain works better that way. I figure it's just one of my adhd quirks, like time blindness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest2 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I keep flipping my hands over Palm to back..which one is supposed to be left? Because the right hand makes an l with the palm up you know😃. My wedding ring is how I can tell the difference. A watch or bracelet comfortable enough to be left on all the time would work. I recently had to remove my ring and am lost again until I get it resized. For some of us, it is not something that can be learned, but we can adapt the environment to give us the cues we need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Have her study a string instrument :) OK, that might be a bit much work just to teach left and right, but to this day my right hand is my violin bow hand--that is the strongest association I have with "right". Guitar would work as well--you strum or pluck with the right hand. A trombonist works the slide with the right hand. A pianist or harpist plays the high notes with the right hand... Hey, maybe learning to play an instrument isn't such a crazy way to teach right and left differentiation after all ;) Can your DD remember which hand she holds her fork in? Which hand she writes with? Which hand she brushes her teeth with? Which hand she uses for buttons and zippers and hairbrushes? For opening doors? For holding a drinking cup? Unless she is totally ambidextrous and switches back and forth for everything, it seems there ought to be some daily activity that she so habitually uses a dominant hand for she could use it as a reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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