Is anyone else ambidextrous?

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Lucky Star
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Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Lucky Star »

I have found that I am ambidextrous. I often switch hands when I'm writing if one hand gets tired. And in college when there were only left handed scissors available, I used them instead. I had to ask which hand was left before I used the scissors, but I used them perfectly fine.

So, are there any other ambidextrous people on here?
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Moot
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Moot »

Not for writing. I can use my left hand to do stuff like iron, which I thought was normal, yet my mum seemed surprised I can use it to do such things (she is lefty).
Hopefully not making too many moot points... heh... *ahem* :D
Jim
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Jim »

My early diagnosis as a child suggests that I am ambidextrous and to a large extent I am. However not to the extent that I can comfortably use my left hand for writing or using scissors and I definitely can't play snooker left handed. (I've got a reason stance and cuing action for my right though)

But I do have poorly defined hand and foot dominance. In that for most tasks I can use either hand, although there is a slight basis towards the right hand, my left hand still gets a plentiful look in on several activities like opening doors, using keys, cutlery, utensils etc.

Also in spite of my less than desirable hand eye co-ordination which made playing ball games rather difficult, I could use either foot with equal comfort or success to play football, and I could alternate between my feet with no problem. I still sucked at football overall :blush: but I don't worry about that because I don't care for it anyway. :banana:
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TCE
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by TCE »

I used to be ambidextrous when I was a kid. But I broke my right arm and then could only use my left hand for writing. So I'm left handed now, but my hand-writing is terrible lol. I use my right hand for other things still though.
JohanMidas
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by JohanMidas »

I've always considered myself right handed, but when I undertook an assessment for dyslexia and dyspraxia the pegboard test for fine motor skills suggested I have slightly better control with my left hand than my right. The exact text is as follows:
On the Hull University pegboard test, XXX obtained below average scores for fine
motor speed and fine motor dexterity when using his preferred right hand. However,
his non-preferred hand was faster than his preferred hand for both tasks. This finding
suggests the possibility of there being some anomalies in his laterality or cerebral
dominance, i.e. in most individuals one side of the brain becomes dominant over the
other for most skilled motor and language tasks, whereas in individuals who are
ambidextrous, or who are more adept at many tasks when using their non-preferred
hands, there can be less differentiation between the two hemispheres of the brain than
is usually the case. This difference in the way that the brain is organised can be
associated with dyslexia and with difficulty with the learning of literacy skills.
I'm not sure whether this was partly due to being tested with the right hand first, so I'd had more practice with the task by the time it came to doing it with the left hand. However I assume in someone who has clear dominance this would not have mattered.
So, apparently I'm ambidextrous.
(Given the choice, it's still better to write left to right as that's the way we read.)
maria
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by maria »

I'm predominantly right-handed and until I figured I was dyspraxic I was often puzzled by how many times people commented "Oh, are you left-handed?" because, without realising it, I automatically did things the left-handed way. When I was ten a left-handed girl in my class showed me how to knit (because I couldn't make sense of it when right-handed people tried to demonstrate! :grin: ). I used to sew left-handed too (we did very basic embroidery patterns in the juniors) and have a clear memory of trying to decide whether I should be left or right-handed when I grew up!

My wrists tire easily so I swap hands when I'm ironing or cleaning windows or mixing something in a bowl. And I always look for a check-out on my left because I find it easier to pack my shopping left-handed.
Willr0490
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Willr0490 »

I am mostly right - handed (for things like writing) but I can do some things using my left hand - like cutting my finger nails on my right hand, so I suspect that I might be ambidextrous.
JohanMidas
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by JohanMidas »

I just found this:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15513093

Weak hand preference is a predictor of DCD (dyspraxia).

I think it just means we have more balanced brains (as well as less balanced bodies).
Pooky
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Pooky »

Yes I am. I often swap cutlery around without realising.
gothicsmurf
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by gothicsmurf »

I use my left hand for writing, but everything else I do with my right hand, including using scissors. I do switch hands when one gets tired/sore. I put this down to the fact that I broke my right arm at 3 years old, at the time I was just learning my preferred writing hand.
krooju
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by krooju »

I write with my left (and sew), but do most other things with my right (using a mouse, using a spoon, ironing, crocheting &c), and when I attempt to play racquet sports I am equally good (read: bad) with both. I co-ordinate my right arm slightly better than my left (no left hand high-fives here...). Often my instant reflex to try and catch something prompts both sides to move... so weak dominance / confused for sure. I think just from practice my left is slightly better. Happily post-the-school-environment-of-death, I can avoid all of the activities that really make my head go funny about sides...
George H
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by George H »

I am mostly right-handed when writing (that's handwriting as I use both hands to type this message), and I am mostly right-handed with other activities. I write with my left hand a bit like someone who has just started school, rather than someone who is a doctor!

Strangely, I can click my fingers a lot better with my left hand better than my right hand.

And I used to copy that "salute" thing that Ted Rogers used to do with his fingers on 3-2-1 back in the 1980s better with my left-hand. If you look at old editions of that show, you will find that Ted used to do that with his right hand mostly, yet I can do that better with my left hand.
maria
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by maria »

Just read the rather interesting fact that Paul Simon plays guitar right-handed and writes right-handed but is actually left-handed with everything else! :)
OneClumsyDragon
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by OneClumsyDragon »

I'm left-handed but I do swap often. That doesn't mean I'm great at using my right hand though :-p

I think lefties might be better at using their right hands than right handed people are at using their left, because we've had to adapt a little more
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Ynahdc
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Re: Is anyone else ambidextrous?

Post by Ynahdc »

Yes to some extent.
I use whichever hand feels most comfortable and rarely check whether it is left or right.
So for example I play the guitar left handed. And I didn't realise the guitar I had been given was left handed. I picked a right handed one up and hated it.
I would say my right hand is better for writing but I can most definitely write with my left hand. I don't know why but for some strange reason out of pure boredom I would often write backwards in mirror writing.
I can write with ease this way. I could write an entire story at the exact same pace as I would normally write.
I also only eat with my knife in my left hand.
It's quite handy actually in table tennis as I can switch hands with ease and confuse my opponent completely. It drives them nuts haha.
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