anyone have problems with left and right?

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I've always had a problem distinguishing right from left, especially when giving directions. I'll often say, "Oh, such-and-such will be on the left," when I mean "right." I often have to shake my hands in the direction I'm trying to tell someone to go, so I will say the correct one. I'm not as bad with left and right as I used to be. I was abysmal at telling the two apart as a child. Now, I tend to only have problems when I'm forced to talk about left and right from a different direction than the one I'm facing (such as giving directions). I have absolutely awful visual-spatial skills, so mental rotation of objects has never been a strength of mine. What I have more trouble with than left vs. right is clockwise vs. counterclockwise. I still cannot judge which way to turn things to loosen them or whatever. I just have to use trial and error. And when I'm forced to tell clockwise from counterclockwise, I always have to draw a circle in the air several times before I say my answer. Needless to say, organic chemistry was not my strong suit...
-OddDuckNash99-

I never thought it relevant that I had trouble with left and right. But to figure it out I ask myself which hand I pick up a pen with. It is much faster than thinking about the L shape on your finger and thumb. Try it. Think pick up a pen. My right hand tries to move instantly. I also "block the signal" so my hand doesn't move but that probably isn't required. So what if your hand twitches a bit.

ttyl

Sometimes I think I'm the person who inspired "no, your other left". I was even more confused when I worked in theater with "stage right" and "stage left". But I seem to have been born knowing cardinal directions -- although it helps that the mountain range here is to the north, I go running at dawn so I know where the sun comes up, I walk my cat at sunset so I know where it goes down, and when it is clear enough, we can see the ocean to the south. Usually when I go somewhere else, I establish my reference points quickly.

I was about to say, the main question in this thread doesn't mean much unless you also ask whether I'm a righty, lefty or ambi.

I'm a strong righty, and have never had trouble with right and left. Or with turning screws.
North/south/east/west is another story. Turn a corner and I'm lost again.
I'm in New Jersey... too many trees to see the mountains and stuff.

Yes. I have no trouble finding my way around or returning where I've been, but left/right makes no sense to me. I don't know where north/south/east/west is, but at least it refers to something less changeable and with a compass you could tell. If I have to give directions (not often), I point, because I don't use left/right and I never remember landmarks or street names.

I don't think whether left or right hand or both makes any difference, I am very strongly right-handed and don't easily twist a doorknob with left hand but never remember left and right.

On the skin between your thumb and your forefinger?

Yep, I easily am confused about which way is left and right, but like others have said, can tell which way is north fairly accurately(I'd say about 95% of the time I can guess north within about 20 degrees.) I would also have to say large cities throw that feeling off, because recently I have gone to Washington D.C. and New York City, and both times I couldn't figure out which way I was facing, and it got to the point where I was extremely frustrated to be blind to what direction I was headed.

I am also awful when it comes to left and right. Being right handed the "pick up pen" trick (though worded... if you can even say that... differently in my own mind) that Programmer stated works for me. Only problem is that I have to click my brain into the correct gear in order to even ask myself the pen question to answer the left or right question. Too many steps for what NT's consider a simple question.

I also have isues with my right and my left. I have to start "writing" my nme in cursive with my right hand to remember which is which. My Dad has problems with this too, and we laughed over it as he taught me to drive.

When I was a kid I used to draw a little dot in marker on the back of my left hand, just a dot so people thought it was a birthmark.

I have a little scar on my left hand that I've had nearly forever and that's sometimes what I have to look at to tell left from right. Sometimes when someone refers to left or right I have to stop and think and I feel like a ret*d

I always go the opposite way when i'm trying to reverse my directions. its not that I don't know left or right, just that I feel I should be turning left when if I had remembered correctly I'd have been turning right

Wow, it sounds like this is for sure connected to Aspergers. I still have to think for a longer time than anyone I know about my left and right, but I've always tried to hide it by doing a tic at the same time or something (I have tourettes syndrome also).

Yes I have this problem. Have to look at my hands to know where left is. I think this problem is related to non-verbal learning disabilities and not to aspergers syndrom. But many people with aspergers syndrom also have non-verbal learning disabilites.