Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site calgary.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!alberta!calgary!cleary From: cleary@calgary.UUCP (John Cleary) Newsgroups: net.cog-eng Subject: Re: dyslexia (really handedness) Message-ID: <542@calgary.UUCP> Date: Mon, 11-Nov-85 21:51:24 EST Article-I.D.: calgary.542 Posted: Mon Nov 11 21:51:24 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Nov-85 21:05:35 EST References: <2246@iddic.UUCP> <481@cxsea.UUCP> <3508@utah-cs.UUCP> <703@osu-eddie.UUCP> <2348@flame.warwick.UUCP> Organization: University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Lines: 43 > >.... I read and write normally. However, I > >have a good bit of difficulty with right and left. This has a > >surprising effect on my desires in user-interfaces. > > Aha! somebody else has my problem... interesting that having difficulty > deciding "which one is left" might be associated with dyslexia: could some > kind cog-enger inform the net about the symptoms? > > I too read and write normally, except that many people consider that I do > both much too fast, leading to > > BTW, I'm a 26 year old bisexual English male of English/Dutch/Spanish > ancestry: have there been any studies of dyschirality (my own word for > my problem - Greek: mishandedness) itself yet? I too have similar problems. I can never remember which cars to give way to at uncontrolled intersections -- thank heavens most intersections in North America are controlled (not so in New Zealand which is my home country). I also am a fast reader and a reasonable mathematician. Interestingly my mother was completely ambidextrous and my brother had severe reading difficulties (he first learned to read at about age 14 and was then OK). I am right handed when writing however whenever I tackle a new task my choice of left/right handed is random (I iron left hande, play billiards left handed etc.) I recall results that mathematical and programming ability is in general linked to left handedness (e.g. 50% of some mathematics departments are lefthanded) I once did a quick poll of a software company I worked for, it had about 40% of some 70 people left handed. Ther was also something in a recent Science about leftpaws having larger corpus callosii(?sp). Can anyone out there give more definite pointers to literature on this? I agree about human interface difficulties with left right I find great difficulty in making the distinction especially quickly, if this is a trait shared with other computer programmers it seems like a good thing to avoid. I have Irish/Scots ancestry and I am not bisexual. John G. Cleary, Dept. Computer Science, The University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr., N.W. Calgary, Alberta, CANADA T2N 1N4. Ph. (403)220-6087 Usenet: ...{ubc-vision,ihnp4}!alberta!calgary!cleary ...nrl-css!calgary!cleary