Can anyone direct me to a good site for purchasing left-handed products that are reasonably priced? I have been looking for over a year with no success. I'm not interested in exotic expensive items, just basic things like measuring tapes, rulers, measuring cups, etc., the everyday items that are so frustrating to we lefties. With five of us in the family any help would be very appreciated.
By glenda eileen lockhart from Nova Scotia
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MY ex-husband and three out of four of my grandkids are left handed and have never had any special supplies for left handed people. They made it through school and my "ex" does carpentry as a second job, his main job is law enforcement.
Google "lefthanded gadgets" and you'll see many sites.
Being a southpaw myself, there are some gadgets and tools I have found I cannot do without. For example, I was given a left handed can opener as a wedding gift twenty some odd years ago. My dad used to get me left handed notebooks for school when I was a kid...now you can actually find top bound spiral notebooks in just about every store.
When my left handed can opener finally quit on me, I HAD to get another. It took me a while to find one, but I've been hooked on this site ever since!
(editing to add more sites)
You can also try these sites too!
www.sinistershop.com/
www.lefthandedcompliments.com/
and don't forget to always check:
www.amazon.com/
Many things can simply be turned, flipped, or rotated to be left-handed. They make a left-handed painter's pallet, but that's silly. Just turn a regular pallet over. They make left-handed spiral bound notebooks, but I found top-bound ones that don't cost an arm and a leg and are available at any office supply store. But I have found I really loved my left-handed can opener, so when it died I just had to replace it. You can do a search on Amazon.com for many kitchen supplies/tools that are specifically left-handed. But most aren't necessary.
But Jessica is completely correct, we do process information "backwards" , or just differently than most right-handed people. At least that's what I've noticed. We're left-handed, but we're also right-brained. So we tend to see things in visual terms. We can actually "picture" a problem in our heads faster. Many lefties are also mildly dyslexic. That has a lot to do with how we process information. I tend to do complex math equations in my head, but I'm flummoxed on how to "show my work." I actually had a college calculus professor accuse me of cheating because my processes didn't make sense to him.
What's really odd about me is that even though I'm predominantly left-handed, I actually utilize both sides of my brain fairly equally. I am an artist as well as a law student. I can do complex math which is really useful when I do community theatre productions, because I enjoy the tech work.
Somethings are completely right-hand oriented, those things us lefties just have to either get used to it, or we train our right hands to accomplish minor tasks. I can't write with my right hand, but in a pinch I can use my right hand with scissors, although it's rather uncomfortable.
Thanks for the advice! Some of the suggested sites don't sell to Canadians. What did help was googling "lefthanded gadgets". I've tried entering "lefthanded products" before but gadgets seemed to be the key word. Other lefties will understand that we are adaptable by necessity but there are some things in our lives that would be so much easier to use if they were made to suit our "backward" needs. For some reason I can't stop myself from using measuring cups, rulers, and measuring tapes upside down or right handed and then have to switch them. I don't need left handed chopsticks or pencils but there are a few things that would make my life a little easier. If right handed people were to spend one day using their left hand only they would appreciate what we daily cope with. Again, thanks for the tips!
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I am wondering what, if any, specialty products for lefties are really necessary. My dad is left-handed and surprisingly not one but both of my of my kids are, too. I've never dealt with left-handed products and don't even know what is out there other than scissors. I'm wanting to figure out what I might need to buy before we really need them. Thanks for your help.
By Jessica
I'm left-handed and I have never needed any special products. It's really up to your child whether or not they need to use left-handed products. The only thing that was really helpful was when I got to college and I requested a left-handed desk because it was more comfortable to take notes in class. The hardest part about being left-handed is that we tend to think backwards when we are processing information and there is no tool for that. I don't even use left-handed scissors. (03/24/2010)
By Lydia
I asked my lefty son, and he said that having lefty scissors was very important. He also commented that spiral notebooks for right handed people were annoying.
I asked him about making do with right handed supplies. He told me that this depends on how evenly handed you were (I made that word up). Some people are very left handed and some a bit more ambidextrous. That makes sense.
By Holly
I have two left handed sons, and they did use lefty scissors. There are also kids scissors that can be used in either hand, and work well. Some lefty kids learn to use right handed scissors because it is such a nuisance to have special ones. However, I wanted to add that your child may not be left handed in everything.
My boys did fine motor things, like cutting, holding a spoon, holding a pencil, cutting bread (as an adult) with their left hand, but large motor skills like throwing, catching a baseball, batting, holding a hockey stick were done right handed. We were very surprised to find this out. (03/25/2010)
By Louise B.
lefthandedportal.com (03/26/2010)
By Dana Hull
Left handed products are needed. I struggled in school. In order to write I had to sit sideways to write. I couldnt write in chalk board, hard to use regular scissors. So yes they are needed
