Left-handers are well-organized worldwide with established groups on Facebook. The LEFT-HANDERS CLUB and EVERYTHING LEFT-HANDED are two such Facebook groups. Many of the Facebook postings either extol the virtues of being left-handed or complain about how a world arranged for the right-handed inconveniences those who are left-handed. Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the difficulties left-handers face when they write. For example, ring binders and ringed notebooks have rings on the left side that interfere with left-handed writing. Also, the left hand glides over the words while writing leaving ink or carbon stains on the little fingers of left-handers as they write.
In 2005, I was interviewed about a “Leftolution” occurring at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Students were protesting the absence of chairs with left-sided desks in classrooms. Most university classrooms are dominated in numbers by chairs with desks that extend from the right side. There may be one or two left-sided desk chairs in a classroom but frequently all desk chairs are right-sided and left-handers are forced to write class notes without the support of a desk under their writing arm.
Many university students use electronic devices to take notes and, here at Penn State, many classrooms have tables rather than individual desk chairs, so I thought the right-sided bias in classroom desks was rapidly becoming a non-issue for left-handers. Apparently, I am wrong because the recent postings on Facebook indicate that left-handers still view the rightward desk bias as both a major inconvenience and an impediment to academic performance. Also, left-handers are quick to point out that there are right-sided biases in computer keyboard and mouse design. They still have to adapt to a right-sided world regardless of the note-taking method. It seems for left-handers the more things change the more they stay the same…awkward and inconvenient. However, there is hope because computer accessories and other products are being designed specifically for left-handers. Check out www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk.
