Answer "right / left" question is not automatic. I always have to think. I imagine pointing from my shoulder through my arm in the direction I'm thinking. (Perhaps every one does this.) I just know there's a small mental pause.

Interesting, I have that problem as well, also with compass directions (I often have to visualize a map to be sure I know whether I want to go "east" or "west" on a road. Also mentioned elsewhere on this page I transpose numbers a lot. I have no trouble reading though, and was a fairly avid reader when I was younger (don't have time for pure reading for pleasure much these days).