Austen Whibley, of Silver Spring, Md., doesn’t mind that she’s different. The 10-year-old likes being among the roughly 13 percent of people in the world who are left-handed. It gets her noticed. Her friends say, “Wow, you can really write with your left hand? That’s cool.”

Austen is different in another way, too. More boys than girls are left-handed.

No one knows for sure what causes people to favor one hand over the other. But what is clear is that left-handed people cope in a world designed for right-handers. And it isn’t always easy.

Throughout history, left-handedness has been connected with negative things. For example, the English word “sinister,” which means “threatening,” comes from the Latin word for “left-hand side.” And the English word “gauche” (pronounced GO-SSH), which means “awkward” and “graceless,” comes from the French word for “left.”

But lefties like to celebrate who they are. And on Wednesday they’ll be celebrating International Left-Handers Day, which began more than 30 years ago.

It’s a day to think about the challenges that left-handers face in seemingly simple everyday tasks such as cutting with regular scissors.

Another challenge they face is writing with a pen. Because Austen’s hand follows what she has just written, the wet ink is more likely to smear.

“Sometimes I wish I could write with my right hand,” she says.

Some friends told her they read that right-handers live longer, but Austen says, “I’m not too worried. I think it depends how well you take care of yourself.”

Not everyone likes the attention of being a lefty.

Deorein Dukes, of Silver Spring, who’s 11, was the only left-handed person in his class one year. Classmates called him “weird,” he says. “I felt bad. They asked me if I tried to write with my right hand. I said yes, but said it feels better with my left hand.”

“It’s a little awkward when you see a lot of other people writing right-handed,” says Kody Mayers, 15 , of Laurel, Md., a lefty who throws a football right-handed.

Left-handedness can run in families. Deorein’s dad, sister and brother are lefties. So is Kody’s younger brother.

Zach Lawhorn, of Gaithersburg, Md., pitches, bats and snowboards as a lefty, but writes with his right hand. He can shoot a basketball with either.

“Using both hands is an advantage,” says Zach, 132. “If I get bored with one hand, I can use the other.”

How does he switch back and forth so effortlessly?

“I just use whatever comes naturally.”

When he was little, Zach couldn’t throw very far using his right hand, so his dad suggested he try his left. He did, and threw much farther and faster.