Directionally Challenged/Getting Lost

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Time and space are both tough for me. When I was a kid, my mom thought I might actually never learn how to tell time, and my dad thought I might end up being slow in school because of how much trouble I had learning this skill. Although I can now tell time, I have a lot of trouble perceiving its passage accurately, and making predictions about how long something will take.

Last edited by LostInSpace on 29 May 2008, 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The person who evaluated me for NLD was surprised when I described my difficulty with finding my way around as "disabling," but it often is. I struggle with disorientation in my environment every day, and it presents a major hurdle when I depart from my daily routine. If my rote memory weren't so awesome, it would be even more difficult, as I am able to use my verbal memory to learn my daily routes by rote.

Getting a GPS a couple of years ago has made a big difference, but my deficits in visual processing mean that I still run into problems, as it can be hard for me to link up street signs with the actual streets, or to relate what I see on the GPS screen to what is in front of me.

Yes. I get lost easily and have a very poor sense of direction. I also have dyscalculia, so I think it's all related in how my brain processes things.

I can read maps just fine, but, yeah, I do tend to get disoriented with more than a few turns and often finding my way back in an unfamiliar environment is a matter of systematically checking each possible path to see if it looks familiar (I even got disoriented at my own condo complex!).

double post ftl

Last edited by Sedaka on 29 May 2008, 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

i get lost all the time

lived in eugene OR for 3 yrs and never learned my way around.... i had places i could get to in some sort of round about way....

and i feel bad for my parents when i was learning to drive growing up.... countless times of me phoning home while im alone in my car and lost... having to have my parents google a map for me and get me somewhere that i know. all the while... i'm blubbering like a baby.

I get lost all the time. Even when I was living in a place where I've lived for 10 years and could probably navigate in my sleep, when I'm the one driving or saying where to go, I have no clue. I get really nervous about where I am and usually end up making a wrong turn or end up just going back home.

What really sucks for me with locations is with my job, I have to "re-shop" which is put all the stuff that people bring to the register but don't buy back, and it takes me forever to find where things are, even if I KNOW where they are supposed to go. Customers ask me where things are located and I freeze, I can't even explain how to get to an item although I know where it is.

For some reason however, I can navigate every mall I've ever been to perfectly. Maybe that's just the women in me searching for the shoe shops though.

I have to do the re-shops oftentimes too and it does seem to take me awhile even though I know where they go. Of course, part of that is just me getting easily side-tracked...meaning I see something and stop to look at it (or front it, I'm obsessing about fronting the shelves) and then suddenly remember I was supposed to putting this insole back in the footcare...

I can always find my way!! ! I have a hard time giving directions.

Another funny habit I have that people find strange is when they stop to ask me for directions in the street. I'm not all that good at explaining how to get somewhere, and if I'm not doing anything else, I offer to lead them there. I don't get why, but people don't often take me up on that.
I mean for instance... someone stops me and asks where the British Museum is, and I'll say "I'm going that way anyway, so just follow me" ... but apparently they don't want to do that, even if it is the easiest way. o_0; ... I mean, I've learnt to walk at the pace of other people, so I don't go too fast or too slow... and I usually know the best route to get places.

I can never find my way around urban or suburban places because there are too many roads and signs and buildings in the way. They confuse me. I'm also terrible at giving directions. The more I know about where something is, the worse I feel about not being able to help.

yes, when somebody says "go north and then make a right then west" I'm completely lost! I avoid the highway, but use the expressway.

You ever been checked for CAPD Central Auditory Processing Disorder? I was diagnosed with that and what you describe is the symptoms of it.

Yeah I get lost easily. I totally don't understand verbal directions like go north 2 blocks. How in the world can you tell where north is without a compass?

Just two weeks ago I got lost. I was out with friends in the desert. I thought I had found my way out and was headed the right direction to get back to the car. But I wasn't. I was headed in the exact opposite direction and finally discovered this when I got up on a hill and could see my friends way off in the distance with their hands on their hips. I was too embarrassed to admit yes I got lost. But I got brain damage really bad so darn it that should be a good enough reason for getting lost. I was near panic mode almost to the point of crying because I was hot, tired, thirsty and starting to get sunburned on my head because I didn't bring a hat. I was so upset that I didn't realize that I had lost my jacket that I had tied around my waist. I only realized that after I thought of putting the jacket over my head to stop the sunburn, but then realized my jacket was gone. I ended up putting the bag over my head I had with me. My friend found my jacket though so that was good. They were mad at me for making them wait. I hate having brain damage.

Thank God for Yahoo! Maps. You can drive me over the same route a million times and I won't remember how we got there. If I drive it myself, it still takes at least a half-dozen trips to get it memorized, during which time I must carry written directions, or I'll get lost every time. I look forward to the day when GPS is standard for all vehicles.

I do get the time thing, too, my internal alarm clock is accurate to within a few minutes even when I've been drinking.

Just don't do mapquest.... I swear they give the most f'd up directions. i.e., roads that no longer exist, having you make 500 turns when you could just get on a different expressway... (keeping in mind the only reason I know this is from my navigational husband who can thankfully find anything).