Can't tell where people are pointing

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Does anyone else have issues telling where people are pointing?

If someone points at something that's farther away than a foot or two, I usually can't tell what they're trying to get me to look at. People eventually have to bring me directly whatever it is to bring my attention to it. I find it hard to follow their gaze and where they're pointing, process everything in the area being pointed at, and then pick out specifically what they're showing me.

I also have problems with pointing to show others things. I prefer to just bring them over to it and touch it to make sure they get what I'm showing them.

People are always bewildered by the fact that I can't tell where they're pointing and it makes me embarrassed. I've had problems with this since I was a toddler, and sometimes I get frustrated at myself and just ignore what people are trying to show me so I don't have to struggle to figure it out, especially if I'm already stressed out or overstimulated.

I am now picturing driving my car with my bride sitting next to me....

"GO THAT WAY!" With a point. And she should've learned by now there's no point in doing that. I don't know what she's pointing to.

I'm legitimately glad that I'm not the only one with an issue like this. I always hear about autistic people having problems pointing to show others things, but rarely anything about us having issues with others pointing, unless it's phrased as if we just somehow don't notice and/or care about it. I do notice when other people point and will try hard to figure out what they're showing me, I just can't tell where they're pointing.

Here comes some blatant, unfounded speculation. Attach weight to it at your own risk.

I sometimes wonder whether some of the problem is that Aspies want "definitely correct" but NTs will settle for "probably good enough". So the NTs are more comfortable with imprecision because often their guesses will be right...and "often" isn't what I want.

My kids have trouble with this, too. It helps if they come stand next to me so they can "sight" down my arm... Otherwise we just have to direct them to it. "Go forward. Forward. Turn left. Now bend down. Stick out your hand. There!"

Most at the time.

It's not just the pointing fingers apparently, it also involves some eye contact and angling that from the pointing finger.
That's not what my instinct does, nor what I'd do first or at all.

Heck, it's almost just as worse when pointing with lips are involved.


I also don't get it why not just they hand it to me or something.
Or even the point of asking me to pass stuff to them when they could easily just get up and reach it at all.

Maybe it's almost like small talk. Except it's functional? Except it's not necessarily practical. It's annoying when it's unnecessary. It's not like they're not abled bodied.

"On/in/at/etc. the X" they say. I say "Which??" "Where?" Or even "What??"

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Honestly it helps when people tell you what they are pointing at.

I also have a hard time with that. Even when people are telling me what they're pointing at, I still can't tell.