Navigational Problem
Anybody else have problems with learning/remembering directions? I do have a GPS, (and it's been a godsend,) however, when it runs out of power.... I'm pretty much screwed. Trying to remember landmarks doesn't always work, either, unless it's a unique one. If I hear "it's next to McDonald's," that doesn't help me...there are just too many of them around. I'm not ignorant, but I am often made to feel that I am by the people in my life because of this. I have attended college and carried a GPA of 4.0 for two years, which is a giant leap from my grade school/high school years, where my grades went up and down consistently. I'm getting off track here, so, back to my original question....would like to hear from others who have this problem.
Oh, yes, I have been officially diagnosed, (in the fall of 1996), predominantly innattentive type ADHD. In the third grade I was put on a drug for my attention problems, and whatever I was prescribed made a huge difference in my performance scholastically, but for some reason after a few weeks I was taken off the drug. (It was the 60's, and I guess my parents were skeptical of drugs, even the one that obviously worked for me.)
Oh, yes, I have been officially diagnosed, (in the fall of 1996), predominantly innattentive type ADHD. In the third grade I was put on a drug for my attention problems, and whatever I was prescribed made a huge difference in my performance scholastically, but for some reason after a few weeks I was taken off the drug. (It was the 60's, and I guess my parents were skeptical of drugs, even the one that obviously worked for me.)
Tags: directions, getting, learning, lost, navigation
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kati on -
I just say that I am Directionaly challanged and when I look forward to me that is always North. My dad says well look were the Sun rises.. and then I ask my dad well what if it is Dark outside..!!! LOVE GPS!!
It is just like I can't tell time unless there are numbers on the clock or digital.
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Permalink Reply by Vee on
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I live on an island and the buildings around me while I'm driving are what confuse me. If I can see the water then I pretty much can orient myself to where I am. Otherwise...ugh! I hate getting lost, it's soooo embarrassing.
Kati said:I just say that I am Directionaly challanged and when I look forward to me that is always North. My dad says well look were the Sun rises.. and then I ask my dad well what if it is Dark outside..!!! LOVE GPS!!
It is just like I can't tell time unless there are numbers on the clock or digital.
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Permalink Reply by Heather B. on -
Oh my gosh, I can so relate. My dad lives two hours away from us. He has lived two hours away from us for approximately 25 years. During this 25 years I have driven to see him at least once a year, sometimes up to 5/6 times a year. I still get lost. Last summer, I drove up and actually found myself in a different state! My, then, 6-year-old was in the back seat and saw the sign saying, "Welcome to Michigan." It was awful. I turned around at the first off ramp and soon saw the sign, "Welcome to Ohio." So, (this was classic) my daughter says, "Man, mom, Michigan is small."
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Permalink Reply by Heather B. on
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I forgot to add ... After my Michigan trip, I came home and printed the Google directions to my Dad's house and put them into my glovebox. I'm planning on getting a smart phone so I can look up directions on the Web if need be. I've gotten lost to many, many of my daughter's soccer games and felt, still feel, awful about it. And, my youngest now asks, frequently, "Mom, are we still in Ohio?" I laugh and cry at the same time.
AND ... I'm 41, have lived in the same town my entire life and it took me until about the age of 30 to remember street names and North, South, East and West in relation to where I live. I've always been good, however, at remembering routes, sometimes just by instinct alone. I can remember landmarks and houses easily instead of street signs. I think maps should show images of stuff like "Turn at the old white farmhouse with the dog chained outside and the broken down tractor in the yard." I think I was 20 before I really understood how to read a clock or know my left from my right. Yet, I graduated cum laude from college. So weird.
Heather
Heather B. said:Oh my gosh, I can so relate. My dad lives two hours away from us. He has lived two hours away from us for approximately 25 years. During this 25 years I have driven to see him at least once a year, sometimes up to 5/6 times a year. I still get lost. Last summer, I drove up and actually found myself in a different state! My, then, 6-year-old was in the back seat and saw the sign saying, "Welcome to Michigan." It was awful. I turned around at the first off ramp and soon saw the sign, "Welcome to Ohio." So, (this was classic) my daughter says, "Man, mom, Michigan is small."
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I know the feeling! If I don't drive a particular route often (I will forget most routes until I have driven them frequently) it's like I have to learn a new route all over again. Nothing looks the same and everything looks the same, that's my motto! It's nice the few times I actually find something without too much trouble. It seems like it would be such a simple thing...but don't you just revel in the successful trips, it's like you climbed Mount Everest! As paralyzing as the failures are, the victories are so much sweeter when they do happen!
Thanks, Kati...it really helps to know I'm not alone in this aspect! : )
Heather B. said:Oh my gosh, I can so relate. My dad lives two hours away from us. He has lived two hours away from us for approximately 25 years. During this 25 years I have driven to see him at least once a year, sometimes up to 5/6 times a year. I still get lost. Last summer, I drove up and actually found myself in a different state! My, then, 6-year-old was in the back seat and saw the sign saying, "Welcome to Michigan." It was awful. I turned around at the first off ramp and soon saw the sign, "Welcome to Ohio." So, (this was classic) my daughter says, "Man, mom, Michigan is small."
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Permalink Reply by 2martins on
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three things: !) I go on-line and print out the map/directions AND send them to my cell phone 2) I keep a map in my car 3) i add the directions to places I will go again to the contact information in the notes section of that contact. I use it even to get to my sisters house because there is always too long in between visits for me to remember.
I also keep water, snacks, first aid kit, etc and a decent amount of gas in the car in the car JUST in case! This makes me feel less panicked if I do get lost. Getting worried / panicked does NOT help if I am lost.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel M on
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My sister is the opposite of ADD/ADHD. She is the most organized and determined person I know. She is the one sibling in our family that somehow missed inheriting the trait.
On the other hand she is more than directionally challenged. She once drove 4 hours out of her way on the way home from college (an Ivy League school) before she realized she needed to turn around. This was only a 5 hour trip mind you. When she was in grad school in Atlanta she called my parents saying there were no ATMs and they needed to wire her money. There must have been a Western Union near her. She obviously couldn't read the maps or directions to find the ATM. Really, no ATM's in Atlanta? Come on. But, she really couldn't find them.
In her defense she did go through a lot of occupational therapy as a child. She had some big issues that probably would have gotten her an autism diagnosis if she hadn't been born in 1977. Among other things she had big markers like toe walking and not being able to cross her midline. Example, if the pencil was on the left side of her desk and she wanted to pick it up with her right hand she would get up and walk all the way around the desk to pick it up. She is a perfectly normal adult now without any autistic tendencies. She is married with two kids and has several advanced degrees. I am not sure if she could find something using a map though.
I do need to relook up how to get places that I have been to a million times because I just forget. That is the ADD.
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Permalink Reply by Lovemypirates1121 on -
I'm kind of navigationally challenged. I say kind of because once I've found my way to a certain place, I always remember how to get there. I can read a map, but sometimes get kind of turned around and confused when trying to figure out how where I am relates to where I have to go. Which can be complicated at times by the fact that our town has roads that are one way in some places and two ways in others.
And I have to get people to write down directions too. If people say "Well you take this, and that, go X distance, turn on Pearl street, make an immediate turn on Emerald..." really fast, I get lost. Oh and I'm not real good at judging distances so if someone says "go x.xx miles" I usually will ask for some landmark.
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Permalink Reply by saninbham on
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The person who invented GPS should get the Nobel Peace Prize. I have it on my phone and I still print directions. Why?? GPS on the phone eats your battery life (and of course I can't remember where that stupid car charger is). Prime example, I used to get my hair fixed in Atlanta (I'm in Birmingham-2 hours away-complicated reasons), but anyway, I had been going there every month for a 1 1/2 years. SAME WAY EVERY MONTH. GPS went on the fritz, had no printed directions and low and behold, I got lost on the crazy Atlanta freeway, ended up an hour away from my destination. My hairdresser thought I was a complete retard, because in her mind, I'd been coming to her, every month, same way, for a year and a half. I should "know it by heart by now". Yes, I should, but I don't!!! I now get my hair done in Birmingham, and just Saturday, when I finished, I turned right when I should have turned left. UGH!!
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Dvoranchik on -
I keep the gps, a map of the local city and surrounding counties, and my blackberry has the mapquest directions. I trust no one when it comes to directions. I feel like a spy on a mission. I also can't have anyone talking to me while i drive or I'll drive right by and exit. I thought it was one of my many quirks until now. Now i know i was self-coping with my add. I feel pretty smart for problem solving.
I dont' care if everyone else can get from a to b. Can they tell a great story and have everyone laugh with them? i can. I initially got the gps to find the closest Starbucks. God bless Magellen.
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Permalink Reply by Gina M Rizzica on -
I have problems remembering everything, and yes thank god for G.P.S. I was diagnosed a few months ago and it was a relief but I dont
want to be thrown on drugs.You are very lucky you had a very high gpa and have done so well, I have what they call adhd dyslexia and have a hard time teaching my kids their homework. I try to write things in my ipod touch in my notes section and set my alarm about a half an hour before all my appts. Good luck.
Gina Rizzica
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Permalink Reply by chocoholic on -
Oh my goodness, yes. I have no sense of direction whatsoever! If I visit my inlaws by myself, my FIL has been known to hop in his truck and lead the way out of town with me driving in my car behind him, because I get so turned around there. I once tried to go west out of their town to visit my own family, and ended up in the town to the north! Sooo embarrassing! My kids got tired of wandering around with me like the Israelites in the wilderness, so a couple of years ago they talked DH into buying me a GPS for Christmas. LOVE it. Sometimes I use it on longer trips even if I know where I'm going so the GPS voice reminds me when to take an exit or turn. Otherwise I might be daydreaming, and sail right past! You are not alone, Vee. :) I don't know for sure if this is an ADD-related thing, but I've always wondered since I was diagnosed.
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