No sense of direction.

Learning to drive, driving, and using public transport

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Nicky
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No sense of direction.

Post by Nicky »

Although it took me a fair while to learn, these days I luckily have little trouble with driving itself. Despite this I am still scared of new journeys and on Monday I worked out why. I went out to meet a friend a bit away having looked it up on a map, but went a bit wrong (as the map wasn't detailed enough and I have no sense of direction) and ended up on the motorway and then in a scary busy one way system, I started to panic. In the end I found a place to stop and got a friend to send somebody out to meet me. it was sooooooooooo embarrassing. I just have no sense of direction at all. I can never sense where I've been or where I am in relation to anywhere else unless I know landmarks. Do other people have trouble with this? I think I need to have somebody in the car with me directing the first time I drive on roads that are new to me.
Trust those searching for the truth, never those who have found it.
gherkin001
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Post by gherkin001 »

I love my Sat Nav for that very reason....

Kirsty
DySpRaXiA dOeSnT mAkE lIfE hArDeR, jUsT mOrE cOmPlIcAtEd.
Nicky
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Post by Nicky »

I need to buy sat nav for my independence. Bring on my 1st wage installment!
Trust those searching for the truth, never those who have found it.
gherkin001
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Post by gherkin001 »

I remember those days... lol...

Kirsty
DySpRaXiA dOeSnT mAkE lIfE hArDeR, jUsT mOrE cOmPlIcAtEd.
SavV
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Post by SavV »

I must say, even though some times I am 100% sure I am lost, I'll soon gather my bearings again when I see something familiar, even if the last time I saw said "landmark" was many years back, as long as I've seen it i'll stop stressing. I do have a good eye for maps though, I can look at it before leaving then have it stored in my mind what i need to do, where i need to turn etc. Only problem is if I hit a road closure or the like. That results in either a) a reconsultation of the map, or b) a little.... exploratory driving. Depends on my mood.

Cheers,
SavV
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michele
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by michele »

I;m good with landmarks but not very good with maps I get all disoriented between them and the real world. A GPS is a wonderful, wonderful thing. My brother helped a lot when I first learned to drive making me a posterboard size map and drilling me on it endlessly until I could kinda do okay...to this day I am always calling ym father or brother, and now my husband to get jme to or from places though....lol. I got a GPS but lost it so now i need to save for a new one...sigh. I should ahve kept it in the car but they cause car break ins in the city around here so I didn't.


Michele
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rhyds
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by rhyds »

Before a long journey I tend to study a map very carefully, using the automatic route finder on http://www.rac.co.uk or http://www.theaa.com to get a rough idea of where to go. The other thing I do is sometimes I'll take a less direct, but easier to navigate route as I'll hopefully spend less time lost.
sheppeyescapee
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by sheppeyescapee »

I'm pretty good with places I know and have a very good sense of direction. Also once I have been to a place I can remember how to get there years afterwards. I normally remember the landscapes too. My wife on the other hand her sense of direction is awful and she could drive around the same town for years (we've lived in our current city for 3 years) and still get lost or forget which direction she needs to go to get somewhere. :lol:
I am J, 24, husband, student, diagnosed AS and Dyspraxia.
Lucy_Rush
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by Lucy_Rush »

i had a very dyspraxic moment the other day. it started when i got on the wrong bus, because i just misread the 79 on the front for 78 (which i should have got on). but it went the same way for most of the journey untill we were nearly at my stop, when theres a roundabout and the road splits into a kind of V shape - we went down the left hand fork when the right bus would go down the right hand one.

i thought - "no problem, i'll get off at the next stop, cut down that street, and i will get to the other fork, then i know where i am and it'll take 2 minutes to walk up". i thought that the road i was cutting down would just take me onto the right road, since it was going in the right direction it would have to hit the other road in only a minute or so of walking.

well, 45 minutes of walking later, i eventually hit a main road, which had bus stops on. Looking at one of the bus stops it was the 78 route! i was like yeah, it may have taken 45 minutes instead of 2 minutes but i'll be able to find it now. but i had absolutely no idea where i was and which direction to head in!

i decided to wait for a 78 bus, since i know the route goes by the uni. only problem being i didnt know which direction to get the bus in and the bus stops showed no indication! i went for the side that had the bus coming soonest, and asked the driver if i was heading in the right direction. he didnt seem to know what i was rambling on about though so eventaully i just went and sat down. some woman had been hearing me trying to ask the driver and kindly told me yes i was on the right bus though, and when to get off again.

turned out i was way past the university, (as in i had to stay on the bus for several stops going in the opposite direction to what i would have had i got on the right bus in the first place). but i did eventually make it to the uni. i arrived about an hour late (when i had intended to be early!), and just in time to hear the session ending. the lecturer happened to be talking about the importance of professionalism, and how you might be able to roll up to uni whenever you feel like it on an undergrad degree, after a night out or whatever. but that we werent doing an undergrad degree, and we all had to ensure we were proffessional and early for everything. ooops!!!

felt very stupid lol after that silly mistake, was actually going to apologise to the lecturer after too, but i would have had to explain why and thought she'd think me even more stupid if she knew! so she probably thinks i'm just incredibly lazy and cant be bothered with taking the care to be on time! so yeah. absolutely no sense of direction for me it seems. but i do make sure i'm getting on the right bus now!
cat27
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by cat27 »

Hi everyone!

my sense of direction is pretty poor, but i have to say my brother matt, who also has dyspraxia, has the
#-o worst I've ever heard of!
Going to work one morning he missed the bus, but fortunately for him my dad had a day of work so drove
him about 10 miles to catch up with it at another bus stop, now my brother had been doing this route for
2 years 3/4 times a week, but that didn't stop him from waiting on the wrong side of the road for the bus
to arrive! When it did (my dad told me rather exasperatedly that he just stood there calmly and watched
it go by) My poor dad spent his day off work driving my brother all the way to norwich which is about 200 miles
there and back! he can laugh about it now though!
Creative
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by Creative »

I've caught the wrong bus twice. Once it took me a long way out of my way, but luckiliy on the other one I noticed the 1st different turning it made. Those mistakes were caused by hurrying and missreading the bus numbers! I always check carefully now!
girlygirl333
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by girlygirl333 »

For years I've said that I am "directionally challenged". I've gotten a little better when it comes to driving. It's inside of office buildings, hospitals, malls and on campuses, etc that I have a problem. I've been told a number of times that I couldn't find my way out of paper bag and other lovely put-downs. I have been going to the same doctor for almost 2 yrs now. Once she calls me in from the waiting area and we head toward her office, she has to direct me every time. When I come out to go back to the front desk to make a return appointment, she has to direct me there as well. I feel like such a moron. This happens to me all the time. She is very polite about it though. Many times I will be going somewhere that I know very well (driving/walking)and all of a sudden it is like I lose my bearings. I have no idea where I am (for just a second) and have to regain my place in space and time ..if that makes sense. Once I' m able to do that, I have to remember where I was going and then figure out how to get there from where I am (as opposed to getting there from where I started). I do this when talking, writing and typing as well.

The bus thing. I was without a car for over a year. I was taking classes at the community college and had to drop them because I had no way to school. People would say "why don't you just take the city bus?" I tried that. It was a nightmare :^( I couldn't keep track of which bus I was supposed to transfer to, ended up on the wrong bus..had to go all the way downtown (very scary area here) to get on the right bus and ended up missing the class I was going to. Now I will seriously have a panic attack just at the thought of riding a city bus.
keiraknightleyfan27
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by keiraknightleyfan27 »

I am so there, guys. I have just gotten a navigation system and even when I have that I get lost (I think this is because I get distracted and then don't hear the lady talking). But she always sets me straight and I get where I'm going on time. I like my navigator. I have a Garmin. :)
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Ticachica
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by Ticachica »

I forget where I have parked my car and so walk round endlessly looking for it! Once I nearly called the police to report it stolen!! :blush:
dyspraxiascotland
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Re: No sense of direction.

Post by dyspraxiascotland »

I get lost so easily was in Glasgow a few weeks ago visiting a friend. After leaving his house to go to the train station is took me 3 hours to get there and it was only 10 minutes away.
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