If you are directionally challenged. . . .

[Pegasus]

I used to play " tell me how to get home" and "what street are we on" all the time when the kids were younger.

 

It's useful knowledge to know where you are and how to get home.

 

Yes, I've done this too!  In my case, I'm actually trying to find my way home.  :lol:

 

One of my DDs has a great sense of direction. She's been helping me find the car in the parking lot since she was tiny. Unfortunately, my other DD seems to have inherited her lack of direction from me.

[Dmmetler]

I have been diagnosed with a "cognitive disorder NOS"-basically, a LD that doesn't have a specific name. I have ridiculously low visual-spatial processing, struggle with faces and names, and have NO directional sense whatsoever.

 

I need landmarks and clear directions, and they have to be in WORDS, not in pictures. So, to get to DD's piano lesson, I turn out of my driveway towards the school, drive down that road to the cute little Baptist church, turn away from the church and drive to Walgreens, turn towards walgreens on the road by it, turn at the road right past the house with the fish mailbox, and her piano teacher's house is the one with the porch swing.

 

I remember everything that way. And I'm pretty good at it once I've been somewhere and can remember it-until someone paints a house or replaces a unique mailbox, at which time I can very literally get lost going somewhere I've been hundreds of times.

 

The good news is that DD has a much better sense of direction than I do and is much better at reading maps, so I can print the instructions from Google out, hand them to her in the back seat, and she can navigate-and has been able to do so since she was about 4.

 

 

 

[Guest Jcarpman]

Your comments touched me, not only because many of you are living proof of this too-often misunderstood and ignored problem, but also because many people feel it is something shameful and embarrassing, needing to be borne alone. I have devoted the past two decades of my professional life to understanding the needs of people with directional challenges and to writing a guidebook, Directional Sense: How to Find Your Way Around (by Janet R. Carpman and Myron A. Grant). Our book sheds new light on directional challenges and shows what you can do to cope with them.

 

Here’s a description:
“Were you born with no sense of direction? Does the mere thought of navigating twisting hospital corridors, deciphering cryptic expressway signs, or fumbling with cumbersome maps fill your heart with dread?  If so, you need this trusty guidebook, which explains that finding your way around is a learnable skill, not a mysterious instinct you're doomed to live without.  A lighthearted introduction to the ins and outs of wayfinding, it provides step-by-step guides to following signs, reading maps, recognizing landmarks, using GPS devices and more. Along with anecdotes describing how everyone gets lost at times, and photos showing how being turned around is not always your fault, Directional Sense offers a wealth of practical advice to help you confidently get from here to there . . .  and back.â€

Directional Sense recently won two national book awards and is available on Amazon.com or through our website. If you’d like a copy, but can’t get it through Amazon, please email me and I’ll help: jcarpman@wayfinding.com

It’s important to create a community of directionally challenged people since there’s a lot we can learn from each other. Our website www.directionalsense.com includes pages where you can share your own anecdotes about finding (and not finding) your way around and one where my co-author and I welcome (and will do our best to answer) your questions. Our blog http://www.directionalsense.com/blog/ covers news, tips, and the lighter side of directional challenges.

We’d be honored if you’d “like†our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DirectionalSense

~ Jan Carpman, PhD

[AngieW in Texas]

My poor 17yo has absolutely no sense of direction. Even worse, she STILL isn't solid on left and right.

 

My main hint to her about direction is "Mom is always RIGHT," since I'm in the passenger seat on the right while she is driving.

[Pretty in Pink]

I need maps, street names, landmarks. A GPS can be helpful but mine have gotten me lost more than once over the years, sometimes in cities I'm unfamiliar with.

[LibraryLover]

http://www.directionalsense.com/blog/[/url] covers news, tips, and the lighter side of directional challenges.

 

We’d be honored if you’d “like†our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/DirectionalSense

 

~ Jan Carpman, PhD

That French Map 'ad' was fun. :) Thank you.

 

 

[Luanne]

My poor 17yo has absolutely no sense of direction. Even worse, she STILL isn't solid on left and right.

 

My main hint to her about direction is "Mom is always RIGHT," since I'm in the passenger seat on the right while she is driving.

 

My daughter isn't directionally challenged and yet she has a tough time also with left and right ... she is 24.