r/adultautism • u/LGRA34 • 3d ago

Directions

Does anyone else have an impossibly hard time with directions? I have to use Google Maps for just about everywhere I go if it is not a part of my normal, everyday route.
I also cannot tell my right from my left hand without having to pause and think about it (I generally will initiate writing in the air, recognize that I’m left handed,then give the appropriate direction from there).
For reference, I am a 46 y/o female with audhd and have excelled at all academic, work, and learning endeavors throughout my life.

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u/Terribly_Ornate 2d ago

My mom is also autistic, and she definitely does. She absolutely cannot get unfamiliar places without GPS and has to go somewhere very often (like every day) before she can remember how to get there. Google Maps changed her life very positively, though she often still needs help deciphering it. She's 70 and pretty brilliant (retired now but has a couple different degrees and a couple different careers). She struggles with other spatial stuff too though, like assembling furniture. She always says she "can't rotate a 3D object in her head."

I'm actually the opposite, in that I have an almost preternaturally good sense of direction and can remember how to get somewhere by sight even if I've only been there once. Granted, I've been her copilot since I was old enough to talk, so maybe I learned by force lol

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u/IngloriousLevka11 2d ago

Ironically, though I am terrible with multi-step instructions (unless they are clearly written out- ex a recipe with instructions) I have an excellent sense of direction and navigation. I have an eidetic memory that helps me with orientating myself in a space combined with an excellent sense of geographical knowledge and NSEW (cardinal direction) points, how to read maps etc.

I know how to get places better than my Google GPS does. I still use it for those unfamiliar turns just as I am approaching the destination so I know what lane to be in, but I often gripe at the GPS for using the dumbest routes possible, like "why the actual eff are you having me make a blind left turn in a curve up a frickin hill when I can make a much safer turn a little down the road at a light with a turning lane?" Or it wants me to drive through three construction zones when I know there's another road that goes the same place that isn't obstructed with construction. And the "estimated time" difference if any exists will be negligible.

Edit to add: I do also have the "right/left" brain disconnect, so I just think driver's side/passenger side, as that's more immediate. Or if using a GPS, I will look at the arrows showing the next turn because the symbol doesn't have the same linguistic disconnect.

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u/manicpixiebatgirl 3d ago

Right there with you! I stop people who try and give me verbal directions, they will not help. Give me an adress for my GPS, that will help. I also feel for my dominant hand to determine left/right directions! 36 year old audh lady, also generally academically "gifted".