Does anyone else struggle to remember routes?

[FlamingoYellow]

Because I really, really struggle with it. Even journeys I have made many times before I will get lost sometimes. It took me a whole year after moving house to be able to drive to the nearest Tesco without needing the satnav. The nearest Tesco was the next street over from mine (3 min drive) 😳. I have taken my dc to a martial arts class every weekend for the past 2 years but I will still sometimes try to turn right as we leave at the end of the class rather than left (the correct way). I cannot take buses unless I have someone with me because I can't reliably recognise my stop.

I also don't know my left and right, can't drive a car with gears, never managed to learn my times tables and, as a child, I found it hard to turn corners😳 which i think must all be linked.

What is wrong with me? Surely this can't be normal?? A couple of people have suggested dyspraxia to me - but I have very good fine motor skills. I do have Aspergers though, could that be linked? Does anyone else have as poor way-finding skills as me? It's so embarrassing and I'm sure people think I'm putting it on to be cute.

Rather than dyspraxia, maybe look up dyscalculia.

Me! I'm the butt of my family's jokes when it comes to directions. I literally just don't worry about it anymore as it is just one of my quirks. I recognise that I am very good at lots of other things but navigation isn't one of them. I have had a sat nav from the get go, it made my life so much easier x

I also have autism and can’t do routes, even ones I’ve took a million times. I struggle with left and right and now wear a bracelet on the left.

Yeah, I do. I worked at a place for five years that I never confidently learnt the route to it. All the same as you re: not being able to drive a manual, learn timetables, left and right etc. I've always thought that it must be some kind of dyslexia because my brain just doesn't do any of that kind of stuff right. My eldest is the same.

I have really bad ‘way finding’ skills, and rely on maps app for directions. I really struggle with finding my location / following directions traditional maps, either on paper or the signs in shopping centres etc. I feel my brain scrambling (how I imagine it feels for someone with dyslexia trying to read or write) when trying to navigate, especially if trying to “go back the way I came”.

Also struggle with left & righ more generally, especially things like putting AirPods back into their case or shoes into their box, but know the times tables (well enough) and can drive a manual car no problem. I think dyscalculia and dysgraphia each capture part of my difficulties but neither ‘label’ seems 100% accurate.

Remembered another ‘quirk’ related to spatial awareness (which I’m assuming map-reading / way-finding also are)… I find it impossible to estimate how many people in a room, how many sweets in a jar etc.

I'm so glad it's not just me! It can be really embarassing and I'd love to know the reason my brain works like that.

I've looked into dyscalculia and did one of those 'do I have dyscalculia' online tests which came back with a low chance because I can do mental maths and I can tell the time on an analogue clock without any problems; I can easily memorise strings of numbers like a car reg or someones phone number. I can't learn a sequence of dance moves though.

I struggle with routes and particularly with left and right and I am so embarrassed. I have worked out some strategies now. Strangely I am good at puzzles and word games.

Me too! I'm great with crosswords and logic puzzles. Do you mind sharing some of your strategies that help?

I do the same thing as PP with wearing jewellery on my left hand (my engagement ring) to help me remember left and right, although if I have to take my ring off then I'm always accidentally putting it back on my right hand 🙄. I can remember left and right in my very short term. memory, so if I'm going somewhere like the opticians or dentist where I know I'm going to need to know which way is which, I can 'learn' my left and right beforehand and remember it for the duration of the appointment. I have also memorised reg plates of cars parked in driveways to remember a familiar route (street names don't seem to stick in my memory so well). If I ever have to physically go into work then I try to go in at the same time as a colleague so they can help me get to where I need to go. Those are my life hacks anyway 😂.

@FlamingoYellow because I remember words and shapes better I try to translate a route into shapes I can remember. I can remember road names but this has been a problem in new areas as the boards aren't in same place. I am naturally very right handed so I tend to remind myself how I would write and often tell myself it's the 'write hand' and the other hand (don't say this IRL). I used to also paint only my left arm while ago but I am lazy now.

So to give an example of shapes a left is like a L in reverse. I also think of words I see in a car park board to remember where I parked.
I workout what shape I am from an exit of car park. It's very hard to explain but I view things like a shape more than direction. So it's like a puzzle. Does that makes sense?