Is there something that you just cannot get to grips with, while others find it easy.

[Lytlethings]

For me, I have no sense of direction and cannot read a map or compass.

My family joke that I can get lost in my own house. When I go to a hotel, a toilet in a shopping centre or the like I have to verbalise the route. I say it over and over turn right, turn left etc. if DH is with me I sometimes forget and he watches with amusement as I try to figure out which way to go. SATNAV was the best invention ever for me.

I could never find my way back to a. Terminal or bus station in an unfamiliar place.

Crochet. Yet I can knit anything. Why can't I crochet

Me neither. My technical drawing teach wrote ‘this child cannot draw a straight line even when using a ruler’ . I also have terrible writing and my books always had mess, blots and crossings out. I always looked a mess too. We all wore the same uniform, but mine was never pristine.

My Mum is 'car blind'. She just can't distinguish between shapes and makes of cars. She called me on my mobile a few weeks ago because she couldn't find the car I was waiting in for her. She must have walked past it with me in it.
She can distinguish everything else and knows how to identify hundreds of plants. Just not cars. She's not even reliable on her own car which she has had for 8 years. They just all look the same to her, apparently.

I thought this was just me! I’m exactly the same - unless you’ve got a bright red Porsche or a Rolls Royce (or something equally standout) I’m not going to recognise your car, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. The last time I went home my mother said, “You haven’t mentioned my new car!” I had no idea it was new. It was black, the old one was black - what’s the difference?

I am like this with English Kings and queens since 1066. DH has run through them countless times and yet I still get lost somewhere in the 12th century until Henry VI and then I am fine again and know them all to the present day. Why do I have a mental block with the ones inbetween? Its just weird.

Mental arithmetic - I go into a sort of panic, trying to add and multiply, especially in a hurry. Even if it’s something really simple like 90p x 5. Have to get the calculator out.

Clapping in time, I just cannot do this; I am okay for the first few seconds, but once I stop concentrating, all sense of rhythm is lost.

My colleague used to be a drummer, and when I asked him how was able to keep the same beat, and he looked at me in amazement..

I can't draw either. But I am good with maps as well, maybe that is actually a thing!

Really struggle with Google maps whilst walking - never know which way I should be facing . I only realise that I have gone the wrong way when the travel time increases rather than decreases

That's the fault of Google maps though because it's only a blue dot. Whereas if you use the OS maps app it has an arrow! So you know which way you are facing. There was an article in the Times today about a blind guy who has developed an app which tells you which way you are facing when you come out of a station or similar so you know where to go (there's more to the app than that, but it sounds really helpful!).

The annoying thing is that people think that because she's now very elderly it's an ageing thing.

It isn't, she's always been rubbish with even the simplest technology.

Taking aural instructions. Either I write it down or we can pretend we never had this conversation.

There are loads of things I struggle with
. Parking a car
. Maps / directions
. Anything crafty such as knitting or drawing
. Maths apart from the real basics
Lots of things baffle me to be honest

Driving. My brain just can’t do the number of things driving requires you to do all at once, and to also react immediately to what other cars, pedestrians etc are doing.

I eventually passed my test after many attempts but very quickly realised I was never going to be a driver and gave up.

I also don’t understand how driving is not constantly scary for other people. You’re in control of a heavy fast moving vehicle that can cause major damage. But other people seem to cope absolutely fine with this.

Swimming. I can float, do a doggy paddle kind of thing, but have never been able to coordinate myself to do any particular stroke. I start off doing breast stroke, but after a length or so, I realise my legs are kicking instead!

Poaching eggs.

I can cook anything else to a pretty high standard. I've cooked professionally.

But I cannot poach an egg successfully. I think it's become a self fulfilling prophecy at this point.

In fact, the worst argument I've ever had with my husband was poached egg related. Don't ask.

I'm similar. If it isn't just one simple thing, you're just going blah, blah, blah - which is why I never ask for directions. In my case I know it something to do with listening and looking at you at the same time. Whenever I had to take notes at a meeting, I always had to sit with my back to the window and keep looking down. It is a constant mystery to me that I was renowned for doing good notes.

It is like when my eyes get distracted my ears close down.

I am exactly the same and it's hindered me so much. I am looking for a job at the moment and I won't even consider a job in a cafe/shop etc where I might have to handle money as I just go into this complete blind panic.

I wish I could change this 😔

Cooking - because it's dull, I get distracted. Sit down to read a good article or book, and then get caught out because something has burnt.
Riding a bike. I never learnt. I was offered a bike as a child, but said "no, thanks" because I didn't want to lose valuable reading time (and I was right ).

This is me too. I can “drive” fine, handling the car on a road is no problem. But I can’t park in a car park unless it’s empty, and even then it takes me forever to get inside the lines. Same at the side of the road and parallel parking is impossible. So I basically don’t drive unless it’s an emergency, and then people always suggest an automatic because they assume I have problems with the gears 😭

Filling out long forms. I literally can't concentrate on them.

I wished I could ' see' the patterns in numbers , but I can't. I have to look up how to do percentages, it makes sense and then it doesn't !
Hard to explain to those who find maths easy.
I so wished I was much more academic.

Kayaking

I can’t tie a bow! Well, I mean, I tie it. But not a proper one. I watch videos, read instructions, and nope. Always turns out weird.

Same here with locks. So many of them don't work properly or need turning the opposite way to what I imagine!

Re the clocks changing, I always think of it as we get a bonus hour to make up for cold, wet winter beginning. In the summer you don't mind losing an hour so much as summer is beginning.

Clingfilm...

Things I can't do:

Recognise faces
Step inside a new shop/cafe etc by myself
Bog-standard housework (like, I know most people say they find it hard/boring, but they all still manage to get it done!)

For balance/positivity - things I'm good at:

Driving and parking
Reading maps
Maths