Does anyone else have trouble with directions/remembering how to get somewhere? I have to look at a map to know how to get somewhere, even if I've been there before, and even a map is a little tough for me to follow...does this possibly have something to do with CP, or do I just not have good spatial abilities? I feel like such an idiot sometimes, I hafta think for a while about whether I'm supposed to go left or right... OH well. :) I also don't drive so maybe that's part of it.

LOL, gacatmandu has the same problem....after 2 months in the little bitty town he still has a hard time finding his way around. Probably because we don't have a mall. I swear he's like a freaking homing pigeon when it comes to malls. Navigate Indianapolis? NO PROBLEM! This mall is this way, that mall is that way, I just go past this mall to get to something-or-other. Go around the circle, turn right here, turn left here, go past there, we're here! Boonville, on the other hand, is a town of about 6,000 people. Heck, they roll up the sidewalks after 11 pm. He can get to 2 gas stations, wal mart, and the grocery store. LOL

My son clearly has some issues with spatial orientation. He works on it in OT.

Does anyone else have trouble with directions/remembering how to get somewhere? I have to look at a map to know how to get somewhere, even if I've been there before, and even a map is a little tough for me to follow...does this possibly have something to do with CP, or do I just not have good spatial abilities? I feel like such an idiot sometimes, I hafta think for a while about whether I'm supposed to go left or right... OH well. :) I also don't drive so maybe that's part of it.
a trillion times yes! ppl have told me that not driving is part of it...i guess they think b/c i don't drive i don't pay close attn, but it's really the opposite--one of the reasons i don't drive is that i know i will be constantly lost. it took me a year to learn my way around the small (1000 students) college. i can't read a map, either. i also have trouble with left vs. right. i really do have to think about the diff. if someone touches me (like from behind), i automatically look the other way. i was still putting my shoes on the wrong feet in 4th grade(but was one of the smartest kids in class). :jester:

i, too, have wondered if this is cp related. i haven't seen a doctor for cp since i was a preteen (almost 25 now)...too many peripheral health probs that were more important. so i am the last person to ask. it seems to me that poor spatial skills could be a result of cp. *shrugs* i'm not sure what else it could be. but i'm really glad i'm not the only one. :)

I don't have a problem with this. I do get nervous if I am driving somewhere new, but once I get where I am going the first time I am ok. My problem is I am afraid that I'll get into the wrong lane. I think I've gotten better at reading maps through traveling to different areas of the state. I usually am the one reading the map/ directions while someone else drives.

I could see it being a problem related to CP, but it might depend on what area of the brain was dammaged/
If someone told be quickly to turn left or right I do take a second to think about it, but I don't think that is necessarily are result of CP because I know a lot of AB people who do the same thing.

I'm glad I'm not the only one, too!
I tried to find a medical website that talked about it, but all I found was this....



Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kate, and I'm spatially unaware: I cannot tell my left from my right, I can rarely find my way home, I can't tell you the route I took to where I am sitting right now and a map won't help me. In short, I have no sense of direction whatsoever.

Any highly paid neurologist will tell you that such problems with spatial perception are often experienced by 'people like me' with Cerebral Palsy. I have friends with MS and autism who have similar difficulties. And I've got mates with CP who, just to confuse the issue, have no problem at all.

There are all kinds of highly scientific theories about why it happens. Whatever. For me, it's by far the biggest disability I have





....so apparently a neurologist told her it had to do with CP. And that definately sounds like me (well, I might not be quite as bad as her, but close.) :) Anyway there's more in that article if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/ansell_direction.shtml

I'm glad I'm not the only one, too!
I tried to find a medical website that talked about it, but all I found was this....



Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Kate, and I'm spatially unaware: I cannot tell my left from my right, I can rarely find my way home, I can't tell you the route I took to where I am sitting right now and a map won't help me. In short, I have no sense of direction whatsoever.

Any highly paid neurologist will tell you that such problems with spatial perception are often experienced by 'people like me' with Cerebral Palsy. I have friends with MS and autism who have similar difficulties. And I've got mates with CP who, just to confuse the issue, have no problem at all.

There are all kinds of highly scientific theories about why it happens. Whatever. For me, it's by far the biggest disability I have





....so apparently a neurologist told her it had to do with CP. And that definately sounds like me (well, I might not be quite as bad as her, but close.) :) Anyway there's more in that article if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/ansell_direction.shtml
yeah, she sounds like me, too. i'm not quite that bad, though. i've tried to find explanations for the left/right thing, but i've never come up with anything.

Yes, It was probably the biggest thing I had to overcome in learning how to drive... While I am not that bad, I do know some CPers that cant to Left and Right. They mark their shoes

Joe