directions | ADHD Information

I have to look down and look at my hand actually "pretend" to write before i know which is which, maybe its me but sometimes it makes me feel sooooo dumb.hubby also gets frustrated 'cause i never know where i am going,  On the mixing letters thing, mine is a, e,i, I always have to spell check words, like legal , legitimit etc. i can laygh about it now as i am hwm older!. I know it is vital sometimes and can upset others and pose problems in formal matters, so thanks to the person who came up with Spell Check.

 hi everyone! i'm new here. i just have a quick question. (must be quick because i'm running late for work as always) does anyone else have trouble with directions...as in N.S.E.W? if someone asked me "do you live east or west of something, i have no idea and never had. i was diagnosed with ADD last year and i still feel so different. also many other problems. i'll explain later. could having dyslexia be part of the problem?

I used to have that problem.  Then I just learned to use the sun as a point of reference.  Also. I live near the ocean and the city is on the Atlantic so I can use that as well.I have thought about that one. I can only speak for myself.  I tend to be very direction aware.  I think you could drop me in a field in Kansas with no frame of reference and I could tell you which way North is if you gave me a couple of minutes.  My problem is this: I can not come up with it fast and need to think about it as in giving directions.  I also have a tough time with Left and Right. Sure I know left and right but when it come at me fast I freeze for a second till my brain does catch - up.  I also block print when I write (ADD Test Question for me, I had no idea!) and I tend to mix up b's and d's.

When someone gives me directions somewhere and they say "go east on such-and-such street" I'm like, no, tell me right or left, not east or west.

However, the thorn there is I also don't know right from left.  Never have, never will.  So someone taught me years ago that if you, on your left hand, stick up your index finger and stick out your thumb, it makes the letter 'L'  for Left.  So that's how I remember left from right.  I just know that on *that* hand, I make an L and that's left.

When I'm in a car with someone giving them directions, I don't tell them to turn right or left at a street.  I just tap on the dashboard - in front of them for one way and in front of me for the other way. 

I point frantically and say "OH IT'S THAT TURN THERE!!!" as we almost miss it. I can't tell my right from my left on the spot. And trying to figure out a someone else's left or right, well I have to turn and face the direction they are and put out my little thumb and forefingers to see which one makes an "L".

As for the 4 directions, they are beyond my comprehension. I can't even remember if the sun rises in the east or west half the time! I get hopelessly lost all the time. Thank god for cell phones! And I have maps to beat the band in my car but I couldn't read those to save my soul either!

Any one have trouble telling time on an anolog watch? I can do it just fine but I have to think a second or two "ok, the little hand is here and the big hand is here..."

Oh I get my b's and d's and p's all mixed around. Sometimes I have to really take a second to think about which way the letter goes! I have wondered too if this is dyslexia or just another ADDism. Sometimes when I'm writing, I will forget to put the last letter on a word or I'll skip over a letter or put the first letter of the next word as the last letter of the word before (ie: "the bird" sometimes comes out "thb ird"). Weird.

 I just want to thank everyone for your response. I thought i was the only one who had trouble with these things! And Lizzy, I think dyslexia messes us up in more ways than we can imagine. I can't read a map and also get letters mixed up all the time. Thanks again everyone. I think I'm gonna like it here.

I can't find my way out of a paper bad when it is open at the top!

I figured out as a child that I am right handed. I thought that your right hand was the hand that you write with, so I never had trouble figuring out which is which.

Just don't expect me to answer fast if you ask! I'm that way with everything. I have to have time to absorb and understand what someone says to me, then think of the way to respond.   

I have the same problem--and I am 29 yrs old...my kids are better at diections than I am...isn't that horrible!  The letter mix up thing, I don't see or read letters backwards, but I write them backwords ALL THE TIME--and I also mix up numbers.  I can't even tell you where the north end of a building is if you ask!!!  What is wrong with me--ADD I know, but I feel so different!  I know I am smart, but I feel so different! 

I just celebrated my 29th bithday yesterday and I was thinking 'what have I done with my life'--not much!  I do have a good job (but I swear I am paranoied about getting fired every day) b/c I feel like I mess something up daily!  I work my fingers to the bone and get no where it seems!  I have a beautiful 5 yr old baby girl and 2 step daughters, a great husband, but in 29 yrs what have I ACCOMPLISHED?  It took me 8 yrs to get a 4 yr business degree b/c when things get tough for me, I throw my hands up and run as fast as I can!!!  In the 8 yrs it took me to get a 4 yr business degree, I could have been a doctor or something if I would have actually stuck with something. 

This is not a pitty party, but it just all hit me at once today....remember I have no meds today...waiting on the doc and I can't stay facused long enough to do anything at work so I am chating with ya'll---and actually it is taking ALL I have to write this.  I can't believe its actually this long!!!  Guess I need a pick-me-up today! 

Thanks a million for this site!  It helps alot!  And spell check and I are tight, boy are we tight!  Without it people would really thing I am a bloomin' idiot!  :)

Write back when you can~

 

Upward bound,

Happy Birthday to You. Watch out admitting it's the B.Day round here is an invite for Board Congrats from all corners and a great excuse for all of us to

Celebrate, Celebrate.

THANKS!!!!  That made my day!!!  It says you are from Irland...neat!!!  Thanks again and have a good night...I am going to continue my celebration from yesterday--going to see the play Fame--hope its good.      Hi. This is my first time here. I am just looking for some kind of help. Have you ever found out if loss of directions is related to a LD? My daughter is going to be 18 in 2 weeks and our life has been a constant struggle. We were told she had ADD when she was 12 and that explained allot, but has not made things any easier. She has been on and off of sooo many meds. Nothing really seems to work. She has depression and anxiety bad. My hope as a parent was that when she turned 18 she would move on in life and give me a break, but here we are two weeks from her 18th birthday and she still does not even have her drivers license. I dont know what she would do with one anyway, she cant even find her way to OUR home let alone some where else. She has lived her since she was 8 and her grandmother has lived here her whole life. This is very hard for me, because she loses friends over this stuff to the point she has none. We paid 300.00 for drivers ed last year and they said when it was over not to take her on the road, to keep working in parking lots with her...She just make careless mistakes and has NO idea where she is going...She got lost in a restaurant the other day and had a panic attack. She has said she is having nightmares about getting lost and not even being able to call for help , because she don't know where she is..All of this is so tiring to me and I dont know what to do anymore. I search and pray for answers, the Drs. act like its not a big deal and say she'll get it..She is on med for Add and depression now and things are still a mess.

Im Sorry for all the info, I just wanted to know if you knew of a LD that would cause this and got cared away!

Desperate Mom

I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that you are in this predicament.  Not that I pity you in anyway.  After all, things could always be worse.  I am sorry that the medical community seems to have just thrown up its hands when it comes to people like your daughter and others with ADHD.  It just seems that if someone would just take the time to do the research, they could diagnose her accurately and provide the therapy, pharmacological or psychological, that she needs.