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Hey Everyone!

I don't know about you, but I have had a lot of trouble learning to drive. I just seem to have such issues with it...

I'm not good with my left and rights...I have to use my hand (the Left hand makes an "L"). So driving and knowing which side is which is impossible! And then, to add to the confusion, I have to remember which way to move the thingy on the car for the left/right turn signal. I can't remember if Left is up or down, and vice-versa! And then I have to remind myself each time which side is the Right side of the road!!!!!!!!

ARG!!!!!!!!!

Sorry - didn't think it would be that hard! But here we are.

Any things that you fellow dyscalculics have found helpful?

AnimalHugger

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I didn't actually find driving an automatic to be difficult at all. Now, trying to drive a stick was another beast entirely... but I think it's that way for most people, dyscalculic or not.

I didn't THINK I had a hard time remembering which way to pull the lever for the blinker, because it made sense that I pull or push it in the direction I plan on turning - pull it to the left for left, push it right for right. However, I have been told on many occasions by friends driving behind me that I use the wrong blinker a lot. (That is, I put on my left blinker and turn right, or vice versa.) Oops! Oh well, it doesn't really matter because I almost never use my blinkers anyway. ;) It lets the enemy know what you're planning!

Now, do I think I will EVER be able to drive in Europe, where everything is backwards? Definitely not. The idea of a right on red being the equivalent to an illegal left turn on red at an intersection just blows my mind, as well as trying to drive on the wrong side of the road. I think when I visit Europe next summer I will be using the metro an awful lot!

Speaking of crazy driving, when I went to visit a friend in Montreal, Quebec, I was stunned to find that there were three lanes of traffic in the city - one going either way on the far sides, then one lane in the middle that CHANGES DIRECTION DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF DAY. Who the hell thought that would be a good idea?? We were driving down it and I asked my friend, "What happens if it suddenly changes direction while you're on it?" and she just shrugged and said, "Well, I guess you just better get off it quick!" Definitely not the most comforting of responses as we were driving down said lane.

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3/26/09
Dear Kat,
It let's the enemy know what you're planning? - jus' :|:o:P

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Yes, I have the same issues.
All the other stuff was no problem at all when I was learning to drive, but navigation certainly was.
I prefer the familiar routes and if I try something new, I am bound to get lost.
If there is too much traffic (e.g. in Copenhagen), I get totally confused and panic. My worst fear is to cause an accident.
My dad must have been dyscalculic as well.
He was a very good driver, but couldn't read a map and my mum always had to translate left and right into three o'clock or nine o'clock (and now I can't even write them in the correct order..) or else he would go the wrong way.
We went to England a few times and my dad must have had nightmares about left hand driving - I know I would have - but he managed and I admire him so much for doing it.

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I know, Cat! European driving sounds slightly nutty to me (no offense meant). I can't imagine being in the middle of traffic as the direction changes! Driving is nerve-wracking enough without that!

Mohinga, your dad is a very brave guy! And, yes, I get lost all the time...I barely know the route to my own house. It's pretty sad, actually...

But what really gets me confused is going in reverse...Somehow when I try to maneuver, the car always goes the wrong way! It is so frustrating...

ARG!!!!! And I thought driving was going to be fun...

AnimalHugger

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AnimalHugger - I used to get confused when going in reverse too. Just remember to turn the wheel in the direction that you want the BACK of the car to go in. If you want the back of the car to go right, turn the wheel right. It's easier than thinking about, "Okay, I have to turn the wheel in the opposite direction that I want the car to point in..." It becomes a lot easier when you think about it as the direction you want the back of the car moving in.

Also wanted to ask, do you guys have TERRIBLE depth perception like I do? Part of it is that I have not-so-hot eyesight, so my eye's physical ability to perceive depth is poor, but I think the dyscalculia has to do with it too. I have run into or clipped so many things (all inanimate objects, thank God) thinking they were further away than they actually were. Now I just assume that everything is really close, so I end up parking with like 6 feet between me and the car next to me, LOL. Whatever, I haven't hit any cars in over a year, so obviously it's working. Does anyone else have this problem?

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I have a hard time with depth perception and my eyesights relatively good. Just Friday, I had to make a right turn & backtrack because I was at a stop sign & would have had to make a left across 4 lanes of traffic. Navigators help (though double check the directions with someone at your destination as they're off sometimes). Writing out directions vs trying to read a map is helpful. Also, get to know which intersections are better for lefts. I prefer the ones with turn arrows. As for backing up, etc. just go very slowly.

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funnily enough i passed my driving test first time and drive fine, in fact its something which i think i'm pretty good at!

Here in the UK we have something called the hazard perception test and i got a good score on that too, one wrong.

I don't struggle with left and right etc., everything for me is numerical. It just goes to show you how many different variants and levels of severity there are and also that traits of other conditions lap sometimes seem to lap over into dyscalculia.

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4/1/09
I took Driver's Ed in High School. When I took the test, I had to take it in my Dad's full sized new white Cadillac, because it was 'automatic' and it was what I'd been driving. Those were really big cars back then. My father had taught me to drive. He was extremely demanding, especially when it came to parallel parking. I could barely even see what was around me in such a huge car, but he made me 'turn the wheel!' to start backing into the parking place 'way sooner than it seemed like to me that I should start turning the wheel.

Anyway, when I went to take the test, they had two big strong metal posts set up, representing the car in front and the car behind the parking space, and I had to put that big, full sized, Cadillac between them. The official giving me the test was probably trying to keep from laughing. I was 17. When I'd done the maneuver, he opened the door on the passenger's side, and reported that I was inches from the curb, right where I was supposed to be. I was so happy that I forgot to put on the left turn signal before I pulled back out, and got 'counted off' for it. :( He consoled me that I'd earned more points for parking than I'd lost for forgetting the turn signal. I should have told him that I was trying to 'confuse the enemy' like Kat said that she does. - jus'

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Such great replies! I love the stories...Wonder what the driver's instructor would have said if you had told him you were "confusing the enemy", justfoundout?

Anyway - my driving is getting better. I still mess up on turn signals a lot, though.

Probably best not to be on the road when I am! :)

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I'm telling you, it's a perfectly legitimate excuse to not use your blinkers! :P I feel your pain about the huge car thing though, I love my car because it is teeny tiny and I can fit it into any space. I drove my mom's boss's Expedition once, and that thing was so wide and high up off the ground that I honestly felt like I was navigating a Boeing 747.

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I never had a problem driving forwards or backwards BUT stick a trailer on the back of the vehicle and I'm stumped.I worked on a family friends farm between leaving school and joining the army and over the 6 months working there I never got the hang of reversing a tractor with anything attached to the back.

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Germ - I've never been able to work out how to back a trailer either! Growing up I was in 4H with one of my best friends, and I will never forget the day her mom backed a gigantic twelve-horse trailer all the way around their house, between trees, around the corner of her drive... it was amazing. To this day I still have absolutely no idea how she could maneuver such a huge trailer in back of her truck, but she did it perfectly. If they had trailer-backing Olympics, it would be USA all the way, because she'd take the gold for sure.

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Also, re: backing up, if the expense isn't too much of an issue, one of my friends has a car with a camera that shows you what's behind the car (it displays on the navigation screen). I rarely covet my friends' autos/features, but that is one I definitely want! :)

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Hi all,

My husband and I are having a great time laughing at your responses! and we would just like to say nothing wrong with driving on the left!! my driving is what I would consider- "nervous"-always! I use to have a little Green VW called Alexander Beetle and on the back I had many a dent and on top of the dents were stickers & bandaids the stickers said such as "oops" - "ouch" -"that one hurt" etc - needless to say people gave me a wide berth on the roads!. Most memorable moment going up a one lane bus exit and squeezing between two buses - both drivers were looking down on me as I scraped between them. - Good times!
Cheers
kathy:)

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What I have found to help is to go slow. Doesn't matter about the people driving behind you as they can overtake or whatever. Patience is a virtue. Being uncoordinated, I struggle with keeping my eyes on the road, checking the rear-view mirror, indicating, watching the speed limit, which are all things you have to do at the same time. I just go slow, and when I feel comfortable enough, I go a little bit faster, which is so cool. Oh, and as for reversing, it's hard at the start cause you have to turn the wheel left in order to go right, and the other way round.

I guess the longer you've been driving, the more confident you feel. You get used to it!

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Oh, and two more things. If you're like me, seriously consider a GPS.

The second thing I have forgotten. Damn, it was really important too. If/ when I remember it, I will let you know.

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omg thank you for the advice on backing out,for the first time i backed out without stopping to think or just randomly guessing,lol.yeah only when it comes to parking does my depth perception suck,i either park over the line or way too far away=P.my mom said when park to just look at the left side where the line is and try to match up with that.

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I tried drivers ed as a teen and the teacher told me i was driving in the center of the road, but to me, I felt fine. I dont drive at all now, and im 37. Its hard having my husband do all the driving, but Id rather not drive than risk my childrens lives. I do get alot of " OMG Why dont you drive? How can you stand it not driving?"

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Driving- I am in the UK and have to pay extra to learn in an automatic as most people drive manual over here- handling gears and the rest of the learning would have been waaay too much for me- I hope to transfer to a manual car when I am completly confident with the automatic.

In terms of driving on the left- I am sure this is part of my Dyscalculia but my perception of the correct way of things is always left to right- perhaps as I learned to read left to right? who knows- but in my screwy mind if you are sitting down and you draw a line going upwards in front of you then curve it and bring it down you will find that going the first line is on the left and the line coming down is on the right- exactly the same way as Uk driving- so in my crazy crazy head the rest of the world is backwards... Sorry for the long probably hard to grasp ramble!!

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There was a funny line in an episode of my favorite show, "Bones", in regards to driving on the left vs. the right side of the road. One of the characters was trying to turn right at a red light, which in the U.S. is okay as long as no one else is coming. The other character is like, "You can't do that!" He gave her a puzzled look and was like, "Why not?" and she's like, "Because turning right on red when driving on the left side of the road is the equivalent to an illegal left-hand turn on red while driving on the right side of the road!" To which he replied, "... HUH?" I think we can all relate to that 'huh' feeling when people try to explain things in lefts and rights!

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5/31/09
Dear tr3slunas,
As I read your above post, I followed it mentally, 'drawing the picture' that you described. Since Space Relation is one of my strongest aptitudes, I was duly engaged in your exercise. I mentally drew the line 'going upwards in front of me, and then curving it and bringing it down'. But then I read the next part of your description of the process where you say, "... you will find that going the first line is on the left and the line coming down is on the right - exactly the same way as UK driving- ". I stopped and looked at my mental image, then compared it to your description,... and guess what? My line 'coming down' didn't come down to the 'right'. My line 'coming down' came down to the 'left'. But, of course, English being my first language, I also learned to read from left to right. (In this respect, we are the same.) So, whether the little mental visualization 'indicates' anything or not, I just thought I'd post my input regarding it. Maybe you've started a good idea, in which, instructions can be given, but leaving it to the imagination of the reader to decide 'which way to go', and then 'results' can be compared and analyzed. In Texas, we drive on the right,... most of the time! - jus'

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Hi Justfoundout,

that is quite interesting- I also made the mistake in my post of indicating everyone else would do it in the same way which is not the case- It is just so natural for me to go from left to right I assumed other people would- out of interest which hand to you write with? I think it is interesting they way in which things came about- why people drive on the left or right or why in fact some countries read left to right!

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5/31/09
Dear tr3slunas,
I'm right handed. And, if I don't get back to you quickly, it's because I'm leaving for work now. Glad to hear back from you. - jus'

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Hi jus' no problem hope you have a good shift! - I am right handed too! - I have been thinking about this all day. I am thinking perhaps it is not Dyscalculia, as my perceptions of right and left are really strange- I only hit the tip of the ice burg in this thread so i decided to start another thread in General Dyscalculia.

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I still sometimes have problems with my lefts and rights, though this problem only seems to happen if I'm driving to a new place and I am lost (which happens frequently, even in my hometown.) I may mean to turn left but instead I turned right, which when you're lost and have a very poor sense of direction, can be incredibly frustrating. But as for operating the car, I have no problems. If you have trouble with directions, mapquest your destination, or if you are asking for directions to someplace tell the person that is giving you the directions to tell you major landmarks along the way so that you know how to easily spot your destination. This usually works for me. Do not give up!

Lauren

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Hi, Lauren, I have prob' w/Lefts and Rights too. I learned to drive after college grad., for my second "after-college" job, which required Home Visits. I was a Case Manager with a caseload of 20 people at social services agency - target population, people w/cognitive disabilities, on the autism spectrum, more severe LD than what I have, dual diagnosis <mental illness/developmental disability>. I would often get lost when trying to find a client's residence. Occasionally I did NOT find it and either another case manger would go with me, or take me, or even my husband or my dad would help me - my supervisors were very accommodating because of the very nature of the agency.

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I have a sense of direction, but have difficulty with maps, oral instructions as well as literal directions <North, South,etc.>. Now I often have my husband help me, a lot of time he'll translate a way for me to get somewhere from a map, or whatever. Interestingly, HE < and I suspect he has nonverbal LD actually> has a terrible sense of direction and can get lost in a place he's been to many times, although he does VERY well with maps, directions and the like.

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12/30/09
I don't have a problem with 'lefts and rights', but I thought of something that might be interesting to 'explore' here on this Thread. Just for fun, I'll tell you how this happened to occur to me. In the spot where I currently have my computer, I have to use my left hand to manage the Mouse. There isn't room for the Mouse over on the right side. (I don't need any suggestions on 'where to put' anything,... thanks.) I happen to be a 'right-handed' person, so this has required a bit of re-training,... but that's all right. It was kind of 'fun' to get my left hand to 'take over' the Mouse functions, even clicking on the scroll bar and dragging it down. Then it occurred to me to re-check to see if I'm 'right-eye dominant', too. And, it turns out that, besides being 'right-hand dominant', I'm also 'right-eye dominant', which is evidently the most common combination.

I see (by Googling) that the dominant side for the hand doesn't always coincide with the dominant side for the eye. Wikipedia gives simple tests that a person can use to determine which eye is dominant. And, in some cases for some people, neither eye is dominant. Also, sometimes which eye is dominant will depend on whether the object being viewed is near or is far away. Here's the link to that Wikipedia site.
http://en.wikiped..._dominance

One question that occurs to me is, "Would cross dominance (i.e., left handed with right-eyed, or vice versa) be a factor in causing more 'right and left' confusion for a person?' - jus'

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Jus - Interesting about the eye dominance thing. I clicked on your Wikipedia link and did the Miles test (where you bring your arms out and make an "O" with your hands, viewing an object through the hole, then close your eyes one at a time to see which eye is viewing the object centered in the opening). I am apparently very left eye dominant. I am right-handed, which makes me cross-dominant.

I am quite sure that my previous lazy eye sealed the deal as far as my eye dominance goes, though. I had a lazy eye in my right eye until I was almost 3, and as a result that eye is much weaker than my left eye. The prescription in my eyeglasses is stronger on the right side, meaning that my vision is worse in my right eye. It does not track as strongly as my left eye does, although it is satisfactory, and I also have an astigmatism in that eye. Basically my right eye just sucks, haha.

Anyway, I have no doubt that whether or not I was "naturally" left eye dominant, I became left eye dominant because that was the only eye that would do what I wanted it to when I was a baby/toddler.

I have a general question for anyone to answer. Do you have problems with double-vision when you attempt to do the Miles test for eye dominance? That is, when you try to focus on the object within your hands, do you get a double image of your hands? Then when you switch to look at your hands, do you get a double image of the object behind them? I wonder if that's just me because of the unequal strength in my eyes, or if everyone has that issue.

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Yeah, I had the same problem. When my dad would be teaching me and telling me to turn left or right, I'd always make mistakes. He asked, "You do know your left from your right, don't you?" It was really embarrassing. I still do the same thing a lot if people are giving me directions, but I just laugh it off in those cases.

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Hm, I had amblyopia as a kid too; I wonder if that's common among "us"?

As to handedness, I'm ambidextrous, so "left and right" are interchangeable in most functions. Unfortumately, they are NOT interchangeable as directional indicators :o so I do have trouble remembering them when driving. Friends generally remember to tell me to turn "your side" or "my side" and, oddly, I can tell port from starboard easily and instantly. I drive a stick-shift by preference; they're cheaper to buy, get better mileage, and not many people ask to borrow it ;)

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I had "lazy eye" as kid too. And in car relating to directions, I usually just say "that way" or "this way" and point, which is my natural inclination. I spoke late and used gestures as young child for quite much more so than other kids.

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1/1/09
Kat and I have both done one of the little tests found at this link, to find out which of our eyes is 'dominant'. It only takes a few minutes to read the instructions and carry it out. If you wouldn't mind doing the test and telling us the results, I'm very interested in hearing which of your eyes is 'dominant'. And if you could then also include the information on which 'handedness' you have,... then we might even be 'onto' something here. - jus'
http://en.wikiped..._dominance

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no it's actually easier, trust me! (I'm in the UK but lived in America for a while too, and your "turn on red light" thing confuses the heck out of me.)

It's easier because in the UK red light means stop. That's it - when it's red you don't go *anywhere*, when it's green you can go - simple :)