Dyslexics vs Directions

It is very common for a person with dyslexia to have unusual directionality confusions that most non-dyslexics don’t have. Here are some common issues that dyslexics have with directions that I definitely relate to;  

  • Confusing Left & Right:

It is very common for dyslexics to fall back on the tricks they have been taught to distinguish left and right. But, unfortunately, it never becomes rapid and automatic.

some issues that dyslexics have are: 

  • “It’s on the right. No, the other right” is very frequently said by dyslexics.
  • b–d are also very frequently confused with one another because they basically look the same but point in different directions. One points to the left and one points to the right.
When looking at this gif, I for instance have to think twice about which direction (left or right) the man is pointing to. What about you?
  • Confusing direction & sequence words:
    • Some words that constantly get confused are; first–last, forwards-backward, before–after, next–previous, up-down 

As a dyslexic, I strongly relate to this. However, the sequence words I mix up the most are; yesterday–tomorrow. So often, when I tell friends a funny story that happened to me the day before, I will suddenly say tomorrow instead of yesterday, which confuses them a lot. 

  • Confusing North, South, East, West:

Whenever I ask people for directions, and they start talking about walking north or south, I panic because I have no clue how to distinguish those directions from one another. Another example would be when people tell me, for instance, that they are from the western part of a country or city, I always have to think twice to understand what they actually mean. 

Also, no matter how many tricks I hear about remembering these different directions, I will always forget.

Some other problems dyslexics have are;

  • getting lost a lot when driving around, even in cities where they’ve lived for many years
  • Often having difficulty reading or understanding maps

Reference List:

Plessis, Susan du. “Directional Confusion May Be a Sign of Dyslexia – Edublox Online Tutor.” Edublox Online Tutor | Development, Reading, Writing, and Math Solutions, 25 Nov. 2021, https://www.edubloxtutor.com/directional-confusion-may-sign-dyslexia/.

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-58770,00.html.

(All the pictures and gifs are accessed on the free WordPress Picture Gallery )