Always Lost

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So, I'm not sure if this is necessarily a major aspie thing or just a me thing, but I have the worst time with figuring out where I am in space and paying attention to my surroundings, so I get into a lot of trouble with things like being unable to find my car in the parking lot, keeping track of objects, remembering things about what people looked like or specific physical details, getting lost in anywhere from grocery stores to the school cafeteria to my own neighborhood... And I cannot navigate at all when I'm driving without Google Maps reading off directions to me at every turn. I once forgot my phone at home and drove all over the Colorado plains for hours, sobbing and trying to find my way home, and finally had to stop at a store and ask someone to borrow their phone so I could call my parents and beg for them to pick me up. When I got ahold of them, I knew the name of the store I was in but not the street I was on. This is not atypical for me.
Long story short, I eventually got home, but surely I'm not the only one who sucks at this...
Is anyone else an embarrassingly terrible navigator? Do you ever get scared about how you'll function as an adult due to the constant fear of being lost?

I am 67 and I have always been a poor navigator subject to getting lost. I got my first traffic ticket ever for running a red light because I needed to follow a friend in the car ahead of me in order to get back home from a nearby town. I have some Google maps I have printed out for getting to various places and I use a notebook or laptop with a street atlas and GPS whenever I go very far from home.

Yes it could be a result of aspergers. Memory is connected to executive functioning, and well being on the autistic spectrum usually means that function is impaired. I also have problems with some things dealing with memory such as remembering peoples faces(well remembering what most things look like...) definitely remembering physical characteristics! I have trouble remembering all instructions someone give me.(if you told me once I will most likely forget.)

Though I'm not a bad navigator I am bad with instructions so, that could be a problem depending on the situation(holding a job, emergency situations, etc). Though everyone that has autism won't have the exact same problems, most of us will have some kind of deficiency in executive functioning.

Wow, I have the same problems too!

Yeah, I definitely forget lists of instructions quickly too. This has become a problem in some classes, where teachers decide to verbally list off the steps of a project without giving us a handout. I always feel like an idiot asking people what was just said because it makes it sound like I just wasn't listening, which I would consider terribly rude. That's actually part of my problem with navigation, come to think of it. I'll have someone just verbally listing off all the turns I need to make at once, and I'll just kind of stare at them, having absorbed none of it.

I'm very good at navigating and knowing where I am around a city, as long as I have looked at a physical map ahead of time and can plan my own route. Then while driving I have a visual map in my head that I follow from my car. I get a lot of anxiety if I don't know where I am going, so I can't imagine what it would be like to not be able to navigate...I probably wouldn't be able to drive. Similarly to you though, I can't take verbal directions and it's all a mess/confusion in my mind. I have no idea how you are able to use GPS either....those things don't give me enough warning to react and plan ahead.

It sounds like the OP might benefit from looking at visuals instead of verbal directions. I'm terrible at remembering any directions whatsoever lol .

I agree that looking at it visually can help! I always see it in my mind as a grid, and I'm walking/driving along the roads and it changes when I turn, etc. I also learn and then visualize where things are in relation to each other, so I am never truly lost even if I don't know exactly where I am. Whenever I am in a new city, the first thing I do is look at a map and identify the general layout and major roads and/or landmarks, so I always know where I am - I have a large collection of maps from almost every European city I have visited

It might help, actually. That's sort of what I'll do with Google Maps, except I'll get anxiety about forgetting a turn at some point, so I like having the thing read off turns to me as a back up. But yes, they usually do play really late. So I'm basically in a constant state of anxiety while driving. Maybe I should just look at more physical maps though. Could be useful. Thanks.

I have the same problem with remembering what is next. I usually print off the google map directions in list form after I've planned my route, and only look at the next 2-3 directions at a time. Then, when I hit a red light, I reference it again so it is fresh. If I happen to miss a direction, then I can use the map in my head to get back to where I need to be. And I can understand the anxiety - I get it pretty bad when driving too

Wow, you seem to have this navigating thing down!

Lol thanks! I love navigating. Driving on the other hand...

I'm kind of scared of learning how to drive. How hard is it? I'm only 13, so I have a few years, but I just can't imagine driving one day! It's terrifying

It's not terrible. I wouldn't worry too much, though you should take it seriously. The hardest part for me is mostly just being aware of where I'm going, and I do have tools to help me with that. The stress I was referring to comes mostly from my fears of getting lost, and sometimes also my fear of the socializing I know I'll have to endure at my destination. The actual driving itself is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. You just have to pay attention and be aware of your surroundings. And everything gets better with practice. I even managed to learn a couple of routes I used frequently, and I'm more comfortable on those. Sometimes, if It's a familiar route, it's almost nice because It's sort of like having alone time. Also, you get more independence, so that's cool (though also scary.) It helps getting jobs too. You can play music, if that helps you. I only do it on routes I know really well though, so I can pay attention to where I'm at and when I'm turning.

Thanks for the reassurance . It just seems hard right now to imagine myself driving in just a few years (I'm almost 14). I can relate to the fear of socializing you have to endure at your destination lol- I struggle with that now sometimes! Thanks for taking the time to reply .

I use to think the same thing about driving when I was younger. After I actually started learning it was much easier than I thought! Oddly enough I never went and finished getting a drivers license(I have the one where you can drive as long as you have someone with a drivers license with you.) I don't know why.(Guess cause I don't have a car so what would be the point?)