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We’ve noticed something odd about the kids. Nathan knows directions, but Sarah Kate doesn’t. She’s twelve and has lived in the same small town for nearly seven years (six of those in the same house), but she couldn’t give you directions to the school she’s attended for three years that’s a mile from our house. We can get in the car and drive for ten minutes and she’ll have no idea if we are still in Mayberry or not.
Nathan, on the other hand, recognizes when we are near places he’s been, without actually having to be in view of them. He’s barely five (and, of course, the other obvious reason why he shouldn’t be good at directions). I’m not sure what to make of it.
What do you guys think of the font that I use for headings on the blog? I like it, but I have never loved it since I redesigned the blog at the end of 2014. If you notice the headings look different in the next week or so and you have an opinion, let me know. I may test out some new ones.
Sarah Kate’s first show choir performance will be tomorrow, IF the weather cooperates. Mayberry has a big(ish) Earth Day event at the park down by the pier and they’ll be performing at the opening. She has a solo! It’s not a big solo, just a few lines from “Don’t Stop Believin’” but I can’t wait to see how she does.
Speaking of inclement weather…WOW. We’ve had nothing but rain All. Week. Long. with no end in sight. Rain and thunderstorms along the gulf coast are quite common, but we’re more likely to get a big frog-strangler in between hours of sunshine than days and days and days of gloom and storms. It makes me want to take long naps every day. And who wouldn’t want to nap with a sweet thing like this?
Unfortunately, three month old high-energy breed puppies and staying indoors for days on end Do. Not. Mix. Last week was Whackamole Spring Break, this week is Whackamole Pup Gone Wild.
Since desperate times call for desperate measures, I sucked it up and took The Wild Ones out for a walk in the not-raining-now-but-there’s-standing-water-everywhere-and-it-could-start-again-any-moment. Two of us returned with sopping wet shoes and the third with giant wet paw prints.
But we lived to fight another day, so…
I’m going to attempt to go out shopping for some new clothes today. Some friends pooled their funds and got me a Loft gift card for my birthday, knowing that if they went with Old Navy or any other place I shop that also sells kids’ clothes I’d probably buy something for the kids instead of myself. Very thoughtful, right? Sadly, my birthday was … ahem … back in January so I’m way overdue for a little shopping excursion.
But if the weather is bad again, Whackamole may thwart my efforts to end the cycle of looking like I’ve completely thrown in the towel.
Do you have a kid with special needs in north Atlanta? My friend Melanie McGriff is the clinic director of Kid’s Creek Therapy in the Johns Creek area and they are offering some great summer camps and clubs for kids with special needs (participants don’t have to be patients of Kid’s Creek). Melanie’s family lives in my hometown and I’ve known her husband since I was Sarah Kate’s age. They’re great people and I have no doubt these camps and clubs are fantastic. Visit their website to learn more (and forward the info to a friend!)
Have a great weekend!
This post was inspired by and is linked to This Ain’t the Lyceum’s 7 Quick Takes.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments about Kids Creek. I can’t imagine you napping! I will ask Melanie how often she sees special abilities in young children like Nathan. I suspect he has capability in this area that most of do not, especially me! I got lost going to the airport this morning in Salt lake city- with a gps.
Shane McGriff
Norcross, Georgia
I’ve noticed similar with my kids and directions. My 13 year old daughter is clueless and can’t give directions to save her life but my 7 year old son can get us to his dad’s house from ours (divorced families) which is about 20 minutes away. Maybe it’s a gender thing? I am also HORRIBLE with directions and it wasn’t until I started driving that I really was able to start getting myself places. (I remember having to ask my mom how to get to my grandmas house once after I got my license and my mom couldn’t believe i had NO CLUE how to get there! 4 turns and 5 minutes down the road.) My husband mocks me about my ability to get places…he swears he knows our area better than I do (he’s lived here for 3 years vs my 33…). So moral of the story is I wouldn’t worry too much about SK! 🙂
Ha! I don’t think it’s a gender thing – I was always the one in my family who knew how to get everywhere. In fact, I remember a few times before I was old enough to drive that my parents got lost on a trip and asked my advice about what I thought was the best way to turn to get back on course! I also always seem to know what direction is north, even on a cloudy day in a strange place.
This is completely anecdotal, but I’ve noticed that myself (and most of the other people with CP I know), tend to have trouble with directions. I’m not sure if there’s some kind of relation between motor skills and visual-spatial ability, but I usually have difficulty finding my way around, even if I’ve been to the same place many times before, whereas my three other siblings (who are also the same age as me) can do it just fine. When I started driving, my parents were shocked that I had no idea how to get anywhere, even to my school or the grocery store down the street. I rely on my phone’s GPS a lot, but it has proven problematic.
Then again, I’ve also heard that men/boys in general tend to have better spatial skills than women, so maybe that has something to do with it.
The directional issues are a CP thing. I’m 22 and I still can’t really give you directions to my house which I’ve lived in almost all my life. I will sometimes mix up my left and right. Now that I have my wheelchair and i’m going out on my own a lot more, especially around NYC, my sense of direction has improved a bit, but that’s not saying much. I rely on my smartphone with Google maps in order to go pretty much anywhere. It sounds strange, but between my wheelchair and my phone, my confidence and independence has increased tenfold.
I can absolutely see it being a CP thing – the brain is weird and you never what can be affected when there’s damage in there somewhere! I do find it really odd that Nathan doesn’t have the same trouble, though. I assume it’s because people with Down syndrome tend to be visual learners – maybe he is good at recognizing patterns?
I think having a good visual memory helps some children with DS when it comes to knowing where they are. When my youngest was about 3 years old we used to take a route through a suburb that had a lot of state built houses when taking her older sibblings to school. Krystal always mentioned my mother who lived in another city. I eventually realised the houses we were passing looked similar to the ones we pass on the way into my mother’s city so Krystal thought she lived in that suburb. Later she was very good at mentioning if I took a wrong turn on the way to school. She was a wander until recently and has directed total strangers where to take her home, one time in the dark from several blocks away.
I am a 21-year-old female and I suck at directions.
In grade 11 I couldn’t tell you how to get from my house to my school less than 5 minutes away.
I started driving at 16. I was able to get to school at 17 when I was allowed to drive by myself (law in BC, Canada), but I think I was really just recognizing landmarks and I doubt I could have described my route.
At 17 my Nana gave me a GPS for my birthday and I still use it regularly. I can get around town to major areas but in my mind the city sprawls out from my house in several different directions, and getting from one area to another without going back home is very difficult. I can drive the same route every week for months and not be able to navigate it by myself, though I do find the route familiar.
I expect this is what you will go through with her. My mom is worried for me driving and my GPS failing, so I have a map book in my car, and she is concerned about my reliance on the GPS, but it is extremely hard for me and I don’t think she understands at all how challenging it is because it’s not hard for her.
I have had concussions and I think they may have added to my directional challenges, but I think there must have been that underlying difficulty anyway, and other than that I don’t have any neurological issues (probably have ASD in the STEM-brained slightly socially awkward range).
If Sarah Kate is like me, the best thing you can do to support her now is to teach her map-reading and work on left-right instant recognition (if given enough time I can determine left/right but if forced to be quick I tend to guess). Later you can set her up with a GPS for driving.
It stresses me out when my mom tells me she wants me to work on my independence for driving. It feels like asking a colour-blind person to try harder to see a shade they say they can’t. I am a safe, conscientious driver. Plus using a GPS and not stressing about unknown routes lets me focus on pedestrians, being aware of vehicles around me, speed limits, and other important signs.
I hope this gives you some perspective. In my case I don’t think it’s a problem that can be fixed, but I have learned to help myself in ways that work for me.
I think it could be a difference with CP or just a difference in how they learn. My sisters and I are all “typical” (of course, we all have our quirks). I can barely find my way down my street and can forget the way to places I’ve gone frequently if I am coming from a different direction though am very “smart”. My sister has had an amazing mind for directions from a very young age and identified turns in the middle of the night at 4-5, when going to my grandparents house and we only visited once a year!
D (my 5.5 year old) has CP and difficultly with visual processing. I can tell it’s likely he’ll learn much better verbally and he may struggle with maps and directions (he struggles with puzzles and patterns). So far I can’t tell about our typical 3 year old. She’s quite good at puzzles, but doesn’t seem to notice or pay attention to direction yet.