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On the Right Track: Teaching Your Teen With LD to Manage Travel and Transportation
Many kids with learning disabilities and AD/HD have a hard time getting around independently. Learn how you can help your teen fine-tune his navigation skills.
By Arlyn Roffman, Ph.D.
People with learning disabilities (LD) and/or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) often have difficulty getting from one location to another. They frequently lose their way, have trouble using public transportation, and struggle with driving-related issues. Contributing factors may include poor time management, problems with spatial and visual perception, and difficulties with eye-hand coordination. Diane Swonk, a successful economist who has dyslexia, admits, "Every time I get off the elevator in the place that I've worked for 17 years, I'm still lost. I still can't get on the right train going home from work unless I try really hard. Going from Point A to Point B is just not easy for me."
This article will explain many of the challenges individuals with LD and AD/HD face in travel and transportation. It will offer a variety of strategies for teaching your teenager how to get around effectively, which will further prepare him to function independently as a young adult.
The table below illustrates how various characteristics of LD and AD/HD can result in challenges to getting around.
|
Learning or Attention Problem |
Challenges in Travel and Transportation |
|---|---|
|
Reading |
Difficulty reading road signs |
|
Temporal perception (sense of time) |
Problems planning enough time to get where one wants to go |
|
Attention |
Tendency to get sidetracked on the way to a destination |
|
Spatial perception |
Tendency to become disoriented easily; have trouble following maps; have problems navigating around new, unfamiliar areas |
|
Directionality |
Difficulty distinguishing east from west and right from left and a subsequent tendency to follow directions inaccurately |
|
Depth perception |
Problems gauging how fast cars are coming, when crossing a street as a pedestrian or when driving through an intersection |
|
Receptive language |
Difficulty understanding spoken directions |
|
Auditory processing |
Difficulty following the steps or sequence of spoken directions |
|
Auditory figure-ground (focusing on one sound against a noisy background) |
Problems "tuning in" to messages delivered over public address systems in noisy bus depots, train stations, and airports |
|
Visual memory |
Trouble remembering landmarks along a familiar route |
|
Visual figure-ground (focusing on one object in a crowded visual field) |
Difficulty reading maps; problems reading departure and arrival boards at airports, train stations, and bus depots; trouble finding one's car in a large parking lot or one's suitcase on an airport baggage carousel |
