whatâs dysgeographica?
dysgeographica, also known as developmental topographical disorientation, is a form of neurodivergence in which a person has difficulty creating mental maps, orienting themselves or a location in space, and navigating from place to place.
some common symptoms of dysgeographica include:
getting lost easily, even in one's own neighborhood or other extremely familiar locations
difficulty memorizing even simple or frequently traveled routes
no internal compass (i.e. no sense of which way one is facing or if one has been turned around)
no sense of where familiar locations are in relation to each other
difficulty making a mental map of a building or area's layout
uncertainty about which direction a location is in, even if one knows how to get there
complete reliance on GPS navigation while traveling
rigidly following one familiar route to get somewhere, even if a better route may be available
anxiety around driving a car due to lack of confidence in one's ability to navigate as the driver
is dysgeographica just a poor sense of direction?
while many people struggle to read maps or navigate unfamiliar places, being dysgeographic means struggling with very familiar locations as well as unfamiliar ones, potentially getting lost in one's own neighborhood or workplace.
additionally, while someone who just has a poor sense of direction will generally still be able to move through the world and perform daily life activities with little to no added difficulty or distress, dysgeographic people will often find that their difficulty navigating makes day-to-day functioning more difficult (e.g. being late to work regularly due to getting lost, not being able to drive a car or travel alone).
is dysgeographica part of adhd/autism/etc?
it is possible to have dysgeographica with comorbid autism, adhd, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, etc. it's also possible to experience dysgeographic symptoms as secondary to one of those (e.g. having trouble navigating due to adhd inattention).
that being said, dysgeographica is not inherently connected to any other form of neurodivergence, and can be the only neurodivergence someone has. you don't need to be diagnosed with anything else to have dysgeographica.
is dysgeographica a disability?
yes, dysgeographica is a neurodevelopmental disability.
it is not, however, recognized as such by the DSM or ICD, despite research showing evidence of its existence and the impact it can have on people's lives. that doesnât mean itâs not a real disability â what it does mean is that it can be very difficult (if not impossible) to get accommodations.
while dysgeographica would most likely not be categorized as a specific learning disability, it does have some overlap with dyscalculia and dyslexia, and can be considered a âcousinâ of the specific learning disabilities much in the same way as dyspraxia.
