dysgeographica

[dysgeographica]

i disappeared really soon after making this blog because i started a new job and got top surgery in a super short span of time and life has been super chaotic since then, but i’m hoping to start things back up again now, so stay tuned!

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographic culture is loving the subway because it just takes you where you need to go and all you have to figure out is where to get on and off…but also hating the subway because knowing where to get on and off conceptually is not the same as actually doing that without ending up in the wrong place (and subway stations are never laid out in a way that makes literally any sense)

[dysgeographica]

@ashleyfonthescreamofcreation your tags made me curious, so i looked into it a little bit to see if geographical agnosia was just a synonym i’ve never heard or if it’s different, and i think i have an answer!

from what i can tell, geographical agnosia specifically refers to the inability to recognize geographical landmarks. that’s one possible symptom of dysgeographica, but it’s not the only one — there’s also the inability to form mental maps, difficulty with remembering directions, and so on. so someone could experience geographical agnosia as part of their dysgeographica, but they probably wouldn’t be considered synonymous because dysgeographica seems to apply to a broader range of experiences.

geographical agnosia also seems to be something a person could acquire later in life through something like brain trauma, while dysgeographica is always developmental and not acquired. so, while a dysgeographic person can experience geographical agnosia as part of their dysgeographica, not all people with geographical agnosia would be considered dysgeographic.

i also wanted to touch on your comment about prosopagnosia because i’ve actually seen a bit of research looking at the relationship between dysgeographica and prosopagnosia and, while it’s not super well researched yet, there’s some evidence suggesting that they aren’t just similar — they might actually be related! so people with dysgeographica are potentially more likely to also be prosopagnosic, or to have more trouble with faces than most people even if they’re not fully faceblind.

i hope that helps clarify it a bit!

what’s 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 doesn’t mean it’s not a real disability — 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 “cousin” of the specific learning disabilities much in the same way as dyspraxia.

[dysgeographica]

This blog is the first im hearing of this. Do you know anything about telling the difference between this and aphantasia?

basically, aphantasia is about not being able to visualize while dysgeographica is about not being able to navigate. those two things can overlap — namely, an aphantasic person and a dysgeographic person might share the inability to visualize mental maps. but that’s just the middle of the venn diagram.

so an aphantasic person won’t only be unable to visualize mental maps, they’ll be unable to visualize anything at all, while a dysgeographic person could have an incredibly vivid visual imagination when it comes to everything else. and a dysgeographic person will likely struggle with aspects of navigation other than mental maps, while an aphantasic person could be able to navigate just fine without actually seeing the mental map in their head.

obviously, these are generalizations, but it should give you an idea of the differences between the two.

i also wouldn’t be surprised if dysgeographica is related to aphantasia, though, given the overlap between the two. i know there’s evidence of a connection between dysgeographica and prosopagnosia for a similar reason — they both affect a person’s ability to create visual representations in their head, whether it be places or faces — so i can see aphantasia also being related in that way.

generally speaking, though, if you’re trying to identify which one you’re experiencing, i think the two basic questions to ask are “do you have trouble with visualization when it comes to things other than maps/places?” and “do you struggle with aspects of navigation other than seeing the maps/places in your head?”

i hope that helps!

[dysgeographica]

your fave is dysgeographic:

thorin oakenshield from the hobbit is dysgeographic!

requested by @fire-fira

[dysgeographica]

Turnip from Chicory: A Colorful Tale has dysgeographica!

tags: @dysgeographica | dni link

[dysgeographica]

A nomination for 'your fave is dysgeographic': Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit.

(Source: Hobbiton is a giant circle, and in the Peter Jackson movie he makes a comment about having almost gotten lost twice "if not for the mark on the door".)

oh my god, you're so right. i'll add it to the queue!

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica culture is almost having a panic attack in your car in the parking lot of a place you’ve been going to for years because there isn’t enough cell service to load google maps and you have no idea how to get back home on your own.

[dysgeographica]

your fave is dysgeographic:

fjord stone from critical role is dysgeographic!

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica is not rare — it’s just rarely discussed.

dysgeographica, sometimes referred to as developmental topographical disorientation, is a neurodevelopmental disability that primarily affects a person’s sense of direction and ability to navigate.

a 2022 study of italian young adults found that 3% of their sample met their criteria for having dysgeographica.

while this is a statistic from one study of one population and there aren’t very many other studies out there that we can compare it with to gauge its overall accuracy, it does give us some idea. so, let’s assume for now that that is accurate and approximately 3% of all people are dysgeographic.

it might sound small, but do you know how much 3% of the population actually is?

3% of the population is…

more than people with red hair.

more than people with green eyes.

roughly equal to autistic people.

one person in a group of 33 people.

six people in a 200 seat lecture hall.

190 students at the average college.

over 25,000 people in new york city.

almost 10 million people in the US.

over 47 million people in the whole world. that’s more than the total amount of people in kenya, the 26th largest country in the world. there are enough of us to have our own country!

to be classified as rare in the US, something has to affect a maximum of 200,000 people in the entire country. the (estimated) number of dysgeographics is 50 times that.

so no — as far as current studies can tell, dysgeographica is not rare!

if it’s not rare, then, why have you probably never heard of it? why are there so few people who know they’re dysgeographic?

because it’s just not being talked about, and it hasn’t been recognized by influential medical organizations or given a place in their official diagnostic guides.

that leaves the vast majority of dysgeographics not knowing why they can’t get around the way other people can or that there’s a name for the way their brains work. some may come up with their own explanations for the things they struggle with, but others will simply assume the people who judged them were right — that they’re just not “smart enough” or not trying hard enough to get it right.

and even those of us who do know we’re dysgeographic will have a hard time finding other people like us or getting access to any of the accommodations or other resources and support we might need.

i, for one, think that’s far too many people being left in the dark about their own neurotype, so let’s talk about it more.

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica culture is having no idea how people can play entire d&d campaigns in just theater of the mind because holy shit how do you know where anything is or what things look like just from a description????? like sure i can try to imagine it but the version in my head will not look how it’s supposed to

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica culture is getting hopelessly lost in big open world games like breath of the wild and minecraft…and also in smaller-scale games like animal crossing

[dysgeographica]

there’s nothing wrong with needing to use gps directions to get everywhere.

it doesn’t mean you’re “stupid”, it doesn’t mean you’re not trying hard enough or not paying enough attention. it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong or taking the easy way out. it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be allowed to be independent.

yes, even if you need it to get somewhere you’ve been a million times before. even if you need it to get around the town you’ve lived in your entire life. even if other people think you should be able to go without it.

if you wouldn’t judge another disabled person for using certain tools that let them live more independently, don’t judge yourself for doing the same.

and never ever let someone else shame you into going out into the world without the tools that allow you to feel safe.

these tools exist to be used, so use them if you need them. there’s no shame in needing help.

[dysgeographica]

your fave is dysgeographic:

chidi anagonye from the good place is dysgeographic!

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica alert-style userboxes

[dysgeographica]

dysgeographica culture is taking years and years to learn how to get from your house to your best friend’s house…only to realize they literally live down the street.

(and then only realizing years after that that your old daycare was also just down the street and not across town.)

[dysgeographica]

I saw you reblog a dygeographica post from me, and I just wanted to thank you for making this blog. This is the kind of resource that's beyond helpful to have, and I appreciate seeing it.

i really appreciate that!

one of your posts was actually one of the things that helped me realize dysgeographica was even a thing i could have. i was honestly shocked to find out there wasn’t really anything like this here already so i figured, why not make it myself?

it’s very much in the early stages right now, but i am really hoping it can become a real resource for people as it grows!