Bad at understanding distances

[Michael Balog]

Am I the only one who has a hard time with understanding distances when someone tells you how far away something was. I’m meaning when someone says oh the car was like 4 yards away from the finish line or whatever and I literally can’t understand how far away they were. I’m somewhat better at smaller measurements but not much better. Does anyone else have a similar experience like me?

 

[BraidedPony]

Maybe. If I drive somewhere and I stay on one road it translates to "close" even if it is 20 miles. But if there are a lot of turns and lane changes, it is "far" even if just a few miles.

 

[Fino]

"Keep a few feet away"

"In 500 feet, turn left"

I like to say, "Whose feet?"

Yeah, I don't get it very well either.

 

[Isadoorian]

I don't exactly understand it either I still don't have a good understanding of a measuring tape either. If you were to point out "2 quarters of an inch" I'll have no clue where that'd be on the tape.

 

[Fino]

I don't exactly understand it either I still don't have a good understanding of a measuring tape either. If you were to point out "2 quarters of an inch" I'll have no clue where that'd be on the tape.

Well that's a confusing way of saying "half an inch" which is usually a line slightly smaller than the "inch" line, in between the numbers, with your example being half-way between "0" and "1"

 

[Progster]

That sounds like dyscalculia. I don't have this problem - but am used to metric - kilos as opposed to pounds, kilometers as opposed to miles or Celcius rather than Fahrenheit. So if someone tells me how much something weighs in pounds, or the temperature in Fahrenheit, it means little to me.

One related thing I do have difficulty with is left and right. I have to stop and think about which way is left and which way is right, it doesn't come automatically. It caused me quite a few problems when I was learning to drive.

 

[Cazelle]

One related thing I do have difficulty with is left and right. I have to stop and think about which way is left and which way is right, it doesn't come automatically.

Same! I can't understand how it comes so easily to others, I really struggle.

Interesting about the difficulty with measurements, I think I am quite the opposite. I've always been good at estimating distances both long and short. I also live in a metric world. (I would have no idea about how far feet and miles and inches are. Well, I could guess feet since I am apparently 6 feet tall.)

 

[Gracey]

I'm not good at imagining or recalling weight.


if it's any use to anyone:
(rounding up or down/ approximates)

I write mainly with my RIGHT hand.
(easier to remember just one direction)

A yard or metre is approximately one good walking stride.

"4 metres/yards from the finish line" would be the approximate equivalent of 4 good strides.
(quite close to the finish line)

one mile would be approximately 1,700 good strides or paces.

UK driving test requires a registration plate to be read from a distance of 20 metres.
20 good paces away from the car.

vehicles displaying the sign
'Please leave 3 metres clear at the rear of this vehicle"
(ambulance, emergency vehicles, disability carriages)
-Don't park any closer than 3 good paces behind those vehicles.


An inch is the approximate equivalent of one section of your finger joints.(adult)

someone asks you to pass them a two inch nail from a box of various sizes,

measure the nail against the tip of your finger along to the second joint or bend.

one inch = 2.5cm

someone asks you to pass them the 10cm length of wood from a huge pile of various sizes,

it's the piece that's 4 finger joints (inches) long - if you're not carrying a tape measure in your pocket

these methods would be useless in your engineering exam
or where precision is required.

 

[Gracey]

I don't exactly understand it either I still don't have a good understanding of a measuring tape either. If you were to point out "2 quarters of an inch" I'll have no clue where that'd be on the tape.

If someone is talking about quarters in measurement,

you can rely on the whole being broken down into four equal pieces.

a measuring tape has the boldest and longest lines to indicate whole units such as inches,

look at the longer, bolder line at the 1 inch mark,
move along to the two inch mark,

is there a longer, bolder line to indicate the 2 inch mark?

and the 3 inch mark?
4? 5? all the way along to the end of the tape?

you can rely on that pattern of longer, bolder lines to show whole inches.

within that whole inch,
someone is talking about quarters.

that inch is broken down into four equal sections.

you have to find two quarters
(or 2/4 )
as @Fino quite rightly says, "half"

half of four, is two.

This is where the shorter lines on your tape measure come in,
to indicate smaller, equal sections of the inch.

 

[Suzanne]

I think I am fine with distances. My problem is with coordinations. I come out of a public toilet ( which is a nightmare in itself) and lost to which way I turn, as everything looks different to when I arrived.

 

[Gracey]

...and lost to which way I turn, as everything looks different to when I arrived.

it actually is.

The buildings, roads, shops and landmarks don't move or change,

it's your perception or view that changes when you change direction.

when entering the doorway for the loo,
we're only looking forwards.

not aware of what landmarks are behind us.

those landmarks behind us are the first things we will see on changing direction and exiting (opposite to entering) the doorway for the loo.

if it's helpful,
next time,
before entering the doorway for the loos,
glance behind you.

gives you a much less confusing idea of where you are and what you'll see when you exit the loos.

 

[Daydreamer]

I am often terrible with distances and measurements. Recently, I've been reading a book series. The main character kept mentioning different directions and distances.

At one point a few characters fell into a hole but I wasn't sure how big it was because I couldn't figure out what size the measurements given meant. I thought I figured it out, but then there was an action described which suggested that the hole was perhaps a bit narrower and less deep than I originally thought. Usually I'm quite good at visualising a scene, but details along those lines can really throw me off.

Also, the books kept mentioning directions such as East and West. I kept having to stop to figure out where things were.

Personally, I've never naturally thought in terms of miles, yards or feet. Frankly it seems bizarre to me that anyone does. That's why when I'm reading and a scene is described like "We gradually walked closer to the mountain, it was approximately *insert number of miles* away", I automatically begin to wonder how they know this. The idea of merely looking at an object from a distance and just knowing, I can't really imagine what that's like.

Comparisons help. Sometimes when people are trying to explain how long it takes to get somewhere, I ask if they could compare it to a journey I already know. That makes it easier for me to put it into perspective. Otherwise you might as well just be talking to nonsense to me, since it'd make the same amount of sense.

I can visualise people and objects in detail, but I have trouble understanding perspective. Sort of as if my understanding is somewhat flat I guess you could say. I jump out of the way of moving objects too fast because I find it difficult to accurately estimate speed.

How long it will take to get somewhere I base on personal experience, I find it hard to figure out manually. I can't work it out in the second nature way some people can. Miles and yards basically mean nothing to me. Also, time is a confusing thing and I'm usually either ridiculously early or embarrassingly late.

 

[Tom]

I'm actually very good at distances, but my wife who is NT is very not. So I am not sure if it is something tied to Autism.

 

[Michael Balog]

Thanks guys for all the great responses and letting me know I wasn’t alone in this!!

 

[Wolfnox]

I relate. Im terrible at picturing what inches,feet or yards look like. No idea how to measure meters. Even google didnt know. Im the same with any type of measurement. Except for weights. Im slightly better at that.

 

[Graphin]

I have a very hard time comprehending those inches, yards miles etc, must be because I'm used to metric though

 

[GrownupGirl]

I have trouble telling how far a car is away from me, especially when it looks like it's about to run me over at high speed when I'm trying to cross the street at a crosswalk after the light is green.

 

[Judge]

I seem to be pretty good at judging distances.

Maybe it has something to do with studying cartography and map/air photo interpretation having minored in geography. Where I got used to correlating images and distances with their map equivalent.

Probably more of a learned skill rather than a raw talent.

 

[Fino]

Same! I can't understand how it comes so easily to others, I really struggle.

One related thing I do have difficulty with is left and right. I have to stop and think about which way is left and which way is right, it doesn't come automatically. It caused me quite a few problems when I was learning to drive.

I'm a little curious about this. One direction is the one you write with and the other is the direction you don't write with. Where exactly does the confusion come in?

I tried really hard to word that in a way that doesn't sound condescending or anything else negative, because I'm just curious!

 

[Michael Balog]

This is totally not on the topic but the same type of issue @Progster deals with. So I know the difference between pink and purple but when I go to say the word it comes out as the other one I’m trying to say. It’s so frustrating to have an try to correct yourself when you know what your trying to say but it’s not coming out right.