I think spacial awareness is entering our lives. I think that it has entered a few aspects but I don't know enough about it. Have looked at previous posts and some of it I think is relevent, but my husband doesn't agree. He can't see any problems and I am just being unkind, but, something is niggling away in the back of my mind and I feel aprehensive.
I don't want to put too much on here at the moment as there is always the posibility that I am mistaken. What a cauldron of emotion is simmering.
Hi Flo
This can be an aspect of PD. Do you mean difficulty in getting through doorways and /or a tendency to lurch towards what you are trying to avoid ? I don't seem to be able to process the information I am getting fast enough when I drive at night which could appear to a.n.other to be spatial problems. Also ne of the many little things I noticed before my PD was ever thought of was that I seemed to be more clumsy than I used to be because I was misjudging distances.
You could look in the Publications secton of this site. I'm pretty sure the Eyesight publication deals with loss of binocular vision (needed for depth perception) caused by faulty functioning of the eye muscles.
If you can be more specific as to the prlblem am sure someone will have the specific answer
Best wishes
This can be an aspect of PD. Do you mean difficulty in getting through doorways and /or a tendency to lurch towards what you are trying to avoid ? I don't seem to be able to process the information I am getting fast enough when I drive at night which could appear to a.n.other to be spatial problems. Also ne of the many little things I noticed before my PD was ever thought of was that I seemed to be more clumsy than I used to be because I was misjudging distances.
You could look in the Publications secton of this site. I'm pretty sure the Eyesight publication deals with loss of binocular vision (needed for depth perception) caused by faulty functioning of the eye muscles.
If you can be more specific as to the prlblem am sure someone will have the specific answer
Best wishes
Sorry O/H if you read this. Thank you Eileenpatricia. Briefly it is driving, we have had words about it, banging elbows when walking through doorways, silly things like getting out plates that are far too small, flo
spatial awareness is a common problem and especially affects driving. judging gaps while moving at speed is affected which often results in suddenly slowing down when passing obstacles. reversing is particularly difficult as the brain has to construct an image of reality from the views in mirrors and awareness of the size of the car.
levadopa seems to help while dopamine agonists dont probably because of the different dopamine receptors affected by the drugs. so if he is on DAs only it might improve with levadopa.
levadopa seems to help while dopamine agonists dont probably because of the different dopamine receptors affected by the drugs. so if he is on DAs only it might improve with levadopa.
Very much so Flo . I understand completely how you feel .
While I had always felt very comfortable and safe while my husband with his driving I started to feel no so comfortable and anxious .
In I particular he would misjudge bends and the edge of the pavement ,veer to the middle of the road .
I did mention it and he went to have his eyes tested, , we even bought a smaller car . I didn't wat to make him over anxious and I don't drive myself although I had passed my test I knew the basics of driving .
I googled spacial awareness and realised what was happening , I explained how it was that it was similar to the problem he was having
with doorways and coordination and he immediately stopped driving . We sold the car and started to use taxis more , he wasn't even to
walk enough to use local transport so it made a huge difference to our lifestyle .
Now I do my shopping on line and lts of other things
I can't say it was easy , and everybody is different at accepting but really there is no other choice .
While I had always felt very comfortable and safe while my husband with his driving I started to feel no so comfortable and anxious .
In I particular he would misjudge bends and the edge of the pavement ,veer to the middle of the road .
I did mention it and he went to have his eyes tested, , we even bought a smaller car . I didn't wat to make him over anxious and I don't drive myself although I had passed my test I knew the basics of driving .
I googled spacial awareness and realised what was happening , I explained how it was that it was similar to the problem he was having
with doorways and coordination and he immediately stopped driving . We sold the car and started to use taxis more , he wasn't even to
walk enough to use local transport so it made a huge difference to our lifestyle .
Now I do my shopping on line and lts of other things
I can't say it was easy , and everybody is different at accepting but really there is no other choice .
Hi Turnip and Johnnie. O/H is on levodopa already. Something is changing but as he refuses to see that, it is difficult. I am sure that eventually there will be a battle as driving means so much to him. I have noticed that I seem to be screwing my toes up as if I am trying to slow the car down. He would be furious if he saw that I was talking about it, but I know something is happening.
I can't honestly say that he should stop driving yet but he needs to be aware of what is happening. flo
I can't honestly say that he should stop driving yet but he needs to be aware of what is happening. flo
Ok, I'm taking a huge risk in posting this as it's about sex differences - so, please before you think of me as a "chauvinist pig" or something like that, please remember that I'm posting it with the best of intentions just to try to alert the ladies in this forum that this might be a particularly sensitive topic to your O/Hs.
As I see it, spacial awareness is an area were men normally are used to having a little natural advantage over women (men typically enjoy driving more than women; men typically do better than women at games heavily relying on spacial awareness like chess). Of course women also have lots of natural advantages over men and my point here is really not to make comparisons. My point is solely that being trusted upon for stuff like driving might be a big deal to some men as it's a key part of our lives. I can easily imagine that it will be a huge deal if & when I'm told I'm no longer up to standard for driving my family. So, just thought about letting you know that this might not be such an innocent subject for your O/H and that it might be worth it give him a little slack on it - obviously road security is critical, so really up to you to judge how much "slack" you can afford, but hopefully if things really get out of hand, your O/H will also realize it himself (after all, PD doesn't often affect one's logic and common sense).
Cheers and hope this is of any use,
lfs
As I see it, spacial awareness is an area were men normally are used to having a little natural advantage over women (men typically enjoy driving more than women; men typically do better than women at games heavily relying on spacial awareness like chess). Of course women also have lots of natural advantages over men and my point here is really not to make comparisons. My point is solely that being trusted upon for stuff like driving might be a big deal to some men as it's a key part of our lives. I can easily imagine that it will be a huge deal if & when I'm told I'm no longer up to standard for driving my family. So, just thought about letting you know that this might not be such an innocent subject for your O/H and that it might be worth it give him a little slack on it - obviously road security is critical, so really up to you to judge how much "slack" you can afford, but hopefully if things really get out of hand, your O/H will also realize it himself (after all, PD doesn't often affect one's logic and common sense).
Cheers and hope this is of any use,
lfs
I personally think that the spacial awareness problem is due to the pupils size being effected by PD. ie. When the pupil dilation is out of sinc to the norm that the brain is use to considering for the changing levels of light.
While the lens remains in shape for the eye to maintain good focus, the different / altered dilation is misleading or confusing enough to over or under steer by foot or hand (if driving).
Night driving and sudden changes of light going through doorways can be very problematic.
Reactolite type sunglasses that are clear in the dark (for night driving) have help me and may work for others.
Just a thought
While the lens remains in shape for the eye to maintain good focus, the different / altered dilation is misleading or confusing enough to over or under steer by foot or hand (if driving).
Night driving and sudden changes of light going through doorways can be very problematic.
Reactolite type sunglasses that are clear in the dark (for night driving) have help me and may work for others.
Just a thought
Thank you for your replies, it is interesting looking at things from another viewpoint. Driving has been a huge part of O/H 's life, it would be heartbreaking for him so I am hoping that when the time comes for him to hang up the keys he will know that the time is right.
As ever Turnip you have hit the nail on the head for me with your comment "reversing is particularly difficult as the brain has to construct an image of reality from the views in mirrors and awareness of the size of the car" I am currently taking "improve your driving" lessons courtesy of ROSPA having twice reversed into an immoveable object in precisely the same way. Prompted to look in the mirrors I have tried to explain that although I can see everything I still don't know what to do I am now reminded of just before dx.on a rambling holiday when I was blaming the walking boots for my feet misbehaving only this time I have with some justification been blaming my new automatic car and the creep effect and the fact that it is a bit higher and bigger, ignoring the fact that in the past I have driven all sorts of cars here and abroad and had no problem.
Hello again Flo , It's an awful position to find yourself in , it was ages before I Said anything to my husband , I remember digging my feet in . Are you able to drive , it was too late for me to start again .
My husband had absolutely no idea that he was doing anything wrong and he still had his licence the consultant had told him to carry on but he didn't sit in the car with him .
Luckily my husband knew I wouldn't have even mentioned it if wasn't right after all I had been sitting with him for many many years ,I did leave it as long as possible .
So please if any of you are told this is happening take heed . Maybe ask someone else to sit with you sometime and see what they say You don't want to injure or worse , yourself or anyone else .
My husband had absolutely no idea that he was doing anything wrong and he still had his licence the consultant had told him to carry on but he didn't sit in the car with him .
Luckily my husband knew I wouldn't have even mentioned it if wasn't right after all I had been sitting with him for many many years ,I did leave it as long as possible .
So please if any of you are told this is happening take heed . Maybe ask someone else to sit with you sometime and see what they say You don't want to injure or worse , yourself or anyone else .
Hi Johnnie. Our car is a small 2 seater and yesterday he told me to sit in the driving seat to see the blind spot on reversing and I was horrified to see what he meant. I don't drive any more( it's a long story) and from a selfish point of view I will greatly miss having a car but it's not just about me.
We had a talk about his driving a while ago and things were better but now I can see it is happening again.flo
We had a talk about his driving a while ago and things were better but now I can see it is happening again.flo
there is a big difference in driving in familiar and unfamiliar - he may be ok in his home town but no going somewhere new
I agree With you Turnip . When I think back my husband suddenly decided motorways were not for him any more , If we were going anywhere he wasn't familiar with he asked me to watch out and help him something I never ever needed to do , he started not to want to make decisions even .
Yes Flo I did leave it for quite a long time before I mentioned it , knowing how much I needed to keep him driving . We kept the car for a few months so that if any of the family needed it they could use it , my son in law would sometimes take me shopping in it .
I didn't think I would come to terms with shopping on line but it keeps me independent , my daughter shops on line so I didn't want to keep on asking her to take me although sometimes we will go and browse . We normally come away saying what a waste of time lol.
It wasn't easy and I felt like a gaged animal for a while I am sure my husband felt the same .
I am sure it will work out alright in the end and if and when you will both do The Right thing .
Yes Flo I did leave it for quite a long time before I mentioned it , knowing how much I needed to keep him driving . We kept the car for a few months so that if any of the family needed it they could use it , my son in law would sometimes take me shopping in it .
I didn't think I would come to terms with shopping on line but it keeps me independent , my daughter shops on line so I didn't want to keep on asking her to take me although sometimes we will go and browse . We normally come away saying what a waste of time lol.
It wasn't easy and I felt like a gaged animal for a while I am sure my husband felt the same .
I am sure it will work out alright in the end and if and when you will both do The Right thing .
I have some problems with driving at times but am aware of when it's an issue and don't drive then.
Yes the reversing and special awareness is a problem and have changed my car to one I find easier to judge where it is on the road and has less blind spots and has lots of bits that people think of as gadgets to help me out such as rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights, digital speedo, cruise control and most important of all reversing sensors.
The reversing sensors are biggest help as is proper positioning of mirrors, I've fitted my 'boys toy' car (MX5) with a reversing camera as well because with high boot line, spoiler and roll bar I can't see a thing out the back and find turning head around to look behind then back again makes it even more difficult to judge positioning.
Anything the car can do for me makes it much easier to concentrate on driving.
All that said though there is going to come a time (and probably not that far away) when I will have to acknowledge it's time to hand in my licence
Yes the reversing and special awareness is a problem and have changed my car to one I find easier to judge where it is on the road and has less blind spots and has lots of bits that people think of as gadgets to help me out such as rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights, digital speedo, cruise control and most important of all reversing sensors.
The reversing sensors are biggest help as is proper positioning of mirrors, I've fitted my 'boys toy' car (MX5) with a reversing camera as well because with high boot line, spoiler and roll bar I can't see a thing out the back and find turning head around to look behind then back again makes it even more difficult to judge positioning.
Anything the car can do for me makes it much easier to concentrate on driving.
All that said though there is going to come a time (and probably not that far away) when I will have to acknowledge it's time to hand in my licence
Hello Flo.
Spacial awareness or Situational awareness is a vital necessity when operating any vehicle,I had a very well developed awareness as the job I had was operating Heavy Plant and the responsibility needed when using machines that can kill or maim is on a very high level and I might say I have on three occasions simply by observing men on site you could pick out the idiots, and as I was about to say,on three occasions I narrowly avoided decapitating these plonkers simply by my highly developed sense of awareness, I still use it on a smaller scale with my mobility scooter, so yes it is vital if you use any device that moves among humans.
Kindest Regards Fed
Hello Again.
I had just finished your post when my wife opened the mail , one of letters was from the DVLA, about six weeks ago I went for a assessment to the government testing station as I wanted to re-appply for my licence as I felt more than capable of driving again , I have the much vaunted Duodopa system and it had given back my mobility and speed of thought, so I knew I would sail through ,no problem my licence will be mine again,,,,,Er No,,,, the very easy"once" driving test carried out on a very small off road track was impossible for me and I ,,,well failed miserably I failed the hill start three times and the emergency stop three times I was clipping kerbs and three times missed a no entry sign,I was shocked at how my skill level had dissapated , and had to agree with the assessor that I simply was not fit to drive, and the mail, well it was like a dagger to my heart, they will not even consider granting permission for re applying unless there is overwhelming medical evidence of a very significant improvement in my health this will not happen this side of never, so there you have it flo, I truly wish I could say carry on regardless and all will be well, I wish I could offer words of encouragement all I can say is I voluntarily gave up my licence as I was making far too many errors and I knew I could hurt myself or worse hurt someone else!
Yours a very sad Fed