Directions
Helping Your Child Understand Directions
Have you ever said to your child, “Turn left,” and watched them pause, maybe looking around or turning the other way? Many parents of children on the autism spectrum notice that directions like ‘left’, ‘right’, ‘up’, or ‘down’ can be confusing for their child.
When your child has not grasped directions, small tasks can feel confusing or overwhelming. This can make playground games and activities of daily living trickier. It can lead to anxiety, frustration or avoidance.
They might hang back, watch more than join in or feel left out. A child who has not fully grasped spatial language may also find it harder to follow multi-step directions or understand concepts like ‘place the block above the red one’.
Working on directions helps boost comprehension, sequencing and attention, which are essential for learning. In addition, it helps your child learn to navigate streets, corridors, and public spaces with greater independence.
Children with autism can develop a sense of direction, but the rate and extent of their learning vary from child to child. Understanding how your child perceives direction can make a big difference in how you help them learn it, with patience, play and fun.
Supporting Your Child’s Sense of Direction
Body Awareness
Our brains naturally keep track of where our body parts are, even when we are not looking. This invisible map inside us is called the body schema. It helps us move smoothly, know where our hands and feet are, and understand concepts like ‘up’, ‘down’, and ‘turn left’.
For many children with autism, this body map is still developing. Your child may not always feel where their body is in space. So, when you say, “Turn left,” they might wonder, “Wait, which way is that?”
So, movement activities, such as crawling, dancing, climbing, jumping and animal walks are more than just play. They help your child strengthen that inner map, building confidence in how their body moves through space.
Seeing, Sensing and Feeling Direction
Your child’s sense of direction is a collective effort between several senses, such as:
- Vision helps them see which way things go. Using coloured arrows or pictures can make ‘left’ and ‘right’ much clearer.
- Proprioception (sense of where body parts are in relation to each other) helps them know where their arms and legs are, even without looking. Pushing, pulling or stretching games help with this.
- Balance (vestibular sense) teaches them how their body moves and stays steady. Swings (side to side and forward-back), gentle spinning, rocking and balance beam walking can make this learning joyful.
- Hearing helps them notice where sounds come from e.g. left, right, near or far, adding another layer of spatial awareness.
So, when your child processes directions differently, it is not that they cannot understand. Their sensory systems are taking in the world in their own unique way.
Words Like ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ Can Be Tricky
For many children on the spectrum, words like ‘left’ and ‘right’ can feel abstract. Consider this: ‘Your left hand’ shifts orientation when someone is facing you. So, your child may need extra practice.
- Stand side-by-side and stretch your hands out in front, palms down. The thumb and index finger on the left hand will form the letter ‘L’.
- Use stickers or bracelets of a different colour for each hand.
- Play games like ‘Simon Says’ (in front of the mirror) or ‘Follow the Leader’ using direction words.
Visuals, repetition and play help your child understand and learn more easily.
Give Them the Gift of Time
Sometimes your child understands what you have said, but they just need a few extra seconds to process it. Pausing, waiting gently and smiling reassuringly gives their brain space to connect words to movement.
That pause is powerful.
When the Body Knows but Does Not Move
You might notice your child knows which way to go but still hesitates or moves differently. That is part of motor planning, the brain’s way of turning understanding into coordinated action. This can make bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination and eye-foot coordination challenging.
Breaking steps into smaller parts, modelling movements or practicing slowly can help them master the flow.
Learning by Watching — Mirroring
Many children on the spectrum find it hard to copy another person’s movements, especially when facing them. For example, your child may know their own right hand but may struggle to recognise the right hand of someone facing him/her.
Try standing side-by-side or use a mirror so you are both moving in the same direction. This makes it easier and often more fun!
Direction Workbooks
Here are workbooks to assist your child to learn directions.
Each level builds on the previous one, turning abstract ideas into something your child can see, feel and do.
Level 1: Matching Directions – Arrows
Click to download
Level 2: Matching Directions – Simple Objects
Level 3: Matching Directions – Complex Objects
Level 4: Matching Directions – Complex Actions
A Gentle Reminder
Every child’s journey looks a little different and that is what makes it so special. Your child’s sense of direction will grow with patience, repetition and love. Celebrate every little success, every time they turn the right way, every smile of recognition, because each of those moments is a step toward confidence and independence.
Keep it light. Keep it fun. Keep it full of love.
| Source and Attribution of images: All images used in the above Assets and Aids are originally created. |
| This digital material has been developed by the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini Inclusive Education Project, a unit of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, as a collaborative offering in the service of our nation. |