Driver license

[Major Tom]

I'm guessing that telling the teacher you have anxiety or something would be better than telling them you have AS. People just don't get it and go right into "Rainman" mode if you say autism.

 

[Judge]

It's true. Driving in general, apart from the nuances of a manual transmission requires a lot of multitasking. And it's not something that diminishes with experience or time. That you must be prepared to look in multiple directions while simultaneously operating the vehicle itself.

In this instance, it isn't for just anyone. If or when one has neurological difficulties over such required skill sets, it may be in their best interest to forego seeking a license.

Even at the slowest speeds I can get uptight in a parking lot having to look multiple directions at the same time when backing up, not only looking for the traffic of other vehicles, but pedestrians as well who simply expect me to look out for them. Congested parking lots, roundabouts (circles) and four-way stops can all challenge your best senses no matter how good you think of yourself as a driver.

How long have I been driving? Nearly 50 years.

 

[Adora]

I never learned how to drive and admit I have huge anxiety about it,while I do sometimes think about it I also worry about all the rules with driving and having to do so much at the same time,sometimes I do get asked why I don’t drive and it’s a uncomfortable question for me because I don’t want to reveal to someone that I am on the spectrum.

 

[Judge]

I never learned how to drive and admit I have huge anxiety about it,while I do sometimes think about it I also worry about all the rules with driving and having to do so much at the same time,sometimes I do get asked why I don’t drive and it’s a uncomfortable question for me because I don’t want to reveal to someone that I am on the spectrum.

You can always keep it generic and say you cannot multitask well in that regard. I doubt most NTs would instantly connect multitasking deficits to autism.

That driving just isn't for you, no matter how convenient it may be for others. Not to mention that cost of owning, maintaining and insuring an automobile. That's something to keep a great many people from wanting to drive or own a car.

 

[AspieWatchmaker]

I had a lot of trouble with this, but just got my license, at 26. My biggest problem was interest. Never had enough interest in driving to pay attention when doing it. Used to get road hypnotized even in short urban trips. My lessons at 15 were mostly the instructor prodding me to be lucid. One day I destroyed a fence and didn't touch the wheel for ten years. Then, recently my boss got a Mini Cooper JCW. Seeing how much of a go kart/racecar the thing was, all of a sudden an interest was sparked. With a month left on my permit and no practice since I got it (second time) I bought a similar Mini used (wife brought it home). All of a suddon it was a thrill and a pleasure to learn, and the small car was forgiving of mistakes. For the first time I was driving because I wanted to, not because I was supposed to. Passed the road test first time with a week left (even though I almost drove on the wrong side of the road once).

If you can figure out a way to make driving fun and something you want to do, it can come pretty fast. Stick with an automatic if you can at all, and if now just isn't the right time don't push it. Learning to drive was something that seemed insurmountable to me my whole life, but when the time was right I was ready. Don't push it if you aren't ready.

 

[Crossbreed]

This is what I told my children that I helped to train to drive. There are two aspects to driving.

1. There are the rules of the road (written & unwritten), and
2. the ability to maneuver your vehicle.

If you are trying to learn both at the same time, it can be overwhelming. The rules of the road demand your attention. And the physics of your car demand your attention.

I preferred to start them out on adult bicycles, in the street, first. Here is why.

• Bicycles are easier to operate and have less inertia.
• They are subject to the same rules of the road as motor vehicles are. They are required to stop at Stop signs, proper lane use, use hand signals, etc.
• You can ride them in traffic, and get a sense of other drivers, good & bad.

Once you get accustomed to road [culture?], then you can set about learning to operate a motor vehicle (preferably an automatic). As others have pointed out, get competent in driving in an isolated area, first, before you enter into traffic.

Once you DO enter traffic, you'll already have a sense of its mores (from your time bicycling).

 

[Snotcat]

I live in finland and here manual transmission is more common and everyone has to learn both in driving school. In here it's good that i have to train on a simulator and empty roads whit the teacher before they let me drive in traffic. The theory parg would be easy for me becouse i love researching things that interest me and learning facts. I still have few months before i can go to driving school so i have time to think about it

 

[Progster]

I can drive and love driving round the local area, however I find driving in large towns or cities ovewhelming. I don't think that it's necessarily an ASD thing, though, lots of people struggle with this, including my NT partner who hates large towns and cities.

 

[WildCat]

You'll absolutely need to put the practice in and feel comfortable enough behind the wheel before pursuing a license, but if you have no major difficulties with processing what's going on around you or anything that could exempt you from driving (i.e. epilepsy) then go for it.

Emphasis on the "feel comfortable" part...there's already enough practical advice in this thread so I won't repeat anything. You do not want to lose your composure while driving at high speeds, so things (such as anxiety and fear) that could impact your performance will need some work.

ASD alone is irrelevant and shouldn't stop you from being a licensed driver or anything you want to pour your heart and mind into. Not worth mentioning explicitly either (again, for the 1000th time ), since the public still doesn't bother. Focus on the task at hand and getting good at it first and let the rest fall into place.

 

[Shawn D]

I didn’t get my license until I was 19, and that was out of necessity. I needed to help my widowed grandma run errands.
As a teenager, I was always excited by the prospect of having a car (I really liked Bonnevilles), but the notion of driving gave me anxiety and I had no interest in learning.
I’ve been driving for 16 years and still have underlying anxiety every time I get behind the wheel.
Driving at night is worse for me; I have a hard time seeing through the glare of oncoming headlights and everything is obscured by shadows.
My husband makes fun of me, because I sit tensely forward with my hands gripped tightly at 10:00 and 2:00 on the wheel.
Most of the time, I hop in the passenger seat and he drives.

 

[Meistersinger]

People who think everyone should do everything that everybody else does by a certain age seriously need to shut up IMO. Everyone is different, not everyone is capable of driving, I know I possibly could drive an Automatic, but like I said, the man from the DVLA said no.

Speaking as one who just gave up driving this past summer (due to the exhaust literally falling off my car, and finding out it would cost me more to repair the car than what it was worth, and my eyesight becoming dimmer), nowadays it’s not worth the money or the hassle. Even though York Township is somewhat suburban and rural, at least mass transit passes through the area. $1.50 US for a one way pass is a helluva lot cheaper than $10.00US for 3 gallons of gas which doesn’t give me a 1/8 tank of gas.

 

[ilovetochat87]

It's critical for you to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle based on feel alone- not sight. Don't even think about looking at the pedals or the gearshift. When it's time to shift, you simply depress the clutch without any thought. Then immediately followed by shifting gears- by feel and not sight as well. Then letting the clutch out in a gentle fashion. Again, by feel alone.

As for using your eyes, keep them on the road at all times. None of it comes easily- or naturally to most people. But with time and lots of practice, you will eventually be able to operate a manual transmission on feel alone, as it's intended.

And no, don't tell your instructor you are on the spectrum. Driving is their skill. Not understanding alternate neurological states. That will just confuse them and possibly give them unfair preconceived notions of your aptitude and ability to operate a motor vehicle.

I disagree. I think that you need to specifically drive with a instructor who specializes in teaching people with disabilities how to drive. I don't know about where you live because you didn't say where you live but I live in Kansas City Missouri and I of course have been diagnosed HF ASD since I was 15. so I've been able to ge housing assistance and Social Security etc. but I knew that driving was gonna be difficult I knew that I had trouble with focusing attention span and that like you I have to look at my pedals because I get confused even though I don't have dyslexia I get nervous and forget which one I'm supposed to hit and I don't slow down to that stop sign I just sometimes forget and I keep going or I forget what I'm supposed to look because I have no attention span and I don't pay attention so sometimes even when I'm walkin I don't pay attention to what I'm doing and I just keep going and I have to stop and look what I need is a guy dog that can stop for me and remind me hey or some kind of a watch or something if there was a thing that would allow me to notice when I come to occur so that if I don't stop for myself it will alert me hey this is the card stock and don't just walk out in the traffic because I have no sense in that and my mom didn't want to upset me but she wanted me to think about the realities that I might not be able to drop and I went through vocational rehabilitation who was able to fork the money ove to pay for a specialized driving course you might be able to come up with that yourself I don't know or you might have somebody else I can help you afford it I don't know it may not even be that much money for where you live but there was a specialized portion of the hospital that is about disability mobility and they had a student car that is for physical and mental disability training . They had the steering will set up for people that don't have certain limbs where everything has to be on the steering wheel and they have modified other things as well and she tested me for ASD to see where I tested and she tested my spatial awareness my attention span my ability to process multiple things at once how quickly can I react and how do I react to chaos coming at me all at once .and tailed a visual test where you look at a computer screen and when you see the squiggly line on the computer screen you click the button they do that when you get an eye exam and they tested me on an arcade game that has light up buttons and every time the button lit up I had to tap the button before the button turned off and it would get faster and faster and I could prove how good I was at chaos and keeping up with it or not and she said my depth perception was poor and my attention span was poor my ability to process chaos is poor and yet she was going to try her best to teach me to drive because everybody deserved a chance to try this one was gonna be difficult and after six weeks I never did get any better at any of those I kept having to be reminded you're getting close to the curb slowdown slowdown slowdown and I kept having to be told look left and right before you go out into the street past the stop sign and I kept having to be told when you go right I think it's a sharper turn then when you turn left or is it the other way around? See that's one thing I couldn't remember. and I can't remember if it's left or right turns that you have to look for traffic before you can turn and then the other direction you turn you don't have to look for traffic because of the direction the cross traffic is going. I get confused which one and I would look left and right regardless if it was a left or right turn and I kept getting told no you don't have to look up the right when you turn this way only when you turn the other way because of the Waycross traffic is going and I would say I want to look anyway that helps me to know where I'm going and I would get told you don't have to you're not understanding that and I can't gauge how close I am to other objects around me so when I'm stopped at the stop light and I'm waiting for cross traffic to go and I'm waiting for an adequate gap between two cars so I can make a left turn out past the stop sign into the traffic I sometimes will think I have an adequate space and I'd start to go and my instructor would say no you have to wait for a bigger gap by the time it takes you to turn it out you're gonna be hit by the car coming behind you on the right side there's not a big enough gap for you to make that turn and sometimes I would have a but ton of adequate space to make a turn and I panic and I turn to slowly and by the time I actually make the turn I'm lucky I didn't get creamed by the car to my right because at that point the gap is lessening because I'm not making a quick enough turn on my left or same for the right turns . And that's because I can't gauge how close or far away I am and I can't gauge based on the distance between the two cars how long it would take me to make an average turn out en that's part of my depth perception. When I was told I have poor depth perception it's not about whether I can see the world flat or see the world in 3D like I'm supposed to I can see a 3D movie just fine I can see flashes and a movie without getting epilepsy or anything I don't have a walleye which means eyeballs are too big for the socket and they protrude from the socket making it impossible to see a 3D movie I don't have that problem I don't have any problem with seeing the world flat or dimensional but I cannot gauge distance and the time it takes me to make a turn based on how wide a gap is between two cars in cross traffic so I can't help can I make such a turn do I have enough of a gap to make such a turn in that amount of time before the car on the right side catches up to the Konnowac and closes the gap I can't gauge those things so I always wait too long to make a turn and then it's too late and I can't make turn anymore now I have to wait again and now there's 80 cars before I can make a turn again before there's an adequate gap where I can make a turn again and the car behind me is getting pissed off because I'm taking too long to make a decision if I'm gonna turn off or not and they can't go around me either and that's why I have that perception issues I don't see the world flat by any means.

 

[ilovetochat87]

(Cont'd)
but if I had tested with a regular instructor it would've been nothing I probably would've failed driving regardless but it probably would've been detrimental to my life I probably would've been horribly different at how I viewed the process and how I viewed the results . And it would have probably been strange for the instructor probably would not have been very accommodating or calming . I've seen enough movies and TV shows where teens suck at driving and the instructor is just getting annoyed and panicked and they're just not a good personality mix but you get the right instructor that has a calmer personality and is more likely to say it's okay relax hard on yourself I know you're not very good at this but we can do this practice Yenome and then the kids might have a better chance at succeeding . And I wasn't gonna get that if I had a regular instructor who didn't understand why I was taking it the way I was and why I was behaving the way I was behind the wheel and because I had an instructor that knew me personally because she tested me for AST to see where my levels were and she tested me on a very good driving test to see what she was gonna work with when we got behind the wheel as far as how well I can handle traffic how I can see in my breath real how well I can do X thing and X thing she went at this knowing that I probably was gonna fail but she did say this is tough and it's not gonna be easy and your levels are pretty low for driving capabilities but we will just see what we got to work with and we will try . And so we went at it and she kept saying no no no slowdown slowdown slowdown and when I wasn't getting it I was so panicked that I wasn't hearing her I mean I was hearing her but I wasn't thank God she had footpedals on her side of the car to slow the car down when I wasn't. And one time was coming to a stop sign and there was bumper-to-bumper traffic ahead of me and I had no way of making a turn right or left into the traffic because it was bumper-to-bumper cross traffic she kept telling me slowdown slowdown and I wasn't hearing her I was kind of in Lala land and immediately I saw the stop sign and I halted to the stop because I almost hit a car in front of me and accidentally hit the gas when I panicked "oh crap I need to hit the break" thank God sh saw before I did what I was doing and made that decision to slam on the break even though I was slamming on the gas she slammed on the brakes and the car kind of went against itself and the car kind of literally left the pavement it was like half an inch off the pavement because the car hop itself when I hit the gas and she hit the break at the same time and that scares me because the car left the pavement for one second and she decided we're not doing this today you're obviously overstimulated and you're not listening to me I'm gonna take over and wehad went home. and that was about the sixth week and she said I've been at thi today's a week for six weeks with you and you're not getting it and she played it to me simply but plainly and seriously that I was never gonna drive that we could try a neurological test to see if there was anything more we could do but she didn't think the test would result in anything different than they already knew . And I kind of made the biggest sigh a person could make just shy of crying and I said well that sucks … But it's okay I can take a taxi or anywhere for the bus and then I sighed a really large sigh again and I curled my lips in like an old lady without teeth kind o imagine someone making a frustrated face that's the face I made and I just had to remind myself it's okay it's not the end of the world some people have strengths other people don't have and some people have failures other people succeed that's just part of life. told me I was very brave and that most people want to bother eyes ou at this word devastation but I was very brave to see it with the Silverlining. you just have to have the right perso I don't think it's a good idea to test with a regular Nuro typical instructor if you think you're bad enough that it's gonna be a problem . I have a friend who is very very ADHD and she can't shut up for dear life even if God told her to shut up she couldn't shut up she just has no ability to shut the heck up and she spazzes and she claims to be on meds but it's not working a whole lot and she had to change the meds a few times because it's not working but she claims everything is working now and I've been with her in the car I don't know how the hell she passed driving because she is so spazz she just talks washes driving and will miss a turn because she's not focusing on where she's going or shall have the radio on and sing and dance in her drivers seat and Shogo oh look there's a person and someone waved her to make sure she knows they are there but she's never had anybody like how did she pass driving she claimed it to be a really good driver in driver's ed and that the permit test was simple and it didn't take long before she was able to take the drivers test and that was easy because it was just like the driver's ed and I was like I don't know how you passed because I can't pass . Let me tell you my boyfriend has a bad case of depth perception to the point that they had to surgically fix his eyes and now he can drive but he'll never see a 3D movie or nothing like that and let me tell you he can drive better than I can you can actually drive just fine I don't get it and I've seen people with down syndrome drive just fine like I don't understand it how come I can't if they can ?
And I definitely think that if you are where I'm at in the questioning can I do this and you've been behind the wheel and you just think that more likely than not you're gonna get told "deny" the you can try it with a regular instructor but they probably can tell you no. and if you get overwhelmed and overstimulated easil and in kind of intimidated by authoritative figures or people that are very serious and people that I don't know what the word is but if that's you don't take on a regular Nero typical instructor. When my mom taught me to drive I would get overwhelmed because she's hollering at me and she would grab the steering wheel if I turned the wrong direction or she would start yelling no don't do that no stop stop Lara stop no stop! and I would tell her quit yelling at me I can't focus and I'm gonna hit somebody when you're screaming six different things at me at one time and she would say if I didn't holler at you to stop you would keep goin and hit someone . And I would say well you can't yell at me I will literally have a panic attack and I will cry and I will start screaming and I will do the typical autistic arm flapping when I'm overwhelmed and scared shitless you cannot do that you're asking me to slam into oncoming traffic and kill us all and she's like what what do you want me to do if I say nothing and just let you drive you have no clue what you're doing or where you're going or how to do it you will hit things you don't pay attention you don't focus unless someone tells you what you're supposed to do and I'm like that's fine just don't yell at me don't get panicked at me and that's when she discovered I need to back off and let someone professional teach you and I feel like a regular nurotypical instructor would be like that because they don't understand why you're not getting it and not be patient with you but you gotta find somebody that works with disabilities or that knows at least something that is willing to take it easy.

 

[Judge]

I disagree. I think that you need to specifically drive with a instructor who specializes in teaching people with disabilities how to drive. I don't know about where you live because you didn't say where you live but I live in Kansas City Missouri and I of course have been diagnosed HF ASD since I was 15. so I've been able to ge housing assistance and Social Security etc. but I knew that driving was gonna be difficult I knew that I had trouble with focusing attention span and that like you I have to look at my pedals because I get confused even though I don't have dyslexia I get nervous and forget which one I'm supposed to hit and I don't slow down to that stop sign I just sometimes forget and I keep going or I forget what I'm supposed to look because I have no attention span and I don't pay attention so sometimes even when I'm walkin I don't pay attention to what I'm doing and I just keep going and I have to stop and look what I need is a guy dog that can stop for me and remind me hey or some kind of a watch or something if there was a thing that would allow me to notice when I come to occur so that if I don't stop for myself it will alert me hey this is the card stock and don't just walk out in the traffic because I have no sense in that and my mom didn't want to upset me but she wanted me to think about the realities that I might not be able to drop and I went through vocational rehabilitation who was able to fork the money ove to pay for a specialized driving course you might be able to come up with that yourself I don't know or you might have somebody else I can help you afford it I don't know it may not even be that much money for where you live but there was a specialized portion of the hospital that is about disability mobility and they had a student car that is for physical and mental disability training . They had the steering will set up for people that don't have certain limbs where everything has to be on the steering wheel and they have modified other things as well and she tested me for ASD to see where I tested and she tested my spatial awareness my attention span my ability to process multiple things at once how quickly can I react and how do I react to chaos coming at me all at once .and tailed a visual test where you look at a computer screen and when you see the squiggly line on the computer screen you click the button they do that when you get an eye exam and they tested me on an arcade game that has light up buttons and every time the button lit up I had to tap the button before the button turned off and it would get faster and faster and I could prove how good I was at chaos and keeping up with it or not and she said my depth perception was poor and my attention span was poor my ability to process chaos is poor and yet she was going to try her best to teach me to drive because everybody deserved a chance to try this one was gonna be difficult and after six weeks I never did get any better at any of those I kept having to be reminded you're getting close to the curb slowdown slowdown slowdown and I kept having to be told look left and right before you go out into the street past the stop sign and I kept having to be told when you go right I think it's a sharper turn then when you turn left or is it the other way around? See that's one thing I couldn't remember. and I can't remember if it's left or right turns that you have to look for traffic before you can turn and then the other direction you turn you don't have to look for traffic because of the direction the cross traffic is going. I get confused which one and I would look left and right regardless if it was a left or right turn and I kept getting told no you don't have to look up the right when you turn this way only when you turn the other way because of the Waycross traffic is going and I would say I want to look anyway that helps me to know where I'm going and I would get told you don't have to you're not understanding that and I can't gauge how close I am to other objects around me so when I'm stopped at the stop light and I'm waiting for cross traffic to go and I'm waiting for an adequate gap between two cars so I can make a left turn out past the stop sign into the traffic I sometimes will think I have an adequate space and I'd start to go and my instructor would say no you have to wait for a bigger gap by the time it takes you to turn it out you're gonna be hit by the car coming behind you on the right side there's not a big enough gap for you to make that turn and sometimes I would have a but ton of adequate space to make a turn and I panic and I turn to slowly and by the time I actually make the turn I'm lucky I didn't get creamed by the car to my right because at that point the gap is lessening because I'm not making a quick enough turn on my left or same for the right turns . And that's because I can't gauge how close or far away I am and I can't gauge based on the distance between the two cars how long it would take me to make an average turn out en that's part of my depth perception. When I was told I have poor depth perception it's not about whether I can see the world flat or see the world in 3D like I'm supposed to I can see a 3D movie just fine I can see flashes and a movie without getting epilepsy or anything I don't have a walleye which means eyeballs are too big for the socket and they protrude from the socket making it impossible to see a 3D movie I don't have that problem I don't have any problem with seeing the world flat or dimensional but I cannot gauge distance and the time it takes me to make a turn based on how wide a gap is between two cars in cross traffic so I can't help can I make such a turn do I have enough of a gap to make such a turn in that amount of time before the car on the right side catches up to the Konnowac and closes the gap I can't gauge those things so I always wait too long to make a turn and then it's too late and I can't make turn anymore now I have to wait again and now there's 80 cars before I can make a turn again before there's an adequate gap where I can make a turn again and the car behind me is getting pissed off because I'm taking too long to make a decision if I'm gonna turn off or not and they can't go around me either and that's why I have that perception issues I don't see the world flat by any means.

Sorry if I tend to ignore walls of text without paragraphs. Though keep in mind my comments are meant primarily for the OP who resides in Finland. Not the United States. Their options and resources may not be as plentiful as yours- or mine for any number of reasons.

Though in my case I've been a licensed driver for well over 40 years and have no perceivable disabilities in the eyes of the states I have been licensed in beyond having to wear prescription eyeglasses. Driving almost exclusively manual transmission vehicles.

Granted your individual case and conditions may be different requiring alternate considerations. But there isn't going to be any single, absolute answer to such things. Too many variables to consider.

But ultimately one must learn to drive an manual transmission by feel and not sight alone. The reasons are obvious. With the only alternatives being to abstain from either driving altogether or stick to only automatic transmissions, which in the case of Finland and much of Europe isn't necessarily a viable alternative.

 

[ilovetochat87]

Well I'm just simply saying in general that if you can find something like that given you kind of sound like maybe you might be in a situation where I'm at you might want to try that option I don't know that country so I can't say you have that kind of instruction for driving but if all you have is a neurotypical instructor available, do the best you can. But if it turns out that you're just not connecting with them end you're getting worse because they aren't understanding why you're not connecting they're not understanding why you don't seem to remember your pedals why you can't seem to get past simple things and it's frustrating then then you might suggest I would like an instructor who is more personable or someone that can understand my disability on a certain level that this person isn't capable of doing given that they don't know disabilities because they are neurotypical.

That really helped me but I was gonna fail regardless but I would've caused accidents in the traffic I would've probably smashed the car completely to pulled I would've cost legalities if I had a regular Neurotypical instructor. but I failed anyways regardless butI'm just throwing that suggestion out there I meanyou kind of wanted to know what is other peoples opinions andshould you or should you not docertain thingsand I'm just throwing out the opinioncountry to country it might be different but that is my suggestio how I handled it and you sound like you might be similar to where I'm at.

I don't know any other people on the spectrum that failed driving. I may take them 800 times but they got it eventually as I can't figure out how in the hell they did because I can't . What in the hell is their secret because I want to drive more than anything in the world and I just can't and I never will be able to and you sound like another person that might possibly be in that area I found another person that struggles to drive on the spectrum yay I'm not alone but here's what I did here's what works for me and there's an idea to run with.

Also, I apologize for th long wall cloud of words I have no idea how to paragraph and split paragraphs but I'm working on learning that I just don't know how to tell when you break up a sentence into the next paragraph or keep it going. but I am sometimes getting it. I apologize for that though.

 

[Judge]

Well I'm just simply saying in general that if you can find something like that given you kind of sound like maybe you might be in a situation where I'm at you might want to try that option I don't know that country so I can't say you have that kind of instruction for driving but if all you have is a neurotypical instructor available, do the best you can. But if it turns out that you're just not connecting with them end you're getting worse because they aren't understanding why you're not connecting they're not understanding why you don't seem to remember your pedals why you can't seem to get past simple things and it's frustrating then then you might suggest I would like an instructor who is more personable or someone that can understand my disability on a certain level that this person isn't capable of doing given that they don't know disabilities because they are neurotypical.

That really helped me but I was gonna fail regardless but I would've caused accidents in the traffic I would've probably smashed the car completely to pulled I would've cost legalities if I had a regular Neurotypical instructor. but I failed anyways regardless butI'm just throwing that suggestion out there I meanyou kind of wanted to know what is other peoples opinions andshould you or should you not docertain thingsand I'm just throwing out the opinioncountry to country it might be different but that is my suggestio how I handled it and you sound like you might be similar to where I'm at.

I don't know any other people on the spectrum that failed driving. I may take them 800 times but they got it eventually as I can't figure out how in the hell they did because I can't . What in the hell is their secret because I want to drive more than anything in the world and I just can't and I never will be able to and you sound like another person that might possibly be in that area I found another person that struggles to drive on the spectrum yay I'm not alone but here's what I did here's what works for me and there's an idea to run with.

Also, I apologize for th long wall cloud of words I have no idea how to paragraph and split paragraphs but I'm working on learning that I just don't know how to tell when you break up a sentence into the next paragraph or keep it going. but I am sometimes getting it. I apologize for that though.

I'm afraid your argument relies on the benign nature of exposing one's autism. That it will be universally accommodated in a kind and compassionate manner. That's a point of deep contention within our ranks here. Where many of us emphasize the importance of "need-to-know" only.

Besides, just finding a Neurotypical who might have a hint of understanding our sensory issues remains a tall order in itself. Worse if they have no desire or ability to comprehend a complex and differing neurology. Then try to factor in one who is a driving instructor. What you're suggesting is nice, but likely not very realistic in the big picture. But God bless any Aspie who can actually find such a soul.

 

[Gayda Collins]

My Asperger's wasn't diagnosed until I was 50 years old. I couldn't drive because I'd had intractable epilepsy until I had a couple of neurosurgeries. I thought I could learn to drive. However, despite driving lessons and almost 6 months of practice behind the wheel, I decided that I was a menace to myself and others while driving. I had several close calls in that time. Through no fault of my own, my mind simply isn't wired to drive a car. Consequently, my bicycles are my vehicles. I commute by bicycle, and I do mush pleasure riding too. So, if after a bit of practice and time, you still decide that you aren't designed to drive a car, remember that there are options. If you do give driving a trial run, you should probably do it while you're young because with age comes fear.

 

[Ming of Mongo]

Remember that it is OK to not drive. Definitely give it a try, because it's good to have a license even if you don't drive much. But if, after training and practice, you don't feel up to it, just don't drive.

I had to stop driving a few years ago for non spectrum reasons, and now I drive occasionally if I'm having a good day. On bad days I'm just not safe. It's really not a problem, especially if there's public transportation or you can bike. If you don't drive much, cars can be a huge expense without a lot of benefit.

 

[Mary Anne]

I'm 24 year old woman with aspergers and I've been thinking about a drivers license. I've wanted it since i was 18 years old and now I finally have the money, but I have some worries will I be a good driver or even get the license.

I drove a car once or twice on a empty road and I had a lot of trouble on focusing on the road. I also had to look at the pedals and the gearstick when switching gears. That might get easier with practice but what can I do to concentrate better? And should I tell the teacher about my AS?

I do not think you are anywhere near ready to take the drivers test in order to get the license. It sounds like you need much more practice, not only on empty roads, but then in more busy areas. You need to feel way less anxious inside a car, and learn to be prepared for those anxious moments.

“Once or twice driving” is not realistic for getting the license. In addition, it’s unreasonble to think you will always drive only on quiet unoccupied rural roads, because sometimes there are animals darting out there, and you will need to be prepared for things to happen. I have had deer dart out in front. Sometimes, birds or rock a can smash into a window. This has also happened to me. Sometimes, you are driving and a huge bug lands on the windshield, and one loses focus on driving.

It’s also imperative to stay focused looking at the road, and not be distracted by the interior of the car. You need so much more practice to create what is known as “muscle memory.” That’s when your muscles, and limbs automatically do what is needed to drive a car, while your eyes and brain stay focused on the road.

One can not predict anything when driving. You need much more practice.

 

[AO1501]

Thanks for your answers. I probably can't afford my own car for a long time but licence is useful so i can borrow or rent a car when i need it, i wish i could try driving school before i pay for it but if i deside to go there i don't want my money to go to waste if i drop out. Maybe i can learn even if i have to take more driving lessons than others if i just remember to focus

When I started learning to drive in the UK, I went to a driving school for lessons. This was vitally important because at first, there seem so many things to have to focus on to get the car moving, keep it going, drive it safely, that it seemed overwhelmingly complicated and hard.

The driving instructor talked me through the basics and got me used to controlling the car, while keeping us both safe, until my confidence grew and I became accustomed to all the little details. At that point I felt confident enough to stop the driving lessons.

I started them again a few weeks before I took my test, just to refresh my memory and make sure I was ready. I passed.

My two points being: 1 - driving a car will seem very complex and confusing at first because there's a lot to learn and much to try and remember. Practice should help a great deal in getting you settled and familiar with everything. And 2 - formal driving lessons should help build confidence faster and more effectively, because an expert in the car with you will help you learn and adapt better, while helping to ensure safe outcomes.