Driver license

[paloftoon]

Near my area, there is a place that specializes in working with people on the spectrum to learn how to drive. I suspect this kind of setup is rare. You're in a different country than I am, so I'm not sure what kind of stuff your country would have.

 

[Snotcat]

I live in a small town so i doubt i can find an instructor for people with disabilities. I need to drive because i don't have friends who drive and the bus goes basically between the school and hospital only. I have a bike which has helped a lot but i still can't get off the town area, and i can't ride a bike in winter. I forgot to mention that when i apply to the driving school it takes about 3 to 6 months of theory classes and driving lessons with the teacher before i can take the test and get a license. I don't really know how it works in other countries. I could ask if i could get a teacher who knows how to keep anxious people calm and doesn't yell

 

[Sid Delicious]

When I was hunting around for my last (and final) instructor I just emailed the driving schools with my details and was very clear about what I found difficult based on past experience and how I needed to learn things. The guy that I ended up with was a regular instructor but was happy to teach the way I specified. He happened to have someone in his family with autism/adhd, so understood what I meant. We sat down for half an hour before the first lesson and discussed how he normally taught students and then made changes based on what I needed. I think a lot of instructors tend to be pretty flexible and will do things in whatever way you find easier. They get students with all sorts of 'quirks', so as long as you explain what you specifically need they are usually happy to adjust things.

And any instructor who yells shouldn't be teaching!

 

[AO1501]

And it is worth adding that most instructors are very capable of working with people at the beginning of the learning curve, so are fairly easy to work with.

 

[MrSpock]

Many of the posts in this thread are from the US and Canada, where it's typical for people to not be required to take any lessons. If you can pay to take the exam, you can just walk in (maybe with an appointment) and take the test, if you pass you get a licence (there can be waiting periods, but the formal driving lessons as you describe aren't part of the process). There are many bad drivers on the roads here, perhaps some of the concerns we've expressed in this thread are irrelevant with your licensing system, I don't know. I do understand that there are countries where the bad drivers who get licences here wouldn't be able to get a licence.

I'm a bit of a motor sports fan, it seems to me that Finns must have some sort of natural advantage when it comes to driving. For a country with 5 million people you sure seem to take home more than your share of prizes.

 

[Lady Penelope]

I did drivers ed in school and was quite good at it. I was undiagnosed aspie back then. My parents had such issues instructing my older sister (NT) they flat out refused to take me for lessons. What little confidence I had was squashed. I was 19 when I paid for my own lessons and got my license first time. Parents still refused to let me drive! I moved out and rented my own place walking distance to everything so put getting a car on hold. 18 years later and I still don't have a car! A friend took me on a refresher lesson earlier this year with his son who is learning to drive at 16. I could do it but did not enjoy it. At least it gave me confidence that I can drive if I needed to. And my anxiety decreased. I think I just prefer looking at scenery and being lost in my own head than all that concentrating! I'm also terrible with directions... a sat nav might help but then I'd have to listen to instructions AND remember how to drive AND watch the idiots on the road at the same time... exhausting.

 

[Mary Anne]

I live in a small town so i doubt i can find an instructor for people with disabilities. I need to drive because i don't have friends who drive and the bus goes basically between the school and hospital only. I have a bike which has helped a lot but i still can't get off the town area, and i can't ride a bike in winter. I forgot to mention that when i apply to the driving school it takes about 3 to 6 months of theory classes and driving lessons with the teacher before i can take the test and get a license. I don't really know how it works in other countries. I could ask if i could get a teacher who knows how to keep anxious people calm and doesn't yell

Well, it might take a few months of classroom teaching. Here in the states, I remember spending time in class way before getting behind the wheel. One has to learn about driving in rain, ice, snow, fog, etc. How to park, what the signs are, and a million details. It’s not enough to read the “Rules if the Road” book.

Then, it’s good to understand the car enough for when something is not working right. Or when to use regular vs. high beams lights. There is a lot to know and a lot of it is learned in a room, and not behind the wheel.

 

[ksheehan88]

I've tried learning to drive three separate times with three separate instructors and after five or six lessons I stop. There's just too much for me to focus on all at once.

 

[Hadarian]

@Snotcat : Hello neighbor . I live on the border between Finland and Sweden, in Sweden. I just moved here from southern Sweden.

I have managed to avoid driving for more than half of my life. I grew up in the US and, like everyone there, I had driver's ed in high school (they taught us on an automatic). However, I was 18 before I actually got a license. I have had a paralyzing fear of driving since the very start. I think my fear has a lot to do with my parents--all three--who thought it was funny to make nasty jokes about my driving, even the first time I sat behind the wheel. But the final nail in the coffin was once when I was driving in my hometown, because I didn't step on the accelerator fast enough for the deranged idiot behind me and I heard him call me a bad name. So while I was full of anxiety and fear already about the machine I was supposed to be manipulating, it was the "social aspect" of driving which finally did me in.

Living in Europe has made it quite easy to manage without driving, but I hate living in large or even mid-sized cities, so this summer I've moved to quite a rural location. However, I live in a country where it costs like €3000 to get a driver's license (classes and then the test), so lots of people here have to manage without a license, which means public transportation is more comprehensive. Nonetheless, I have considered the distant-future possibility of getting a license here, solely to drive between my home and the closest town, because it's a straight-forward drive (until you get to the town) and there are only 4 buses a day between here and the town.

 

[paloftoon]

I live in a small town so i doubt i can find an instructor for people with disabilities. I need to drive because i don't have friends who drive and the bus goes basically between the school and hospital only. I have a bike which has helped a lot but i still can't get off the town area, and i can't ride a bike in winter. I forgot to mention that when i apply to the driving school it takes about 3 to 6 months of theory classes and driving lessons with the teacher before i can take the test and get a license. I don't really know how it works in other countries. I could ask if i could get a teacher who knows how to keep anxious people calm and doesn't yell

Another option you can aim for is you hire someone who works with people on the spectrum, and you arrange with a driving center that you need a support person with you in the car with the driving instructor. This would be expensive, but I think this would make sense for achieving this goal if it is an option for you to pursue in this manner.

 

[Mary Anne]

@Snotcat : Hello neighbor . I live on the border between Finland and Sweden, in Sweden. I just moved here from southern Sweden.

I have managed to avoid driving for more than half of my life. I grew up in the US and, like everyone there, I had driver's ed in high school (they taught us on an automatic). However, I was 18 before I actually got a license. I have had a paralyzing fear of driving since the very start. I think my fear has a lot to do with my parents--all three--who thought it was funny to make nasty jokes about my driving, even the first time I sat behind the wheel. But the final nail in the coffin was once when I was driving in my hometown, because I didn't step on the accelerator fast enough for the deranged idiot behind me and I heard him call me a bad name. So while I was full of anxiety and fear already about the machine I was supposed to be manipulating, it was the "social aspect" of driving which finally did me in.

Living in Europe has made it quite easy to manage without driving, but I hate living in large or even mid-sized cities, so this summer I've moved to quite a rural location. However, I live in a country where it costs like €3000 to get a driver's license (classes and then the test), so lots of people here have to manage without a license, which means public transportation is more comprehensive. Nonetheless, I have considered the distant-future possibility of getting a license here, solely to drive between my home and the closest town, because it's a straight-forward drive (until you get to the town) and there are only 4 buses a day between here and the town.

You mentioned something important that has been increasing as time goes on. Road rage, other driver impatience, and others driving dangerously, or aggressively. It’s gotten really bad. I had a guy tail me on a dark road one night, inches from my bumper. When he got a chance he served around and nearly ran me off the road while screaming at me that I was only going the speed limit (instead of faster). A co-worker had a gun pulled on him from the other car while driving on the expressway, because they wanted to cut into his lane. I accidentally once slightly tapped the car in front of me, driving to park in front of my home, in a dense urban area. The guy came out of his car like a wild beast and ran up my hood, and onto my hood where he stomped the top of my car in. If I had had a gun that day, I would have used it to protect myself.

Then there are all the accidents. Flipped over cars, multi car pile ups, people run over by trucks with brains/ limbs splattered on pavements. Dead animals. I have seen it. I would gladly trade places to live in a rural place like Finland or Norway. I would rather ski, snowshoe p, kayak, hike, or ride horses everywhere.