I was wondering if anyone that has AS or a parent of a child with AS drives a car. Is this ever possible for them to be able to drive? My son is almost 16 and speaks about driving and getting a job. I know i should be happy, but I am more a nervous wreck about it.

:wave:

Hi LuckyStar,

My 16 yo w/PDD-NOS is also chomping on the bit to get started with the driving. Previously I've taught a teen & young adult to drive, and most recently spent portions of 3 yrs. teaching my DD w/nonverbal learning disorder to drive.

For any wannabe driver, there are some pre-requisites. Consider things like: attention deficits, impulsivity, visual-spatial ability, apraxia issues, ability to follow orally-presented instructions. Some kids may need meds to help with attention or impulsivity. If there are meds that predispose to grogginess (even antihistamines) that needs to be taken into consideration.

Motivation is very important, but so is understanding of the process, so that frustration is minimized. A contract is a good idea -- so many kids today think driving is a right, without responsibility. So, spelling out the responsibilities of both the teacher & the student, is important. It's not uncommon to expect that, in return for the time spent teaching, the driver ed student will take over keeping the car clean.

There are some excellent driver ed manuals out there -- check your public library. Learning how to explain & teach the basic skills, and to do it in a way that matches your child's learning style, is a developing process for most parent-teachers. I'd also recommend the DVD, Rules of the Road, which can be viewed in segments, discussed, re-viewed, etc. It's got some excellent animation graphics that show certain skills, like parallel parking and 4-way stop right of way, from several perspectives. The actors are primarily teens, and the vid as a whole has been well-received by our teens.

In our family, the first step in learning how to drive is practicing basic skills like steering, braking, parking, and turns. These lessons are done in a large, vacant school paring lot in the summer, at about 6 am, no kids or pedestrians, low speed. Once we have consistently good performance on these basics at low speed, we move to residential neighborhood practice. This is usually done around 9 am in the morning, when traffic is very low. Starting at the same low speeds (10-15 mi./hr), we practice driving in lanes, and review the parking lot skills every day, and incorporate traffic signs in the neighborhood. We prepare for meeting the occasional dog, child, and pedestrian on the roadway. As skills mature, we gradually increase speed to the 25 mph limit, when conditions warrant.

Step 3 is practicing the parking lot skills in the neighborhood at progressively busier times of the day, with a little more traffic & the attendant considerations.

Step 4 is branching out into other residential neighborhoods, building confidence & experience at low speeds.

Step 5 is moving onto city arterials. This is generally done at 6 am on Sun. mornings, and all 3 days, very early, on holiday weekend mornings. Very light to no traffic. I teach the "route method," so the student driver becomes familiar with the traffic signals & signs on a given route from A to B. Say, home to school, home to grocery store, home to library, home to church, etc. There are many advantages to teaching one route at a time.

Once a number of routes are "perfected," we start driving them at times when there is a little traffic, then eventually at times when there is moderate traffic.

At this point, we are starting to plan when the road test will be taken. Depending on a student, it may take a season, or years, to get there. But even if a student doesn't go the whole distance to getting a license the first year, every time they take a lesson, they become a more knowledgeable pedestrian, & a more knowledgeable bike rider.

I'm in no great hurry for my son to learn to drive. He has ADD & isn't able to do complex household tasks (clear the table & do the dishes, sort family laundry) without forgetting a lot of things. He is slow to process visual situations. He has a tich of impulsivity, combined with a slow reaction time. He's got teen mouth & attitude. Each of these things brings a special challenge to learning to drive.

BTW, my understanding of school-based driving lessons is that you've usually got a car with 4 teens & a teacher, lots of distractions, and little actual road experience for each student driver. Some familes find that the $250 is better spent on a couple of private lessons before the road test. Insurance companies that offer insurance discounts for driver ed. usually have a home-study option as well.

Good luck! Let us know how you do.

I'm a 19-year-old Aspie who also has OCD, and I'm not able to drive. I'm scared to death of doing it. I have poor directional abilities and I have obsessions about killing people. I took two driver's ed lessons (never got out of the parking lot), and my anxiety was through the roof. I know I'll have to learn how to drive some day, but as of now, I don't see it as anything of vital importance. I have to make some adjustments in my life to get around the fact that I'm driving impaired, but it's nothing that is handicapping me for the time being, so I'm not worrying about it.
-GatsbyLuvr1920-

I have AS and drive. I got my license 10 years before I was diagnosed, so I guess it really wasn't an issue.

I did have some trouble with driver's ed. The teacher assumed that I knew stuff and I got frustrated and started crying. And I got flustered a few times. But I did get my license.

From what I've read that other people with AS have to say, most of us tend to be more careful in our driving. We tend to take on the "granny-style." Not necessarily with speed, but with turns. I am very careful and cautious when I am driving, and won't make a turn until I am sure that it is safe, which is often longer than people who are riding (or the people behind me) think I need to wait. But I sometimes have some trouble judging speeds of oncoming cars, so I wait a little extra rather than turning out and having them be closer than I thought.

I also sometimes have trouble with driving in new places, because there is so much stuff to look at and I'm not familiar with the traffic patterns. I find it stressful, but I do okay.

I have two sons with AS one is only 11 but my older is 17...he has his license right now!! I have him call when he go anywhere, and when he returns. He love his truck and his own music. He does drive slow, but what mom hates that. He takes his time and is very very careful. I enrolled him in a defensive driving course this summer and he liked it, but had a hard time with getting out of a spin on wet surfaces. When he first started driving I was always afraid but the more he does it the less afraid I think we all are!!! Oh, also, he is very popular, handsome boy but he gets alot of aniexty with crowds so he doesnt want to go to.."the mall" or just drive somewhere....Not so bad, as things go with a teen boy!!.
I just keep praying for him....
Tonishere---

Thanks for all the advice. I guess now I know it is possible. I do have a son (NT) that drives, he is 17, so I do know the basics and the stress of having a teen driver.

I guess with anything practice will help :)


Thanks again.

:wave:

I'm an Aspie who doesn't drive. It's not that I can't learn, but that I would have to have a lot of practice, and my parents weren't able to give me that. Once I have a job, I can hire a driving instructor; and then I'll be able to learn to drive. But I've been in a car with an Aspie driver, and he's a careful driver who follows the rules of the road and has little trouble. I think the majority of Aspies can drive; and with our preference for rules and order and doing things the same way every time, we're probably likely to be cautious drivers who follow the rules of the road.

Biggest problem, for me, is that I have trouble quickly changing what I plan to do. When I'm on my bike (which is how I get around), I sometimes have trouble with this. For example, if I plan to cross a road, it takes me longer to decide to stop if I see a car coming than is completely safe... I've never been in an accident, but I've come close.

I think learning to drive will be, for me, learning a lot of rules about how to make decisions. Assuming that other drivers will stop at a red light, assuming they will stop for a pedestrian, assuming there won't be somebody pulling out in front of me--all those things need to be adjusted for the reality that those things do happen. So I'll need to learn to make up for not being able to think quickly, probably by having plans already in place in case of things that are usually unexpected.

I think I may be more impaired in this sense than many Aspies are (as I've stated before, I'm moderate-to-severe, depending on the specific area of skill; and my ADHD adds to AS to impact executive function, which is the obstacle in this case--bad executive function = slow decision-making). However, I do think I'm capable of driving, given time to learn, a lot of practice, and a driving instructor with a set of brakes to use if I do something stupid.

If things go as planned--which they often don't, of course--I'll probably know how to drive by this time next year.