Learning to Drive - Sensory

I find driving overwhelming too! Especially on the road, since there's so much to pay attention to, like bikes, motorcycles, and people jaywalking. I think turning is especially difficult due to the bicycle lane. And intersections and roundabouts are hard too because you need to plan way ahead on where to turn and pay attention to other cars coming from different places. I've taken driving lessons before, and can drive and park fairly well in a parking lot, but gave up driving after having two road experiences. I just find the whole thing really scary. By the way, I learned an automatic instead of manual. 

Ah, if your driving instructor is lovely then I would put this first - it's a working relationship that really matters, after all, and I still have the voice of a couple of my instructors in my head while I'm driving, years later.  The "instructor in my head" is actually very helpful too!

i'm with Nope on talking to him about the sensory issues though.  Maybe put a little time into thinking up the words beforehand, something about the noises affecting you and how it's taking you some time to get used to the new car.  You never know, he might have a technical explanation for the additional noise that you might find helpful (e.g. it becomes less alarming when you have an explanation in mind).  

This bit is troubling though -  "I kept driving even though I was having a panic attack the other day because I didn't know how to tell him."  I too used to continue driving through all sorts of sensory/emotional responses that were hard to ignore.  Sometimes I had to completely retreat and have a lie down after a lesson because it had all been so intense, something which none of my housemates seemed to understand.  Some of this anxiety-related stuff did eventually come down a bit, but it took a very long time and being honest with the instructor might have helped.  The trouble was that i anticipated an incomprehending response plus, alongside the nerves about driving, felt too nervous to raise such subjects too!   Perhaps if I'd looked a bit more closely at some of my thoughts about this, and the way I tended to anticipate negative reactions, I could have brought some of the anxiety down. 

Overall this makes me think that the sensory issues with driving and communicating with the instructor about this should be placed within a wider context  - as in, where else do you experience this kind of overwhelm, what helps, what hinders, and is there anything within your life generally which might bring to bear?  One thing i did find was that when I learnt more about cognitive therapy, relaxation techniques and breathwork, for example, i was able to use these to good effect in my driving too.         

I actually think driving is one thing I'm good at. I have to have the windows open even if I have air conditioning and music as loud as I can tollerate.i dont know why but it helps me. People not stking to the rules of the rodd makes me mad though. I'll indicate even if I'm the only human being left on the planet lol

This is true.

Thank you for all of your comments. My driving instructor is lovely, and now I have a bit more experience and know the 'rules of driving' (so to speak) a lot better, I'm fairly comfortable with him and I think he's pretty good with me, even if he doesn't understand everything, so I don't really want to change instructor which means presevering with a manual. I haven't explained the sensory thing to him because I don't know how to explain it coherently in a way he'll understand/ won't think I'm really weird. I kept driving even though I was having a panic attack the other day because I didn't know how to tell him. Communication really isn't a strong point for me.

I think it depends.  On your personality, how you feel about driving, your future plans and how central driving is likely to be to these, your chances of passing in a manual (still flabbergasted i did that) plus probably a whole host of other factors.  I would be incredibly nervous driving someone else's car and for me a company car would have to be an automatic. That said, i'd be extremely unlikely to succeed in the sort of role that attracted the use of a company car anyway.  However, if it's something a person strives for then maybe the perseverence would be worth it.   

So, yes, there may be some circumstances in which a person might feel that learning on an automatic imposed limitations later on.  But I know of others who wouldn't have passed on a manual.  Not saying this necessarily applies to the OP but it all needs to be carefully weighed up, I think. 

Don't learn in an automatic and pass your test in an automatic. If you do that you can only ever drive an automatic, which may be a problem later in life such as if you need to drive someone else's car or a company car, etc.

I learnt on a manual but have got to say that, once I started driving on my own I still found it really quite challenging - too much happening at once!  The assumption that i would grow accustomed to it turned out not to be true in my case.  Or leastways any desensitisation process took so long as to be useless in any meaningful way. 

Eventually what made the difference was to switch to an automatic.  For all the additional stress and trouble shifting between gears caused me, I'd say it wasn't worth persisting and I wish i'd learnt on an automatic.  Plus automatics have a bit of forward creep that is very handy on hill starts too.  Some might feel it's a cop out (I sometimes have the feeling we live in a nation of Jeremy Clarksons) but I'd recommend switching to an instructor with an automatic.  Possibly also an instructor who welcomes "nervous drivers".  I honestly wish i'd been more upfront about my problems much earlier on as it would have saved a lot of angsting.      

I love driving. Yes, I feel everything, there is some serious sensory input and have a lot of sympathy for engines and gearboxes, but at the same time I have learnt how every component works, and what is good and bad for them. I can feel everything, but in my mind that makes me a better driver. I can feel where the limits are, I can feel when things are good or bad.

I think you are just experiencing the usual inexperience issues, but heightened. Once you get better at it you wont need to rev the engine as much. Once you get your own car and get used to it, it wont be as bad, and you will be able to pick a car with less noise. Indeed, if you are just learning, this suggests you are likely young, so will likely be forced to drive something small with a small engine for insurance reasons.

There is an intense sensory input when driving, or riding for me, but I enjoy it. Maybe once you get over the stress of learning and being tested, you might find you can enjoy it? Keep in mind it brings freedom and helps you live life to your rules, so embrace it. Say to yourself, do I want to get somewhere in my environment with my music playing, or do I want to spend exhaustive hours planning journeys on public transport to then have to suffer loads of noise, smells, multiple conversations going on, interactions with other people, etc, etc.

Its worth it. Stick with it and good luck.