Learning to Drive - Sensory

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.

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.         

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.