DRIVING

My biggest problem when I was learning to drive was feeling really "visible" to other drivers and vulnerable to being judged. That feeling eventually went away and I just turned out the knowledge that other people could see me. 

Also, taking my driving instructors instructions literally almost caused an accident. 

Also, I'm teaching my autistic daughter to drive at the moment. She's been very anxious about it, but we've been taking it slowly and only doing what she feels comfortable with. She's gradually gaining in confidence, and is being patient with it. 

I think you should do it. Just be patient with yourself and take small steps. You'll gain confidence as you progress. Every driver started as a rookie. 

My biggest problem when I was learning to drive was feeling really "visible" to other drivers and vulnerable to being judged. That feeling eventually went away and I just turned out the knowledge that other people could see me. 

Also, taking my driving instructors instructions literally almost caused an accident. 

Also, I'm teaching my autistic daughter to drive at the moment. She's been very anxious about it, but we've been taking it slowly and only doing what she feels comfortable with. She's gradually gaining in confidence, and is being patient with it. 

I think you should do it. Just be patient with yourself and take small steps. You'll gain confidence as you progress. Every driver started as a rookie. 

JohnnyBeGood said:

Also, taking my driving instructors instructions literally almost caused an accident. 

This happened to my friend when they were doing thier CBT for a motorcycle, the instructor was behind them giving instructions through the earpiece, when they approached a roundabout the instructor told my friend to drive straight over at the the roundabout so they did, they drove over the roundabout, not around it, the instructor was going crazy apparently, while my friend was totally confused and rightly so with an instruction like that, I think I would have done exactly the same.

This put them off driving a motorcycle, but they found a great instructor to learn to drive a car and got through their test first time.

Its all down to the instructors how well you do, fortunately I had a fantastic instructor who took things a step at a time, spoke calmly and what really helped me massively was that he explained the reason for absolutely every move we made, when I'm given instructions I need to understand the 'why's', which he always explained.

Having an ASD I feel makes me an excellent driver as I notice absolutely everything that goes on in my environment so I'm always aware of what other drivers are doing, the negative is that it can get exhausting.

Oh God I know that feeling all too well. I think that's where finding a good teacher really helps. 

JohnnyBeGood said:

Also, taking my driving instructors instructions literally almost caused an accident. 

I lasted one lesson with a driving instructor - I was so uncomfortable with the instructor watching my every move and bossing me about.

I subsequently learned how to drive in paddock with a farmer friends old banger. Once I had mastered the car driving bit, I went back to an instructor for a few lessons for the road-craft and test knowledge.

Similarly, there are some driver training courses where you learn to drive, but not on public roads (race-track or dedicated training area). I did this for my motorcycle license.

Much later I enjoyed doing some advanced driver & rider training days - these really boosted my confidence to deal with emergency breaking, controlled skidding, towing, driving in snow etc.