DRIVING

hello!

I would like some advice from some autistic people. 

I'm 21 and I have been considering learning to drive but I am anxious about pretty much every part of driving. 

If you are autistic and can drive could you tell me about your experiences?

Parents
  • I found it very easy to learn to drive. I'm good at learning new skills and tend to do things better than other people. The only thing that was difficult and unpleasant for me was the driving instructor trying to make small talk! It made me dread having lessons and even cancelled them and put off learning for years because of that. The actual skill of controlling a car or learning the Highway Code was trivially easy.

    Even the examiner tried to make small talk with me! I was already very nervous. Why can't we just drive in silence.

  • My driving instructor told me that talking whilst driving is part of the learning experience, because it is necessary to drive whilst coping with distractions. 

  • The only time I really shouted at my child was to demand silence during certain traffic manoeuvers like traffic islands which demand my full attention. She, like me as a child, had full on ADHD so I had to be firm and loud to get her attention quickly enough, as the road conditions will not wait.

    I find that my brains "performance" is somewhat variable, some days I really enjoy having the radio on, or having a chatty passenger, but some days I desperately need to "focus".

    And I'm sorry "untoward" but I sometimes am a person who forgets to indicate, and I have no idea why that is.. But unlike many people I do usually remember to lean forwards towards the mirror when making a lane change to cover the blind spot, and that has saved my bacon a couple of times on the motorway I can tell you...

Reply
  • The only time I really shouted at my child was to demand silence during certain traffic manoeuvers like traffic islands which demand my full attention. She, like me as a child, had full on ADHD so I had to be firm and loud to get her attention quickly enough, as the road conditions will not wait.

    I find that my brains "performance" is somewhat variable, some days I really enjoy having the radio on, or having a chatty passenger, but some days I desperately need to "focus".

    And I'm sorry "untoward" but I sometimes am a person who forgets to indicate, and I have no idea why that is.. But unlike many people I do usually remember to lean forwards towards the mirror when making a lane change to cover the blind spot, and that has saved my bacon a couple of times on the motorway I can tell you...

Children
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