Published on 12, July, 2020
It took me many years to learn to drive and only eventually passed my test in an automatic car in my 40s.
Today I've just come home from driving to Chichester and the other drivers drove me a bit mad.
Motorbikes cutting me up, people doing 20 miles an hour in a 60 zone, me getting out of the way of 2 ambulances and no-one letting me back out etc etc etc.
I seem to like driving less and less and am more inclined to stay at home than I ever was.
There is just so much going on around you to be aware of, especially in cities (with pedestrians too).
So, 2 questions.
1. Is my difficulty with learning in a manual car, which I took at the time to be poor co-ordination, but I wasn't aware of my autism, an autistic thing?
2. Does anyone else find driving difficult (and, again, is it an autistic thing)?
Now I know I am autistic I think it is an autistic thing. I learnt to drive in my 20s and didn't pass first time. One of my instructors commented that I took a while to make decisions. I also don't have good spatial awareness which is why I failed first time. When I did pass I managed locally as it was not a busy area and not many roundabouts. I mostly avoided motorways as none nearby. At that time I lived alone so needed it to get to work, shopping etc.
Since I moved to a busier area where people drive agressively I have driven less until I finally decided I didn't feel safe driving so either walk or my husband drives me.