Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all my son is 18 and just passed his driving test!
obviously I’m very proud. But, despite actively encouraging him to drive I am extremely anxious about him driving himself further than our home city. His a great driver, my worry is his ability to cope should something go wrong like an accident. He can overreact with me and his dad, but doesn’t when out alone.
His young for his age sometimes acting like a younger teenager.
looking for any guidance on managing this without restricting his independence.
thanks for reading
Hi,
I'm autistic
I'm a driver
Things going wrong can be very distressing especially when they are new. The way I coped with this the first few times was that I had a very explicit agreement with my parents that if something out of the ordinary happened I immediately phoned them and they helped talk me through it. After you've done it it works for the next time.
Have an explicit conversation with him. Discuss your concern about unexpected events. Discuss some of the ones that may occur, damaging a car while parking, driving into the back of someone, witnessing an accident, and what the correct procedures are in these cases.
And explicitly express your permission to call you whenever there are any problems.
This should allow him to feel confident in contacting you about any issues, and allow you to feel more confident trusting him further out.
Ask if you have any further questions or clarifications.