Driving

Hi,

My son is 17 and i am having very similar issues with him as he seems to think he can do anything! and if i try and explain he just thinks its me stopping him and not his own difficulties. He has AS/Dyspraxia/hypotonia this means he has poor reflexes, poor balance, very bad spacial wareness etc, limited hazard awareness I could go on but you get my point. However he is also very clever, has developed excellent coping strategies for some social situations to the point many people dont realise it is a stratergy! He is doing well in college etc. So why oh why does he not understand his own physical limitations nd want to drive a car.

His psych said she would be very suprised if the DLA would after assesment (something I wasnt aware they did) would alow him to hold a licence, so the best course of action as a parent was to let him go through assesment disclosing everything so that it was an offical person saying no to him. Maybe you could try that with your brother?

good luck

sam

Although I learned to drive and passed third attempt, I don't like driving and have never owned a car. Part of the trouble is being 6 foot 7 inches tall - there were then few cars I could drive, either not room to reach the pedals or being too high in the seat so I mostly saw the bonnet rather than the road. I actually passed in Ford escorts, but did a lot of learner driving in Minis, which strangely enough had more room (gives away my age too).

My difficulty with driving is sensory overload. The manouevres I learned to do magificently, and I learned in several different towns with different junctions and corners.

Where I found difficulty was where traffic was busy and especially converging at junctions and worse in wet weather or as darkness fell with lots of headlights. I have the same trouble walking alongside busy roads or crossing at busy junctions. There is just too much coming into my head at once. I'm in difficulty in busy shopping malls as well.

Hi, I am new to the site but as a driving instructor dsa and iam registered grade 5 and an nvq3 in driving instruction .

I am about to advance my driving instruction into dealing with Autistic , Asperger syndrome , ADHD , dyslexia , dyspraxia and mental health difficulties.

The course I am taking is working alongside Julia Malkin MBE who is a high spectrum Autism and ADHD sufferer and will involve becoming aware of all symptoms and the possible effects whilst both learning to drive as well as advancing to Independant Driving

The course is " Revolutions " and I look forward to both learning and helping others to become drivers and aid them or their driving instructors to overcome the problems normaly associated with Neuro Typical people.

Thankyou for reading my introduction and I look forward to becoming more involved with the forums along with friendship , help and advise for people thru the forum or direct meetings for people in the east midlands area

Hi Jadey

I think it is very important that your Mum makes the authorities aware of  your brother's condition.  Just because he has autism does not mean that he cannot drive.  My son was very like your brother and I thought that he would not be allowed to drive but after a letter from his GP and his psychologist he was allowed to drive and it has been the best thing that could ever happen to him.  Driving has given him a whole new freedom and confidence.  He is actually a very good driver and he has blossomed since he got his licence.  If your brother started driving without declaring his condition, he may not be covered by any insurance policy.  

Hi, thanks for your reply. You could literally be describing my brother! Everything in the house is smashed to pieces and as quickly as something is repaired its broken again. My mum is a single parent and obviously cant work so its hard to be able to pay for everything. He blames me and my mum for everything and says that if i wasnt born he wouldnt have autism ect ect. 

He is over six foot and is very heavy handed so my mum finds it impossible to restrain him when he loses his temper. We are so so frightened about his future, wondering if he will ever be able to live alone or get a proper job. He often makes comments that he is going to steal a car if he's not allowed to drive and I am so worried about him ending up dead or in prison by the age of 20. We dont have much support from anybody and hardly speak to our social worker so it's nice to hear others stories and get some advice. 

Thanks 

My brother-in-Law is 25 and since he turned 18, he is every bit like your brother. Lee just wants to be and do everything his older brother (my husband) does. He constantly gets into aggresive rages where he will smash up his home - literally smash it up. My mother-in-laws house is full of punched through holes in the walls, smashed up doors. He has smashed up and punched through numerous TV sets all because he can't do what his brother does i.e. date girls, drive a car, join the army etc. He goes down to the local army careers office and gets himself application forms and because the army careers office give him the forms, he thinks its all my mother-in-laws fault that he can't join. He thinks that she is going out of her way to stop him from being like everyone else and that she is schemeing to ruin his life. He thinks that it's all down to her that he can't be like his brother. He refuses to accept that he's autistic and will not have anything to do with other people with special needs as he doesn't consider them to be proper humans.

My mother-in-law has asked the GP for a referral to a couseler specialised in ASD to help Lee understand and accept his autism as only then will he be able to be happy and move forward in life.

Maybe you could ask for the same referral and see if the counseler could help your brother deal with his autism and how it effects his life.

Good luck.