Re: Re: Article~The Challenge of Driving With Asperger’s

[Guest guest]

I wonder if your child has a school IEP, and is special services, how that plays out with Drivers' Education (in the States).  Especially since the new DSM lumps everything into the Autism camp. Guessing you'd need to be a doctor's note stating you can handle a car to even sign up for classes.

I also wonder how much if your insurance would increase if you had developmentally disabled teen ager.  You just know the insurance companies will use that as a money grab.

My friend's Aspie son just got his DL at 24. Took him 4 years, and went through a rehabilitation drivers' ed program. Wondering if that will be the norm for teen agers now.

My Aspie husband is terrible driver. He can't handle the stress and multi tasking.

Nan

 

Hi ,

I read that with a skeptical eye too. I'm not sure that Aspergers (or even high functioning autism) in and of itself would be a hindrance to becoming a good driver. I tend to think that the problems would be related to factors which could be comorbid to AS, such as cognitive impairment, severe ADHD, severe anxiety, etc.

I'd love to hear Bill's take on this, since on list and off, in spite of " evidence " I've tried to offer up and he has refuted in every case from the vantage point of his vast clinical background, even what some of us refer to as " slower processing " which seems (anecdotally) common to AS, if I understand Bill correctly, that is a separate issue. Bill? offered another interesting viewpoint about Aspie processing back in December and I'll just point y'all to the archive post here: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/aspires-relationships/message/17042

ly I've ridden with some perfectly awful NT drivers, LOL. I'm no shrinking violet myself, but my observation is that my purely Aspergerish friends are better drivers on the whole.

I do recall in the distant past that some members of this group reported that their AS young adult children remained reticent about learning to drive until they were much older than their peers. That may have been some wisdom on the young Aspie's part. Given some of the spectacular accidents some young people are in, it seems to me that some of them (here I am talking about NT youth) have not developed all the global skills needed, but may feel pressured to perform beyond their skill level so as to impress their peers. Spectrum kids (and adults) don't feel the same pressure to impress.

- Helen

> > The Challenge of Driving With Asperger’s

> > NY Times

> http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/27/the-challenge-of-driving-with-a\

> spergers/

> >

>