Driving problems AS & Dyspraxia how about you?

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Aside from the variety of ways my aspergers has affected my life not being able to drive safely has been the hardest. Recently I took my AS son to a behavioral optometrist and he was diagnosed with dyspraxia a motor and vision disorder , after a quick vision tracking test with a pen he said I had it too (also a followup appointment). I know the dyspraxia affects driving ability but my aspergers has kept me from passing the driving test due to test anxiety (passed the written with no studying) and the stranger with a clipboard sitting next to me . I am 32 have a permit and am thinking about trying for a 3rd time simply so i can drive on good days or when necessary. On the flip side its so hard to visually track anything when going more than 30 mph I live in a large town now but can use back streets at lower speeds and still intersections can be baffling, plus i have a blind spot for dull grey, blue and dirty white cars (had a few scares). I am interested in hearing the experiences of other challenged drivers and help weighing the pros and cons i have children and don't want to endanger them but so badly want the freedom.

I was never a good driver. I had lots of trouble learning how to drive. I took Driver's Ed at High School and it was really hard. I was so excited to learn how to drive but once I get behind the wheel my version of things changed dramatically. I did eventually get my license (after two road tests and more months of private lessons) but I still wasn't too excited about driving.

Today, I hardly drive. I just don't really like it that much.

I have never been a driver...I tried a bunch of times when I was young and kept making really stupid mistakes....as a result, my willingness to drive has atrophied over time...so at this point, I don't really see it happening...

yes I took driver ed also, I actually ran a red light during my final test there too , my instructor would sweat bullets whenever i got behind the wheel. My biggest problem is I am not a city girl but must live in town so I can get around , I find it so embarrassing and limiting asking others for rides.

I infuriated my drivers ed teacher...that's what she gets for bargging that she could teach ANYone to drive....
I almost got in an accident during my first driver's test. Got confused with "right on red"...Had trouble with rigid interpretations of traffic rules a lot of the time.

LOL that sounds a lot like me. Do you zone out too? I zone out and don't notice, so that's a big reason I never was to eager to drive. I don't have a license. But neither do the majority of my NT friends for some reason, so I am not singled out. We've got a great bus system around here though so it's not really a problem. Do you have decent public transportation where you live?

I also nearly got in an accident during my first driver's test. Despite having had my learner's permit for over a year and driving regularly with my dad (plus driver's ed), neither of us realized that I completely did not understand how traffic lights work- at least, in the sense of knowing which direction the cars were coming in when you were turning right, left, etc.

So here is the scenario: We are coming up to a light, and my tester tells me to go left. I have no idea that when the light is green and I am going left, that I really need to focus just on traffic going straight in the opposite direction. My strategy at every light was to wait until traffic stopped in all directions. So I am looking all around, checking the traffic in all directions. My tester gets angry at me because I took too long to make a decision, and the light is now yellow. So I think to myself, "I guess I didn't need to look around- I can go as soon as the light is green." (having realized that I don't understand the rules of intersections, I am trying, on-the-fly, to develop rules for myself). So when the light changes to green, I turn immediately, never seeing the oncoming traffic. Naturally my tester was quite upset about that, telling me that I had nearly hit someone.

I failed the test, having no idea what I had done wrong. I tried to explain it to my mom, and she sat down on the floor with me, with some of my brother's toy cars. My mom is a psychologist and successfully coached my brother through his dyslexia, and me through various NLD-related issues, and she actually succeeded in explaining to me how intersections worked. I had already reached age 17 without having developed any understanding of intersections, and never might have figured them out on my own, so luckily I have the mom I do! I did eventually work out what had gone wrong during the test, and I ended up finally getting my license at age 19.

Lack of drive topic

I know how you feel, PLS. My almost 18 year old son got his license 2 years ago, and my oldest daughter has been a Toronto Transit Bus Driver for 5 years (now she is a supervisor).

They did not get their ability from Dyspraxic, CAPD mom.

I don't drive. Overloads and so forth...

. Oh yes I seriously zone out , we only have 2 intown buslines and 2 that go out of town . Unfortunately it's too expensive to get around that way I will get a bus pass soon but still must pay for the kids.

I also have driving issues and take the bus but on another note (sorry to get off topic) LostInSpace description explains my behavior itself. I try to be happy (leading to alot of AS traits etc. which family dislike) I try NOT to have those traits and I get told oh you're depressed so like yourself with driving (green light/or waiting for traffic either one was wrong)

I have never had driving issues.

I think I drive better than most others on the road with me. I barely speed, I use signals, I don't tailgate, and I don't weave in and out. I probably piss other drivers off for not being a speed demon. The only thing I have a problem with is remembering directions. It has to be written down, turn by turn. GPS navigation is a blessing (aside from the fact that I'm a tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy nut who doesn't like the idea of being tracked).

Our daughter, Melanie has AS and is almost 17. She passed the written test with flying colors. Driving lessons were very challenging. We took her to a local outpatient clinic that has Occupational therapists that specialize in teaching driving to people with disabilities. They tested her for driving readiness. Melanie passed as far as having the ability to drive. After 5 lessons I was asked to come on a drive to see for myself how she was doing. When told her not to hit piles of leaves on the right of the street she obeyed, but when givien the obstacles of leaves on the right and parked cars and a person walking dogs on the left, she remember she was NOT supposed to hit the leaves and instead headed toward the parked car and dog walker.
She did not understand intersections and where the danger was as cars came from the left in an intersection. At intersection she looked right and left, but then zoned out and did not proceed but sat there long enough for cars to approach and then w/o checking just proceeded along. Bottom line, she was told that she is wasting the lessons that have been provided to her. It takes longer for individuals with AS to learn to drive and some have processing difficulties that preclude driving altogether.
We do know of other ASPIES who have worked out fine with this training but they did not get a licence until they were in their twenties. We were warned NOT TO take her driving ourselves as it would be dangerous. Please leave aspy driving training to the professionals. The OT's did not feel that even a professional driving school could handle and/or understand her issues.

I'm diagnosed with both Asperger's and dyspraxia along with ADD but I can drive fine.

I'm a very good driver. I passed the written and driving but it took me a few tries.

Plus I took driver's ed in my freshman year of high school and I loved doing driving after school. I honestly found it easy. I have done a few errors but doesn't everyone? Plus the cars the teachers used had a break in the passenger seat and one time and I accidentally hit the gas pedal than the break and I thought I was going to slam into the mini van in front of me and I freaked out but the teacher but the break on. That's what those passenger breaks were for. They were put in those cars for the classes. Plus I heard other students did driving errors too like almost hitting a stop sign so the teacher make them go out and hug it and I can remember when a girl in my class backed into a car when she was trying to parol role (sp) park and she failed the driving test. I guess not all school have passenger breaks in their cars huh?

I also follow the rules and I hate tailgaters. I also ignore impatient drivers. Maybe they have a loved one who is dying so they are driving like a maniac so they can see him/her before he or she passes away.

Oh yeah I even passed the driving test at 16 and a half while I was having anxiety. I was actually surprised I passed despite how I had been acting during the whole thing. One time during winter, it was snowing and there was snow on the ground, I failed the test right when it started. I am not sure what happened but the driving instructor told me what I did and I couldn't grasp it but she said it was nasty weather out so it's harder to drive. I backed out of my parking spot and there were no cars coming, I had room to back out and I didn't even hit anyone nor was even close so I will never know what happened. Maybe I was supposed to wait for this one car to drive by because it was snowing out so the person would have less space to put on the breaks when I back out because he would slide. Maybe I judged the distance wrong.