Is driving with aspergers challenging

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I'm sure many of you drive but I want to know if it was difficult learning and passing the test. I'm aware that sometimes the instructors are a little impatient. Focus is important when driving cause getting distracted can be a problem. What are your driving experiences like?

I had a driving instructor who gave me three hours in the student driver car to give me tips and teach me the rules of the road. He told me I was very good at the end, I had remembered all the little rules and tips, and would probably pass with a high score. But I actually barely passed. I literally got the lowest possible passing score. I apparently didn't look both ways at intersections, didn't seem to notice this or that, etc. It was mostly due to not noticing certain things, I was so focused on all the little rules and tips he'd given me I didn't really pay attention to my surroundings as well as I apparently should have. This has always been my biggest problem with driving, noticing the surroundings.

More recently, I am a decent driver, but I am also very distracted, so if something unexpected happens I will have a problem. I tend to go into "autopilot" while driving. To be honest I am a bit surprised I haven't had even a somewhat serious accident. The worst thing that has happened so far is, coming off the freeway, I didn't follow the curve and started to go off into gravel, and I overcorrected (while still in cruise at 60 mph) and spun almost a full 720 in the road and ended up off the other side of the road. It wasn't fun. And if anyone had been coming off the freeway behind me that would have been very bad, so it's a good thing there wasn't.

For me learning was really easy. My first teacher was my dad and he was amazing at teaching me. He did a very thorough job, I learned on a stick shift because that is what we had for about a decade after I learned to drive and that is what my parents always had as but I did not pass the test my first time because I was really nervous to take the test. A year later I took another driving course which was easy because I was already used to driving, I just drove with my permit and one of my parents all the time and when I took the test the second time I passed it no problem.

I drive very well and can drive any vehicle no matter what size or what kind of transmission. I do find that I can get tired from sensory input and I can get distracted from scenery very easily though. Once I get tired or if I get sensory overload, I notice that my reflexes are much slower so I have to be careful to not drive tired. I also have to be careful when night driving because I am sensitive to the bright headlights of oncoming traffic. So when I drive at night I look at the white line on my right rather than straight ahead. But as long as I respect my limitations I have no problems. I have also started wearing my earplugs with my ear defenders when I drive and that helps a lot.

It took me forever to learn to drive and pass my test. The first few months were so awful, I was probably on the verge of giving up. Wasted time and money with two crap instructors. I then tried to save some money by having my dad teach me: worst decision ever. It led to nothing but bad stress and tension.

I finally struck lucky with a third instructor, who was a patient and kind man. Even then, it took me a full year to pass my test (on the 3rd try). There were a couple of factors against me, but I suspect even if I had learnt to drive at 17 in perfect health, I still would have taken longer than the average learner. The coordination required to drive a manual car and watch the road simultaneously took a very long time to master. Roundabouts and "meets" (where two cars can't pass through the same gap, so one has to wait while the other one goes) were the stuff of nightmares.

I was exhausted and famished after every lesson. It really did take it out of me. Even the social part of sharing a car with somebody for an hour or two I found quite difficult to deal with sometimes.

The driving test I found extremely stressful. Not sure how I got through it three times, tbh.

For about a year after passing the test, I was a pretty timid and nervous driver. Had a couple of accidents, one serious enough to write off my first car. After that first year, things gradually improved. I stopped being terrified of roundabouts and changing lanes. I became so much better at coordination and using the clutch. Four years on, I find driving pretty simple now. Even with my short attention span, distraction isn't an issue. I concentrate fully when I need to and half concentrate when I don't. I also try to see what's up ahead of me, so I can prepare in advance. I don't think I'm any worse a driver than average. And better than some, given some of the antics you see on the roads.

i passed the test the second time. i'll never be a really good driver because i have visual spatial learning disabilities. i'm fairly careful, though, which goes along way.

Passed the second time.

Passed for the theory and practical in 1 go.

When i passed the exames, because the examinator was in a really good mood because his favorite footbal club won the previous day, my instructor literally sad to me :

"Oh boy, if you pass the exams with a 6 im pretty sure my next client will get a 9/10"

I had several minor accidents with the car from my work. One of the biggest blunders was me parking the car infront of a big rock infront of a building. I went inside to deliver some keys. I walked back to my car and went full gas in the first gear instead of going in reverse

I moved the giant rock by 2 meters, and that thing weighted atleast 1000kilo!
After that, whenever a new colleague started working at the company they were told that they really should not step into MY car if they wanna stay alive.


On a serious note. In some countries you have to get a test from the goverment and they will decide if you can drive or not. I dont really have issues driving. The biggest issue i am having is daydreaming while driving sometime but since i work mostly in the nights i'm still fine

I don't drive.

If you asked the DMV, the DMV would tell you that I CAN drive. Don't listen to them lol

I got my license when I was 23, after about 8 months of paying my younger brother to drive me to and from work every day. He was in his last year of highschool when this started, and I got my license during the summer after his graduation.

The first time I took the behind the wheels test, I failed before I'd even pulled into traffic.

The second time, I took it in a small town 40 minutes from where I lived. I passed, but the guy who tested me gave me a lecture about being aware of my surroundings before he told me I passed. I almost cried during this lecture, because I was sure I'd failed again. I made my brother drive us home after the test. He thought it was weird that I didn't want to use my new license to drive home.

I drove myself to and from work every day for the next two months, before I quit my job and moved in with my mom.

I got really lucky three times that I know of just during the 4 hour drive to her home the day I moved.

So... I have sworn off driving. My boyfriend says that he WILL teach me how to drive safely when he has time, but he promised that he won't make me drive in cities or on freeways.

I don't drive, either. Haven't really tried.

Everyone who knows me well says that it's dangerous for me to drive because of my severe sensory processing delays and slow sensory integration. I think if I did it, I would find it super stressful and I have more than enough stress in my life already.

Luckily, I live in the city, so it's not really necessary to drive here. My partner drives so he can drive a moving truck or a rental car when we need it.

I think we are all different in how hard it is for us to drive, depending on our sensory processing and visuo-spatial capacities.

I don't really want to learn how to drive, because I feel uncomfortable with it, but I know that I'll have to do it eventually. It's an essential thing to be able to do where I live, and I find I am often shunned for my lack of a vehicle or a license.

I'm comfortable with driving, but imperfect with it as I will make little costly mistakes here and there. I took a driving class in my junior year of high school, got my learner's permit at 16, and my driver's license at 17, which was grandfathered in when the new restricted licenses for minors started coming out. I drive pretty much everyday.

My instructors tell me that I am a very cautious driver and I have good speed control than most teenagers (probably not saying much).

Failed one road test on a minor technicality, driving is not that challenging. The test was 5 of the most stressful minutes of my life, mainly because if I failed my dad and I would be out $75. I don't get some peoples issues with driving though, riding a bicycle is harder and more dangerous.

I learn very atypically, so I am very hard to teach. It was difficult to get access to instruction, and when I finally got some training it was somewhat difficult to learn, as nearly everyone teaches in a style geared for the "neurotypical" student. I was slow to learn, but I am that way with nearly every subject.

took two driver's ed courses, only tested after the 2nd one, and luckily scraped by. I barely know how to drive, so I keep my driving to an absolute minimum. complicated city streets totally defeat me so I avoid places like seattle.

I like driving but I love riding motorcycles. Control of my environment, total concentration on one thing and traveling efficiently adds up to a perfect experience for me. I passed my test (40 years ago!) after my family stopped trying to teach me and i took lessons from a pro.