Reduced access to transportation may limit social, community engagement, occupational training, and education chances for people struggling with an autism spectrum disorder. Despite the condition, these youths desire to live their lives like their peers who do not have the disease. Hence, a significant number of young people with autism acquire a driving license before the end of their twenty-first year. Youths with autism can learn how to drive to increase their mobility and contribute towards a successful transition to independent adulthood. Enhancing the mastery of driving skills for people with autism disorder requires special attention and patience since the conditions affect the nervous system. Notably, driving may be stressful even to healthy people. It presents itself as a highly demanding task that can result in unpredictable and hazardous events. The inability of autistic learners to identify specific road hazards and properly scan the driving environment can cause severe road consequences. Although autism inhibits the motor skills of young people with autism, they can learn to drive and improve their lifestyle through gained independence.
A majority of youths with autism disorder gain the interest to drive as early as during their teenage life. However, the disorder can pose challenges during the process of learning. This disorder attacks the nervous system; hence it can impact how a driving student masters the required skills. As a result, they may be confused by the specific details of driving. Such students may exhibit unsafe driving behaviors due to the inability to recognize the cues of other drivers. According to Dodwell and Trick (2020), this problem does not mean that other learners with autism cannot learn how to drive, since some depict safe driving behaviors. A study conducted by Sheppard et al. (2017) revealed that male youths with autism disorder are less prone to car accidents fewer times than teenagers in the general population. From this observation, it is evident that young people with autism can learn how to drive as long as the driving instructor is patient, understands their weaknesses, and works with them to overcome the challenge that comes with driving. Besides, interest and enthusiasm are among the most critical aspects of learning. Since some young people with autism possess these traits, they can learn driving.
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The first step to train learners with autism on how to drive is understanding them. Every student’s case should be handled as an individual issue, and instructors should avoid stereotyping. All learners are unique, their attention levels are mostly different, and the ability to comprehend is depicted in test results, as evidenced by a study conducted by Cox et al. (2017). One case of an autistic student’s accident should not make other learners feel inferior and prone to failures. It is the support team’s duty, including the professional driving trainers, individualized education program teachers, parents, and doctors, to provide as much information as possible to the trainers to understand the learner from a positive perspective to enhance the learning process. Knowing the capabilities of autistic learners will enable the trainers to maximize the students’ strengths as they slowly rectify their weaknesses.
Parents with youths experiencing autism disorder should take charge to determine their readiness to drive. Dodwell and Trick (2020) recommend that before allowing a young person with autism to attend any driving classes, parents should consult the medical professionals so that they can offer recommendations. Medical experts understand the needs of people with autism better than parents. Besides, this condition can be challenging for some families and even driving instructors. Cox et al. (2017) advise that the parent must ensure that the youth has no medical concerns that may hinder the successful driving experience. Such problems include communication and cognitive issues. It is challenging to become an excellent driver if a person’s communication ability is impaired (Sheppard et al., 2017). In most cases, a person will experience abnormal communication issues when he or she has cognitive abnormalities. Hence, doctors are well-positioned to declare a youth eligible to learn driving skills, and thus, they should be consulted before engaging these patients in driving lessons.
More specifically, it is vital to consult a behavioral therapist on the candidate’s general behavior before starting the driving process. The therapist has experience working with people with special needs. Cox et al. (2017) claim that parents should also consider incorporating driving goals into their children’s individualized education plans as early as possible. Such an act will prepare the student for future choices. The parents will also have adequate time to understand their children regarding how best they can master the skills to drive and offer them the necessary support. Notably, the therapist can assist the parents with the creation of reasonable and measurable driving goals for young people with autism that will motivate them through the process.
Furthermore, some approaches can enable young people with autism to drive under parental supervision. Once the youth have been declared able to cognitively accommodate driving rules, process them, and turn instructions into actions, the driving student can start their lessons. According to Dodwell and Trick (2020), the trainee should exercise patience regardless of how long it takes to master the skills. They should not stop practicing, and at the same, they should not be left to practice alone, instead, with the help of their parents or guardians and professional driving instructions. The practice should be done in a safe environment and within familiar routes. These strategies can enhance the learner’s ability to master driving skills.
Moreover, young people with autism should consider learning one driving skill at once. Since this condition affects their nervous system, learning different skills at a time can be challenging (Dodwell & Trick, 2020). For instance, a young person with autism should perfect leg coordination before learning how to change lanes or understand traffic lights. Also, the student should avoid unnecessary distractions while driving. They should adopt a comfortable sitting position and ensure that the car’s interior stays at the right temperature. During training, both the instructor and the student should note the weaknesses. Then, work on them during every driving lesson.
Driving during comfortable hours and roads should be the priority for the first six months after accomplishing the course. Young people with autism exhibit symptoms of repetitive or restricted patterns of behavior and may forget lessons learned quickly. Therefore, they can adopt a behavior of memorizing the retained skills until they are completely mastered.
While teaching young people with autism, some teaching techniques can be implemented. For example, the use of verbal and visual scripts before real driving is an uncommon practice among the general population. However, Dodwell & Trick (2020) suggest that such simple techniques can produce significant content mastery during driving lessons. Besides, trainers should break driving skills into individual single steps that can be mastered quickly. Parents should only take their children to driving schools in which the instructors understand the child’s condition. According to Bishop et al. (2017), instructors with knowledge on special education, mainly autism, understand better the needs of potential drivers with autism than driving instructors meant for the general population. The well-informed instructors are patient with these students and treat them with respect and dignity.
Learners with autism need emotional support to accomplish their driving classes. Driving is a challenging and stressful process that can make one feel inadequate if they cannot master the necessary skills. Teachers, parents, and professional driving instructors play a significant role in encouraging young people with autism to keep their emotions under control. For instance, learners with autism disorder who have anger issues should learn to avoid driving at times and in environments that can make them emotionally distressed. Bishop et al. (2017) argue that when a young person with autism is driving, they have a responsibility to themselves and other drivers on the road—driving while angry can cause serious repercussions such as unintended accidents. This issue can be rectified by avoiding people or situations that distract their emotions and evading anxiety.
Young people with autism can develop positive attitudes toward the driving experience if they find it to be interesting. Dodwell & Trick (2020) argued that incorporating car video games as some of the learning materials can promote the desire to know more, grasp, and retain information and skills. This technique not only enhances the motor and cognitive skills of the learners but also creates realistic environments that motivate and make them enthusiastic about driving. Such has been reported to affect improving the person’s mood and eventually improving communication, which is a significant part of driving during and after learning( Bishop et al., 2017). Besides, learners with autism should focus on the use of practice and repetition. This strategy ensures that they improve their ability to comprehend, coordinate, and recall and retain information for as long as possible.
Young people with autism face specific challenges while learning how to drive. It should be noted that they are not as fast learners as their age mates in the general population. These individuals’ ability to store, process, and recall information is a challenge in any learning session. It needs extra attention and patience to enhance their ability to grasp and retain new skills. Before beginning driving lessons, the trainers should ensure that the most frequently learning issues faced by students with autism, such as the inability to socialize and communicate effectively, are addressed. Young people with autism may also experience discrimination from their peers who lack awareness about the disorder, which can hurt their emotions. Trainers and the public should address this issue by encouraging young people with autism and creating awareness among their peers for more social support.
Overall, a young person with autism’s ability to learn and master driving skills is based on the kind of support. They need an in-depth understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, which their parents and teachers can best offer through individualized education programs. Also, suffering from a nervous system disorder does not exempt these individuals from achieving their dreams or practicing new skills like healthy individuals. Supervised practicing should be encouraged after learning before an individual with autism is allowed to drive on busy roads on their own. Their learning is a collective responsibility of their parents, doctors, behavioral therapists, and professional driving instructors. When deciding who should or should not drive, young people with autism should not be excluded from the activity with arguments based on the disorder, especially if they have shown enthusiasm and consistent improvement. They deserve to experience life in its fullness like healthy individuals.
References
Bishop, H. J., Biasini, F. J., & Stavrinos, D. (2017). Social and non-social hazard response in drivers with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 47 (4), 905-917. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2992-1
Cox, D. J., Brown, T., Ross, V., Moncrief, M., Schmitt, R., Gaffney, G., & Reeve, R. (2017). Can youth with autism spectrum disorder use virtual reality driving simulation training to evaluate and improve driving performance? An exploratory study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 47 (8), 2544-2555. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3164-7
Dodwell, A., & Trick, L. M. (2020). The effects of secondary tasks that involve listening and speaking on young adult drivers with traits associated with autism spectrum disorders: a pilot study with driving simulation. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behavior , 69 , 120-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2019.12.011
Sheppard, E., Van Loon, E., Underwood, G., & Ropar, D. (2017). Attentional differences in a driving hazard perception task in adults with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 47 (2), 405-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2965-4
