Autism and Driving: Will I be able to drive?

A surprising number of autistic adults do not drive a car at all. How does autism affect your ability to drive a car? It's normal to be anxious about when about to get your licence. But actually the world is getting more and more sensory overload, and I wonder if I'll be able to drive in the future.

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// WELCOME TO ASPERGERS FROM THE INSIDE!!

My name is Paul and I discovered I have Aspergers at age 30.

Yes, I know, I don't look autistic. That's exactly why I started this blog, because if I didn't show you, you would never know.

As the name suggests, this channel is devoted to giving you insight into the world of Aspergers.
This blog started off being just my story, but I've learned SO MUCH about my own condition
from meeting others on the Autism Spectrum that now I make sure to feature their stories as well.

I've come a long way in my own personal journey.
Now I'm sharing what I've found so you don't have to learn it the hard way too.

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// WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BLOG

You can expect me to get to the point with concise useful information.
I focus on what is most important and don't shy away from difficult topics.

The best way to learn about Autism is to see it in real life ( i.e. via the stories of many, many people on the spectrum).

In this channel I endeavour to show you what Autism and Aspergers look like in real people and to also give you some insight as to what's happening on the inside.
I upload a new video every weekend with some bonus content thrown in mid-week too.
There's always new stuff coming through so be sure to check back and see what you've missed. (Is this where I'm supposed to tell you to hit that subscribe button?)

Topics Include:
- What is Aspergers/Autism?
- Aspie Tips, coping strategies, and advice on common issues
- Learning Emotional Intelligence (this is my special interest!)
- Autism in real life: stories from special guests

Everything I do is and endeavour to go deeper and take you 'behind the scenes' to understand what may, at first glance, seem 'odd'.
oh, and I love busting stereotypes and turning preconceptions upsidedown :)

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// ABOUT ME

I discovered I have aspergers at the age of thrity.
It has been my life's mission to understand these funny creatures we call humans.
My special interest is a combination of emotional intelligence, psychology, neuroscience, thinking styles, behaviour, and motivation. (I.e. what makes people tick)
My background is in engineering and I see the world in systems to be analysed.
My passion is for taking the incredibly complex, deciphering the pattern, and explaining it very simply.
My philosophy is that blogging is an adventure best shared.

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// EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING

I also run autism friendly online emotional intelligence training. So if you like my direct, systematic style, and would like to improve your own emotional intelligence skills, check it out here:

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// CONTACT

Blogging is an adventure best shared which means I'd love to hear from you!
Feel free to leave me a comment or send me and email at any time and I'll do my best to respond promptly.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this channel!
I look forward to hearing from you!

Peace,

~Paul

[JohnnyNilsson]

Hyperfocus and daydreaming is my issues so need to be in the right state of mind to drive safe.

[jmhaddon]

I really can't cope with other people not obeying the rules of the road and it makes me very angry and anxious

[sarahwebb]

I have severe issues with understanding where I am in space. And i especially can’t process using mirrors and reflections very well, so any time I have to back up I wind up extremely confused. And I can’t drive for any longer than 10 mins at a time or I space out. I genuinely can’t drive long enough to be an independent adult and I’ve just started to accept that, as much as it sucks sometimes.

[geem]

I'm 22 y/o and I am so terrified of driving. The possibility of hurting someone else or myself in a crash, because I zone out or don't constantly check my mirrors overwhelms me.

When I was 17, my parents pushed me into driver's ed, I did all theoretical lessons without any issue, but when it was time to do the practical driving lessons, I went into a shock state.
I actually refused to sit in a car with a teacher (I was massively uncomfortable around people I didn't know) unless one of my parents showed me the basics first.
They didn't understand that, so not until 2 years had passed, my father finally agreed to go to a place where it is allowed for parents to teach their children how to drive (in Germany you can not just do this anywhere) and on our way there, I had a slight panic attack. When it was actually my turn to sit behind the wheel, I felt like passing out. My hands were sweaty, my heart was racing and I could not focus on anything.
It got a bit better the second time my father and I went there, but I realized, that I sometimes forget to look at my mirrors, check my surroundings.
I became really insecure even though my father told me and my mother, that I did good, except that I was sometimes going a bit too fast.

The biggest problem was, we never went there again, so I never got the chance to really internalize the things I had to coordinate.
I have never been behind the wheel since then, but my parents keep on pushing me to get a license, since it is a basic qualification.
They don't understand why it is such a challenge for me and get really frustrated to the point where there is lots of yelling, which isn't helping in terms of feeling secure enough to actually pick up lessons.
So to this day I don't know how to drive, even though I would like to and I fear I might never.

[lynnstillwell]

I don't even have autism, but I fully agree with you about moving ads and screens on the road.

[goblinodds]

problems for me:

- taking rules too literally and seriously -- an important part of driving is flexibility, which is uhhhh a challenge for some of us

- light sensitivity; night driving is even worse than day driving bc it's constant bright lights shining into my eyes, and this plus fear of triggering a migraine gives me panic attacks sometimes

- migraines and frequent brain fog, which can't really be timed *around* driving; even if I feel comfortable driving one way I can't predict how I'll feel when I have to drive back

- if I want to keep my anxiety levels low, I need to block out external audio and blast loud music--but I'm also concerned about not noticing ambulances

- sense of having to manually prioritize attention, especially at intersections; feeling like I have to remind myself the whole time to check the light, check the crosswalk, check oncoming traffic....

- stress over unpredictable parking situations, having to make decisions on the fly

probably a few other reasons but that's what comes to mind, haha

[autisticheadscarf]

I’m an aspie and driving is beyond stressful for me. When I’m driving with others, I’m really distracted by their presence and our conversation. I drive slower, miss turns and exits, etc. I’ve had friends get really frustrated and say I drive “like a grandma” and just ask to drive instead. It’s really hurtful because they don’t know how tough it is for me to drive. When I’m by myself, it’s like I drive on autopilot and just daydream the whole way through. I also get distracted by scenery and signs a lot. I just moved from California to Virginia and the roads are so different here. I’ve been having so much anxiety on the roads out here. I’ve never gotten into an accident and am - in my humble opinion - a good driver, but nonetheless it’s a challenge and unfortunately I’ve grown to dislike it more as the years go by. Driving at night is the worst!

[Dylan]

I'm autistic and can never see myself being safe to drive a car. My attention span is too poor and I also have an awful sense of direction, although I realize that the latter is less of an issue nowadays. I would like to learn to drive but my instincts tell me not to so I have decided against it. Maybe one day I'll change my mind but I doubt it. In any case, it pleases me immensely when I hear of other autistic people being able to drive. So glad it worked out for you so well, Paul! Hope you can continue to drive in the future.

[listigerlurch]

I am glad that such advertisement is forbidden here in Germany.

[Jporiey]

I always worried about driving but my father insisted I learn, I ended up passing with 100% on the test. That's was two years ago, I haven't driven a car since but I do love my motorcycle

[Jer_Schmidt]

Before I was diagnosed I drove a car. It was awful, but I didn't understand why. Other people could do it, so I figured I just wasn't trying hard enough. My mind wanders all the time, and I had several terrifyingly close calls because I was in my head and not paying attention. If anything unexpected happened, (a traffic light out or a stalled car blocking the lane) I was immediately super flustered and couldn't think straight, and was likely to make the worst move. I was so scared of hurting someone, and I would usually have trouble sleeping after driving.

Now I'm happily living in a place with decent public transit, walking, and biking infrastructure, so never have to drive again -- yay!!

[thehighwaycowboy]

Absolutely YES you can drive. I have Aspergers and I have been a HGV Lorry Driver for several years and also hold a bus and coach licence. If anything I find my Autism a big advantage as I notice more details, remember routes better and plan my journey to the finest detail. Trucking is the ideal job for me. On my own all day, preplan my journeys, don't have to talk to anybody else and In complete control of a lovely big truck listening to whatever I want to on the stereo. I also get pretty well paid for driving to some lovely places.

[suzettesanborn]

I'm 48 and on the spectrum. I have stopped driving because of all the LED lights and signs and the giant moving screens in addition to the huge increase in everyone texting and driving. There's just so much distractions out there for everyone; but especially those on the spectrum. Everything just became to overwelming and dangerous.

[PanthroSamah]

For me, the worst thing about driving is my hyperfocus. It's very easy for me to become completely absorbed by an idea and forget what I was doing at the moment, it happens many times each day. It's very useful when I need to solve a problem, because I became completely involved with the question, I can't even perceive any distractions, but when something is not intelectually engaging is very easy for me to escape inside. I wonder if it could happen while I was driving, so I decided not to try.

[MisterPjamas]

I am to afraid to fail, fear of failing the test, wasting money. I can’t really focus on multiple things, so massive traffic is scary. I can’t handle gears, so if I ever try it’s automatic car for me. 42 now and no licence.

[SteveBenway]

I always tell new passengers, "If you don't want me to crash, don't talk to me!" It's an exaggeration, but the potential is there.
Having driving lessons was super stressful, because the instructor simply would not *shut up*. I told him straight... "if it's not directly related to the lesson, please don't talk. I need to focus." Nope. Waffled away regardless. I'd have changed instructor, but... change.... *shudder*.

[MalcontentYouth]

Not diagnosed as Autistic, however your videos as well as Sammy's have been showing me many things that I've been dealing with my whole life. I broke down crying, feeling like maybe I had found what I couldn't put a finger on. I'm 40 yrs old and have never held a driver license. Just getting in the mode of doing the test makes me anxious, I finally passed the written over two years ago, but was as far as I have gotten. My family treats my quirks as "me being me" or I'm being told to "act my age". I'm just me, and I know some of the things I do are not "normal" for a 40 yr old man. Just trying to make it through...life is such a struggle. I'm diagnosed ADHD, been dealing with addiction problems my whole life, self-destructing relationships, and just bad self-care. I appreciate what you are doing and even if I am not on the spectrum, your videos are a light in a very dark tunnel. Thank you

[autismenlightenment]

I have limited driving ability. I did it today and I had to come home a lay down completely exhausted just from going to pick up preordered groceries, going through drive through at bank and pharmacy and get dog food at the feed store. My skills went down w each stop. It took 2 and a half hours but should have taken half as long. By the end I was completely lost and had to use google navigation to get me home. I couldn't even bring the groceries in.
Total sensory overload plus I have dyspraxia so it's difficult to gauge how hard to push the pedal, how fast or slow I'm going, I cant cross lanes without a traffic signal. Even just shadows on the street make it hard to sense what is going on. All the moving cars and hills and curves, not to mention the flashing billboards, etc. I hate it. It's very hard and super scary.

[cstspeedy]

I am a UK driving instructor who specialises in teaching autistic and anxious pupils. My experience has been that those on the spectrum are usually capable of being very good and confident drivers. The main issue has been overcoming initial anxiety to reach that stage. My autistic daughter was exceptionally nervous. During lessons she had a habit of abandoning the car wherever it was, including in the middle of busy junctions if she was stressed enough. We would have to have a very calm debrief and discuss how it would be better to deal with these situations. She was my pupil for my standards check, where my instructional skills were assessed by a senior examiner. He praised her driving and told her that she was nearly test ready. That spelled the end of the anxiety problems; it was like flicking a switch. She passed first time five years ago. No traffic tickets of any variety since and no safety-critical incidents either. She enjoys very low insurance for her age and experience. With my autistic son, he also gained enough confidence to pass once he had had a lightbulb moment and overcome doubts about his abilities. His record is equally good. It usually takes more tuition time to get an autistic pupil on the road than it does for a neurotypical, but the job satisfaction level is massively greater.

[Stephanievang]

It's the overwhelming of all of my senses when I sit in the driver's seat. I am terrified of driving.