Autism and driving

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I was nervous about learning to drive for a long time because I knew I had awareness and processing issues related to my AS. I finally got my licence a year and a half ago. I still have to push myself to stay on high alert when driving because the way I process things impacts my driving. I would never trust myself in a large city or aggressive driving environment but my driving is good enough for towns and country roads, which suits me well enough for where I live.

I tried learning to drive when I was 16 but after I accidentally put the car in reverse while trying to pull into a parking lot when driving down the highway my Mom decided that I would never be capable of learning to drive.

So here I am at 28 years old and still having to rely on other people to drive me around.

I've been driving for over 30 years now, and it's generally not a big deal.

I'd say driving is a bit different from most activities is that while there are certainly distractions, they don't tend to hold your attention for very long if at all. This isn't to say that you can't be totally distracted, it happens, but it happens to everyone. When I'm not driving, I can be hopeless at times with being distracted.

There are some days when I know I don't have the capacity to drive, but they're more of a recent phenomenon and are very likely related to other things. Over the past few months, I've had it happen where I did not recognize where I was, even though it was somewhere I drive on a regular basis.

I've been in a few accidents, but only one was my fault and that was due mostly to inexperience. The other few times the other driver was apparently not aware of the physical limitations of two cars occupying the same space at the same time.

You'll know if you're capable of doing it, but don't let the first while discourage you. Driving is one of those things which requires experience to improve at, for any driver. The ability to know what's important to pay attention to comes with that experience. Just ensure that you have all those items that can distract you, and over which you do have control, out of the way.

Now, that is, of course, entirely from my perspective on the subject. Your experiences/reactions/etc will vary from mine (for better or for worse).

it is just a bit too much cognitive load on my brain to both shift and drive without losing track of one or the other. not a multitasker. I've had more than my share of crunches only automatic for me. I learned about 5 years after my peers. actually I had no peers.

I really don't like driving; tracking all of the other objects in motion around me is absolutely exhausting, and I have to remind myself to breathe. I'll go 3 miles to town (population: 311) to the grocers or druggists, but that's about it. My mate's very skeptical of my driving, too; my response time and reflexes appear to be rather slow.