Can People with Asperger's syndrome learn how to drive a Car

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My first driving instructor yelled at me when I mixed up left and right and gave me a meltdown on my first day. My parents immediately fired him and set me up with another driving instructor named Hawaiian Bob who was very laid back and would calmly tell me how to correct my mistakes. For example, if I made a right turn instead of a left, he would just have me do two more rights.
I had no further problems after that!

Temple Grandin drives.

This whole thread is ridiculous because:

/thread.

(and I can drive.)

I have seen a post by a Swedish person in a different thread that said that where he/she lives if you are diagnosed with AS, then you are not allowed to have a driver's license by default, meaning that you would need a doctor's evaluation that says that you are fit to drive, in order to get a license.

I think if it's really true, then there is an official view somewhere that people with AS in general have difficulty in driving a car.

I know that many with AS can drive a car, but I myself find it very difficult to drive though I did manage to get a license.

Yes, I can.

I've been driving for over 25 years now. only been in 2 (not at fault) accidents and never got a ticket.

It's not Asperger's itself that interferes with learning to drive a car but one or more sensory processing disorders that frequently goes along with Asperger's. I am towards the mild end because I did (eventually) learn to drive, even though I'm still horrific at it, even after multiple years of doing it. It took 3 driving tests to get my license, and I honestly should not have been allowed to get it even then.

But it's got nothing to do with AS itself.

Yes they can. It is part of the lessons. Why would highways be different frrom other road types? Driving on a highway is pretty easy, compared to driving in small streets with many junctions, parked cars, people that see you too late, for whom you have to brake very fast. My driving instructor said: "Driving in such small streets is the real art of driving. Driving on a freeway is very easy. My 5 year old nephew would be able to do this, although it is illegal."

The most important skills on a highway is inserting from a ramp into the traffic that is already there. And then - when you are on it - reading the signpost to take the right route to your destination.

At the other hand, I dare drive with a very high speed in German Autobahnen (where there is no speed limit). I drove about 170 km/h (about 100 MPH) there. There were no other cars there. If the Autobahn has too many curves and cars, I dare not drive faster than 130 km/h (about 80 MPH).

Yes, I got my learner's permit at 16 and a license at 17. I've passed every driving test I've taken. I've had accidents and tickets, but I am very comfortable driving. It's one of the few instances where I can actually feel "one" with something and where I don't feel dissociated--the others are listening to my favorite music, working on a programming/math problem, putting out "fires" at my job, etc. I also find driving a substitute for pacing/wandering where I'm listening to music at the same time, and often I will just play music and drive and drive even though I'm not really going anywhere; I'll go to fun streets where the speed limit is higher than you'd normally think it, where it seems "anomalous."

Thinking of it. I see the terms highway and freeway. A freeway is - as I understood - a toll-free highway. In the Netherlands and in some other countries the "autosnelweg" is normally defined as freeway, free to ride on, unlike in France and Italy.

The maximum speed (unless marked otherwise) is normally 130 km/h (80 MPH). Exceptions are marked as 120 km/h (75 MPH) and 100 km/h (about 62 MPH).

Talking about health. I am myopic, which means I wear glasses (I can see things properly near me without glasses, but I need glasses to look farther away). Until a few weeks ago I had glasses that were too "weak". That meant that I can see forward several tens of yards in front of me, but that is not enough for driving. Seeing and looking when driving is extremely important so I should not have issues with that. Therefore, I ordered new glasses which are stronger and which give unlimited sight.

I definitely agree. Driving a simulator on a PC is way different from driving a real car. I watched this video, and I saw way more driving mistakes than was displayed in German. If you want to have a simulator which is close to real car driving, the equipment must actually be a modified stationary car where the pedals and the steering wheel is connected to a computer. The front and side window, and the mirrors to look at the traffic behind you must al be simulated with very good an realistic graphics. Such a simulator is so expensive that driving a real car is way cheaper for the driving pupil.

Also the momentum is not add in the simulation that you will feel on your body.

What I mean with a good driving simulator is the following:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neG8pwCjxuk

Note that the signs are Dutch (according to Europe). The Dutch traffic rules apply. I will translate the messages the movie shows into English:

0:00 DRIVING SCHOOL [not translated] introduces the driving simulator;
0:25 ANWB, BOVAG, TNO, TU DELFT recommend; start your driving course with a driving simulator;
0:59 Follow the driving simulator course, spend less money for your driving lessons;
2:02 Training driving under hard circumstances, trainen on Grip- or Slip circuit;
2:40 The driving simulator registrates your looking behaviour;
2:58 [Not translated because of avoiding spam]
3:41 Prepare your lessons online and replay them;
4:24 [Not translated]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDe7cRY7UXI

The most modern driving simulator. It will also let you experience the forces on your body while driving.

I've been driving since 16. I hit a deer once but never had an "accident" yet, nor tickets. I'm mostly leery of driving in urban areas because there's too much going on around me. I'm afraid I'm going to hit a pedestrian one of these days. I have a certain level of anxiety about traveling in a car in general because my brother died in a car accident. If I don't have to go somewhere I won't.