Driving dyspraxic -old blog

This will be the first post on this blog focusing on dyspraxia, so I guess I had better start with what dyspraxia is. 

Dyspraxia or developmental co-ordination disorder (sometimes known by other names like clumsy child syndrome) has the central feature of making motor planning and co-ordination difficult, causing clumsiness.  People with dyspraxia often have other difficulties such as sensory processing problems, social difficulties which can be similar to the autism spectrum, dyslexia like difficulties with reading, difficulties with concentration, and memory difficulties that can make organisation difficult.  Dyspraxia overlaps with many other SPLD and conditions, and often co-exists with them.  Dyspraxia does not in any way make a person stupid, dyspraxic people have average or above intelligence.    This is only my attempt at getting information across in a single paragraph, and is by no means extensive.  If you want further information, the dyspraxia foundation has good information online, even if it has annoyed many adult members by severely cutting adult support.

An area which often poses a lot of difficulties for dyspraxic is driving.  I managed to pass my driving test, both theory and practical before my 18^th birthday.  I am not trying to be pretentious, or ‘know it all’ I am just hoping to help others in a similar situation that I was in, and am still in, as a dyspraxic learner driver or newly qualified driver. 

First of all, you can do it

Being dyspraxic adds another challenge to learning to drive, but it can be done.  I had to learn to drive, as when living with my parents, I lived on the very edge of a small village, with very few facilities in walking distance for a normal person (neuro-typical, or NT), let alone someone who finds walking difficult.  If you do not have to learn to drive now, it may be worth taking a lot more time over it, but many jobs require a drivers licence, so if you can get one, it is generally worth it. 

Start early

Start learning the physical skills of driving as early as possible.  I started driving off road and ‘banger’ racing at about 13 or 14 years old, so I could start learning the physical skills of moving a car from A to B a long time before I would have to think about driving on the road. 

If you do not have somewhere off road you can start to learn, sit in a car on a driveway, with an experienced driver next to you, and with the engine off, repeatedly go through the physical actions needed for driving.  If these skills are in your muscle memory before you hit the road, it is one less thing to think about. 

Choose your driving instructor carefully

When choosing you driving instructor, look for those which state they are experienced in teaching people with dyslexia and/or dyspraxia, but these are not always easy to find.  If you cannot find one who states they are experienced with dyslexia/dyspraxia, there are some out there who specialise in teaching those with hearing difficulties, or other physical difficulties, these are often good as well as even if an instructor does not understand your specific difference, those who already work with people who are different are more likely to be willing and able to listen and take your difference into account. 

Always book a single lesson with an instructor, try them for 1 or 2 lessons, and if you like them, then block book so you can get any discounts.  If you don’t get on with your first instructor, don’t be afraid to change. 

Know yourself

Know how you adapt to being different to NTs and don’t be afraid to let your instructor know.  Personally, I liked chewing gum while driving and listening to music, as they both reduce stress but provide little distraction for me.  My instructor kept telling me to make eye contact with other drivers, which I can do, but found took too much concentration away from the road, I asked him to stop telling me to do this, and found it a lot easier.  I know a lot of people (including myself) find it hard to maintain the 10 and 2 positions on the wheel, and sometimes a handlebar grip is easier. 

Left and right

Don’t be afraid to write left and right in your hands, or ask for instructions to be given driver’s side and passenger side instead.  You will not look an idiot; it’s a lot more common than you think, even with NTs.  If you do get it wrong, do not panic, you will not fail for getting directions wrong.  Get yourself used to the new ‘independent driving’ section of the test.  Once you are used to the skills involved, it can be easier than following directions for some. 

Length of time

Ask for short lessons, more often.  Sometimes it is difficult to keep concentration for long, and a 2 hour lesson may be too much.  It can also be difficult to sit upright for 2 hours as well.  There are a few instructors that will allow you to do half hour lessons to start with, but you will have to build up to longer lessons soon.   Ask.

Theory test

The theory test can be a challenge, mainly the hazard perception.  The only way to overcome this is practice, practice, practice.  Get as many different practice video clips as you can, and go over them again and again.  With practice the theory test should not present too many problems. 

If you are use to a mouse pad or trackball, get used to a traditional mouse before your test, it is not helpful to change the type of mouse for the first time during your test. 

Clothing and footwear

Wear clothes that are comfy, and not distracting.  It does not matter what they look like.  As for footwear, wear closed shoes or boots, and if you wear wide boots, remember that you might accidentally hit more than 1 pedal.  Try to use footwear with little to no heel, and defiantly not stilettos. 

Personally, I drive in combat boots, as I like the ankle support, and I wear the boots most of the time so I am used to them. 

Once you have passed the test

Choosing a car

Choose your car carefully.  Sit in it, test drive it.  Look for a car with armrests if they help, get a car with good lumbar support, a light clutch, and if you find it easier, power steering.  It may cost more, but if you can afford it, it is worth it.  More than worth it. 

It’s also worth getting a back support, mine is a cheaper version of this (Vhttp://www.robertdyas.co.uk/P~151102~JML+Sit+Right) and a small pillow like this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Neck-pillow-car-lorry-drivers-seat-head-back-support_W0QQitemZ280636251721QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=215604988432&rvr_id=215604988432&cguid=8afcb9ca12e0a0aa17418441ffd81ca3)  I picked one of these up in a motorway service station as I stupidly decided I would drive from Somerset to Norfolk 6 times in 3 weeks and on the first journey, I was struggling to stay upright.  It helps more than people might think. 

Choose a car with a bonnet/hood that is long enough to see.  I prefer hatchback style cars so I can get a good idea of where the boot/trunk ends too. 

Do not be afraid of P plates

This is a mistake I made, when I made a small mistake, I felt like I was being criticised really harshly, and people would think I was just a $h1t driver instead of a new driver. 

Get a sat nav

I sat nav saves so much stress, of getting lost, and allows you to focus on driving instead of where you are going. 

People are not thinking what you think they are thinking

People do not think as badly of you as a driver as most young drivers think.  Everybody makes mistakes, and most people recognise this.  Even if you make a few more mistakes than average the driver behind you has only seen one, and will assume you are no different to most other people. 

Ignore those few people who seem incapable of going below 90MPH on the motorway, they don’t love anybody except themselves, and a lot of them glare at everybody they overtake. 

Motorway

Do not be afraid of the motorway.  It is a lot easier than driving in a town or city, even if it is faster.

The first time you go on a motorway, try later in the evening, or earlier in the morning, when it is less busy, and do not be afraid to just sit behind the Lorries and do 60MPH letting everybody else overtake. 

If you like, the first time, take a friend or relative with you.  It can help to have an experienced driver in the car, but only do this the first time; do not come to rely on them. 

Pass plus

I haven’t done pass plus, so I can’t comment, but it does give motorway experience with an instructor in the car, and can help insurance costs. 

This information may be useful to learner drivers with other difficulties too, even NTs, even though I have written it for dyspraxics, and I hope I have given you something you can use. 

i will also inculde comments here, as there are some valid points in them

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some really great tips there! I'm a dyspraxic driver too, and these are the things that helped me pass: I don't know if this would work for everyone (and it does involve saving up for ages) but I did a lot of lessons over about 6 weeks in the summer holidays...at times I was doing 4 hours a day (in 2 x 2hr sessions - I would definitely not advise a 4 hr lesson - tbh I often got tired/driving deteriorated after 90 mins) and then some practice with my mum. Doing it all close together really helped me to get stuff into my head. Directions: Also found it very important to get instructions early so I could plan my movements - really struggled with last minute instructions. Make sure you let your instructor know if this is the case for you. Sometimes forgot directions really soon BUT noone minds if you ask again. Especially in my test I asked the examiner to repeat directions a lot to compensate for my goldfish memory, but they can't mark you down for it so don't be scared to do it! Clutch control: I found/find clutch control difficult as I am not very good at making small movements so initially I kept stalling as I would lift my foot too much and then later I found moving in traffic jams just on clutch control really difficult but my instructor really helped me by spending about an hour getting me to hold the car and move it and hold it again on hills using just the clutch. Top tip: New shoes oddly enough also really helped me (found this out totally by accident). Trainers I had were quite soft behind my heel cos I always slipped them on and off to avoid retying shoelaces all the time. When I got new trainers gave my heels better support when driving and massively improved my clutch control. So definitely don't go for loose fitting shoes - it'll make it much harder. Instructor: I just used an instructor recommended by a friend and luckily she was really nice generally and didn't get annoyed at all when I was being useless. She had been an instructor for about 15 years so she'd seen it all before and made me really at ease, but I definitely echo the change your instructor if you don't feel comfortable advice. Radio: Personally, I couldn't have a radio on whilst driving until I'd been driving a few months because I'm really distracted by sounds so I guess just try it and see what works for you. There are loads of comments from other dyspaxics on the dyspraxic adults forum http://www.dyspraxicadults.org.uk/forums/index.php If you go to the travel section there is loads on learning to drive in there.

6 March 2011 13:07

JustSomeKid said...

thank you for commenting. its brilliant to have more popints of view. the intensive course is good for some, its one of those things that is either brilliant, or a massive waste of time and money. the directions on the test weren't too bad, but i did have to have them repeated too. i got an examiner called dawn, and she was so nice to me about it. i hate clucth control too, the new shoes idea is a really ggood one though. thanks sounds like you got a good instructor, well done. frendly recommendations are often a good way to choose. the dyspraxic adults forum, yh, i know, i do use it, and i absolutley love it, the people there are brilliant, the reason i wrote this post is so that i can link the informaion to quite a few different forums and facebook groups. thank you anonymous.