can driving be a challenge for aspies. Because i am 22 and never got my license because driving was a challeng to me and my family doesnt have the patience for me to learn. Its really frustrating because i want to get my license. But its so damn hard.
I found practice is the best thing. I'm still learning, and I'm a cocky little gobs...
but the best advice is to just keep at it. Once you get the hang of clutch control you're fine. And ignore other drivers (well, reasonably ignore them...) if they sit up your arse - they're just inconsiderate, they were learners once too, and if they're in that much of a hurry to get anywhere, they can overtake you soon enough.
I found the thing that greatly improved my driving was thinking, every time I stalled or got stressed or upset, "I control this car. The car does not control me. I am in control of this car." I still stall from time to time, but I don't get flustered anymore because it happens, and if I panic, I don't think straight, and I don't have effective control of the vehicle.
Reversing can be really confusing, I tend to think of it as just looking in a mirror image of what I want the car to do.
Driving isn't for everyone though, and it just might not be for you right now. Not to say it won't with practice, patience and confidence
Congrats on passing on the first attempt Tig. I know I failed at the first one.. actually I got stressed because I was on a three lane road and was expected to get quickly from the left lane into the right lane and panicked and ending up going across in front of a car, which had to brake. There was no way the car was going to hit me, but they say having to brake is bad, so I failed immediately.
The second time I found a testing centre that wasn't on a main road and had a nice instructor and passed.
I'm positively disgusted at the idea of learning to drive, considering how incompetent I've proven myself at what should be very simple tasks in the past, so I'll be grateful for all tips and advice.
I was just thinking about the tips ocampo was giving... the most useful thing I do for driving is to expect the worst of everyone around me. Just think of them all as idiots. Even more helpful for learning. It means if someone has their indicator on to turn around a street that you are coming out of, make sure they are slowing down before pulling out. Same deal on a roundabout... keep a safe distance from the car in front always and expect them to stop suddenly... think of a car beside you coming into your lane... because they do.
And... most importantly.. if you are unsure, just wait. Say you are coming out of a street and you are unsure if you have enough room to get out before the other car comes.. just wait... And ignore any cars if they beep or carry on behind you... just write them off as idiots. Your safety is far more important than worrying about the time it takes you to do things.
I'm positively disgusted at the idea of learning to drive, considering how incompetent I've proven myself at what should be very simple tasks in the past, so I'll be grateful for all tips and advice.
Always remember that you control the car, not the other way around. The second you try and drive you'll get exactly what I mean.
Always find the biting point, and get to recognise that. Thats basically when the car wants to move, and the only thing stopping it is the handbrake. You'll know when you're at the biting point, you'll feel the car come 'alive' under your feet, and want to go.
What I found easiest the first time was to sit in the car, and practice clutch control. Once you can do that, you can do anything - basically, if you can't master the clutch, nothing else will follow systematically. So spend a lot of time before you even take off playing with the clutch, getting a feel for it. Each car tends to respond differently, so stick to the same car (ie don't get lots of lessons in different cars) til you're comfortable. When I first drove mine, I stalled badly at a roundabout on an incline; people were tooting their horns behind me; I couldn't regain control of the car because I was panicking; I just wanted the ground to swallow me up and I never ever returned to that roundabout until I mastered the clutch of my car, and thus got the feel for her.
Now I go through that roundabout nearly every time I go foodshopping. It is manageable with a little self belief
Some people would even go far as to call me an "aggressive driver", which I object to - I don't intentionally piss people off by weaving in and out of lanes, honking, tailgating, etc. I do, however, consider myself to be a "dominant driver", meaning that I actually know what I'm doing on the road and I don't take shit from people (I don't let people cut me off or violate my right-of-way and stuff like that). I've never lost my temper while driving, and that seems to make the angry people even angrier (which is funny).
My partner's friend was in the car with me at the weekend, and we went to get food because my partner had been drinking the night before and didn't want to take the risk. All the way back she was going on about how patient I was as a driver and how confident I seemed, how laidback.
Was coming out of the car park after uni this morning and some idiot decided to nearly reverse into my car - I had right of way, it was his idiocy, he obviously expected me to stop, I could see him watching my side of the road. Had to emergency stop to avoid crashing. That was it, palm straight to the horn and the air turned blue.
I have all the patience in the world for certain things but not really inconsiderate drivers who think they own the road (like this guy I'm talking about, not you). Aggressive drivers really get on my goat too; no need for it, just overtake, there could be a million and one valid reasons why someone isn't going at the speed they want.
I didn't get my license until last March, just after I turned 24, and I had been making attempts since I was 18....my parents and friends always got frustrated with me when I didn't quite get what I was supposed to do. I finally found a very patient friend to teach me, and I managed to get through it.
I'm always overly anxious when I come to an unfamiliar traffic pattern, and I could get lost driving around in a shoebox. But other than that I think I'm one of the safer drivers on the road....probably because I don't take it for granted after years of not having that luxury!
I took more than the usual time learning to drive once I had my permit, and I think that was the best thing I could have done - I was a lot more confident when I went to take my road test. The best place to start learning, I found, is a large, empty parking lot...like an industrial park on a weekend.
Once you get used to it, the only troubling thing are all the discourteous idiots you have to share the road with.
thats the problem, i cant practice because i was medically denied to get my license and my family wont practice with me and i cant afford a car. I had an evaluation done on me by Vocational Rehabilitation Services and they said its possible with lots of practice. But how can i when i dont have the support to drive at all. Its ridiculous if you ask me.
I used to have a problem when I started but I progressed a lot by practicing alone without my abusive parents or anyone else that bothers me.
The best way is to be confident, secure & remember that rights DO apply to you.
I think I will start walking to church and stuff. I told my psychotherapist my car is primarily an excuse to get lazy and fat.
The book Divorce Your Car! by Katie Alvord suggests you take a map and a compass and draw a circle of two miles radius around your residence.
Inside that circle for me is:
1. My job
2. Across the street from the office, a shopping center with a Giant, a Gold's Gym, my bank, the vet, Blockbuster
3. Mt. Vernon Baptist Church
4. Reagan National Airport
5. Potomac Yard strip mall (a stretch, but Subway, Shopper's Food Warehouse, Target, Best Buy, Staples, Regal Cinema, some restaurants)
6. A little shopping center with HR Block, CVS, Subway, an organic market that will recycle your alkaline batteries and compact florescent bulbs
7. Voting place/community center (another stretch) and library
8. laundromat, dollar store, barber, high-priced grocery store, pizza place, Chinese restaurant between apartment and office
Not quite
* the nearest subway station
I don't really like exercise but I do believe like Pres. Clinton in alternative energy and in using the cellulite you already have as transportation fuel.
So GuessWho, have you been doing the walking? Don't know what the weather's like where you are just now, but you seem to have got it all on your doorstep for some summertime strolling.
BTW. there's an area of Glasgow callled Mount Vernon. I wonder if there's a connection.