intensive driving lessons? week courses?

fsdss

i am looking for an intensive driving course for my brother who has ? a mild form? of autism - (there are many reasons to state this, which i wont go into yet but as he is 40, has never been diagnosed -despite many years of intervention with loads of professionals).

my brother can drive competently as he has driven before. however he struggles to accept that there is anything wrong and when i booked into theory test he was embarrassed to tell them that he needed special needs assistance despite him being competent (he knows his highway code inside out and can quote page no etc), failed to complete the test. he is also embarrassed to go 'round town' in a learner car. he will however go on an intensive residential course and wondered if anyone had any experience of these courses, prices and what they can offer.

my mum will pay for a car on completion of a driving course -and the family will club together to pay for the course for his birthday.

any help would be greatfully received.

Fizog

I think you should talk to an experienced driving instructor to discuss your brothers autism...If he cannot comprehend that as a learner you have to go in a learner car in town as a warning to the world that you are learning ....then interpretation of highway code in practical terms sounds a bit of a worry. Especially as autistic people tend to be quite set in their ways will he be able to cope with other people's bad road habits? You know him best so hope the info below will be of some help

The courses I have investigated and know that friends offspring have attended cost in the region of £600-900 plus b+b and food. That includes five days intensive driving up to 40 hours in a week. I seem to remember they all require that you have passed the highway code section first. You take the test at the end of the week. If you google intensive driving courses you will find ones local to you.

fsdss

Fizog wrote: »

I think you should talk to an experienced driving instructor to discuss your brothers autism...If he cannot comprehend that as a learner you have to go in a learner car in town as a warning to the world that you are learning ....then interpretation of highway code in practical terms sounds a bit of a worry. Especially as autistic people tend to be quite set in their ways will he be able to cope with other people's bad road habits? You know him best so hope the info below will be of some help

thanks for that i never thought of it in that way -he has always been independent but he is set in his ways and has been since a child. however he is displaying ?? mild / medium according to what the psychologists have said and he shouldn't be a risk to other road users.

Ellie2758

Good luck finding a driving instructor who knows about autism! My daughter has aspergers and I've lost count of the instructors she's got through.

JFuller105

The biggest worry with people on the autistic spectrum learning to drive is that they do not cope well with unplanned occurrences. He will probably be a perfect driver if given an off-road circuit, will memorise the correct procedure around it and probably drive it more consistently than the rest of us. On the road, when faced with the uncertainty of other drivers' actions and intentions, he will find it very difficult to cope, especially when he observes other drivers not following the rules that he has so easily memorised.

You need to make sure that the instructor is totally calm and patient, and above all that he can explain well in advance exactly what the driver is expected to do for the next few minutes. Again, great in theory, not so easy in practice when some other idiot doesnt signal correctly or stops suddenly.

Anyone would find it difficult to learn at 40. Consider learning in an automatic to avoid those moments of panic when he stalls or finds he is in the wrong gear.

Best of luck! :beer:

Ellie2758

Yes, my main worry with my daughter (aged 18 and having lessons for the past year+) is her failure to anticipate what other drivers MIGHT do. Only the other week she almost went into the side of a police car that was heading in the opposite direction to us and had it's sirens on. The driver made a VERY last minute decision to turn right, across the front of us.:eek: Fortunately we were in traffic so travelling slowly.

Glad

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

poe.tuesday

my partner did 2 intensive courses, they were ok but then when it came to the test, he crumbled

in the end I go so fed up I booked him his test in a busy town, on a saturday and he did it in my car, he past (after 6 attempts)

the intensive courses are good but the test at the end is the same as anywhere else, they are not done by the course staff, they are done by the test centre, so if your brother has difficulty with this part then you may have problems no matter what you do

anewman

Only problem with intensive courses is that tests tend to take anywhere up to a month or longer from booking to have one. Have you visited https://www.2passforum.co.uk ? there are lots of people there learning to drive and I am certain someone will be able to help with your specific question. (I know someone who specialises in tuition of learners with special needs/disabilities regularly posts there, I think his name is John).

Ability to quote the highway code page numbers is suggestive of a good rote memory which is common with people who have Asperger Syndrome.

I would agree with JFuller105 on the automatics but OP says that their brother has driven in the past and shown a good level of competence. I would consider giving gears a go but if they get troublesome it shouldn't be too difficult to change to automatic.