I've been trying to learn to drive on and off for about 8 years now. It is a constant source of frustration and I've never taken a driving test because I've usually quit whichever instructor I'm with because I don't feel I'm progressing.
I switched from manual to automatic about a year ago and found a new instructor who has been brilliant in March. I've just bought my own little automatic car and last night drove to a shop (boyfriend accompanied obviously!!), bought something and drove home! It felt amazing, even if I needed accompanying. :p
Does anybody have any tips? I have massive spatial awareness problems (I'll park the car halfway out of the space because I think I'm too far forward!) and struggle with joining traffic from a sliplane and moving across lanes. Sometimes I'll move across lanes at a roundabout without meaning to!!
Help, I need to pass within 6 months because my job comes with an essential car user requirement !! I'm sure I could get this waivered due to my dyspraxia/dyslexia but I need to learn to drive for my own sanity !!
Sorry didnt notice that . I took 2 years and 5 test's to pass , all i can provide is you (i know its corny ) relax , actually talking to your examiner helps becuase it shows you can do both and are in control as well . The reason i passed my test in the end is i drove 30 miles elsewhere to a differnet test centre entirly !!
I think also they have to make allowences wider mirror i think can be installed (wing mirrors)
I passed 4th time! I was always better at the manoeuvres than the driving. My instructor couldn't understand why I would know something one week and forgotten it by the next (this was before I was diagnosed). Persever and good luck
I failed my first test in Salisbury but passed in Portsmouth second time round. It took me 50+ lessons before I gave up the manual and took the auto and I never looked back. I also have problems with space and used to drive right on the line in the middle of the road because I was scared of hitting the cars parked on the side. I was terrible at manovers like PP and Reverse round a corner, I always ended up in the middle of the road.
I have been driving for 5 years and I still have issues with manovers so I try my best to avoid them if I can. My advice is get a good instructor, someone understanding who you feel calm with. My first instructor shouted alot and got angry with me, I hated him and the second instructor too, but my instructor in Portsmouth was totally laid back and relaxed, he even fell asleep on the way home from London when I did my 6 hour motorway drive for Pass Plus (and its a good thing I didn't notice because I was bricking it being on the motorway!) because he said he was so confident in my ability to do it. The only time I get flustered now is if I don't know where I am going so I always plan my journey and use the AA routefinder to get complete directions.
I was just wondering if you'd considered contacting the formum of mobility centre's (link provided at the end of this message). Your nearest centre can tell you whether it is suitable for you to drive in either a manual or automatic car and, if so, recommend some support and advice for your driving lessons. I've had an assessment myself and, to cut a long story short, although it was initially reccomended that I could learn to drive in an automatic, it was later advised for me to stop learning to drive as I'd be unsafe on the roads. Still, they were very helpful and I'd definitely recommend seeing them.
I was told I had dyspraxia at the age of 23. I gave up driving aged 19. I took lessons for over 4 years. I passed my test in a manual car after 10 attempts. I am not a brilliant driver, but a good driver. I am afraid of some new roads and changes.
From reading the thread so far it shows that some dyspraxic people can drive but with diffcultie. So if you want to drive then I would say consider it but I would advise taking a test to see weather you can drive and be safe as well - this way it saves you wasting your time in learning to drive when its just impossable.
I think that job wize you have to consider what you can and can't do when taking a job and understand your limertations otherwize it buts you in a bad situation.
I personaly don't want to drive - this is beceuse even though I may or may not pass (even in a automatic car). I know that I will forget the things I have learnt, not be safe, forget where i am going, get confused with the satnav, panic a lot and genralie be a danger to myself and to other drivers.
I took a long time to pass, but gladly not 8 years. I passed after 18 months of starting driving lessons. Like someone above/bellow said, I was always better at manouvers then the rest of driving. This is because you learn manouvers in a formulated and structured way, you do thingsone at a time and practice the same exact thing over and over, which is good for dyspraxic people wheras the rest of the test is more dynamic, you have to be more aware of other things and each road and junction is different. Pulling out of a junction is always going to be the hardest thing I feel, as dyspraxia lessens your spacial awareness so you cant tell if your car will fit into a space and lack the confidence to just go for it, or you go for it when there is not enough of a gap.
My first test was the biggest nightmare ever. It started amazingly nervouse and my feet kept tappping up and down. I did the parking manouver without a problem but the rest of the test was horrible. The examiner was really impatient and got annoyed if I didnt pull in exactly when he said to. so that made me even more nervous. Then I went into the wrong lane at trafic lights so had to go left before turning back right onto the road again. Finally I had to get my test abandoned because I drove down a street when a car was coming the other way and there was not space to fit through.
So I took a couple of months to practice more and get confident before the next test, then when I took it i was very ready, i was over ready and passed comfortably with only 4 minors/ So my biggest advice is definitely to try get an instructor that you like on a personal level and who is competent and a good teacher and also understands you are a slow learner. also only take your test once you have done a practice test with your instructor/teacher and passed easily and only go into the exam over prepared. People without a disability can learn for 6 months to a year, do a practice test and know that if they pass the practice then they will be just as good in the final test. but because dyspraxia not only affects coordination but also makes things a lot harder when under pressure or time constraints such as exams/practical tests we need to over prepare as we know we wont do quite as well in the real thing under examination. Its like in archery I can get a score of 550 in practice and then when the competition comes I get 450 because of the pressure and the new situation.
. I took 2 years and 5 test's to pass , all i can provide is you (i know its corny ) relax , actually talking to your examiner helps becuase it shows you can do both and are in control as well . The reason i passed my test in the end is i drove 30 miles elsewhere to a differnet test centre entirly !!](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
