Does anyone else with SPD have challenges when driving?

I find that my light sensitivity has always made driving a challenge as well as tiring.

Items like light going through trees as I drive down the freeway (typically a problem for non-medicated Epileptics) tire me out. If I drive too long (more than 15 minutes) I risk falling asleep at the wheel.

I used to only let myself drive short trips 15 minutes at a time. Now I no longer drive, because I lose muscle rigidity in my back (from a Periodic Paralysis attack) and am unable to right myself quickly enough.

Additionally in cars as a passenger, turning corners can cause me to lose back rigidity and I get flung all over the place. I loose my sense of position (a sensory problem) and that compounds the problem.

I have pretty serious problems with driving and riding in cars. My first issue is the vibration of the car; it nauseates me and makes my eyes tired from trying to follow the objects outside the car. Then there's the noise; the noise kills my head and makes me even more nauseated. Then the motion of the car; car sickness is pretty much inevitable, especially when (excuse me, gentlemen) I am having female issues. Then the brightness of the light. If it's daytime, the sun. Nighttime, the headlights. If it's anything in between, it's the eyestrain. Then there's the temperature. I'm feeling one temp from the air vents, another from the sun on my skin, another from the seat behind me. And don't even get me started on being a passenger. I basically have to knock myself out with Benedryl to take trips where my husband drives, and if I drive, I might not get sick, but I will be exhausted.

No wonder I have "panic attacks" when I have to merge into traffic on the highway. With all this other input, it feels impossible to concentrate enough to not get hit by another car!

I actually found driving easier if I was speeding on the freeway. I think my body craves that level of sensory input. I had a much hard time with city street driving or traffic. Stop & Go in particular is brutal on me.

Because of my problems with movement, my husband is surpised that I LOVE rollercoasters. But for me, rollercoasters go those faster speeds with constant input all over my body and gives me what my body craves.

mawkinberd, what you described about the various temperatures in the car is also a major problem for me. I have found that turning the air vents away from me helps a great deal.

Oh, I only wish! I get so overwhelmed by the input, I drive in constant fear of the other cars and drivers. And rollercoasters... well, besides feeling horribly self-conscious because I can't fit in most roller coasters (and have been kicked off some for being too big), my vestibular goes whacko with the hills and turns and flips. I do better with massage for my input needs. Poor hubby. lol (Mine, not yours, I mean. )

My husband and I constantly fight over the vents. If I have them on, I have them on lower because it doesn't blow in my face. He can't feel it if it isn't in his face. Road trips are not for the faint of heart.

On the vents, we just point them all at my husband.

I don't fear other drivers when I drive, I fear myself and how much longer I have before I start to have problems and be an unsafe driver myself. No longer driving has had the negative impact on my life that I have always feared.

I can understand that. When I was a stay at home mom, I got unused to driving and was terrified of my driving. I'm better now that I drive daily, but... for a while there, it was hairy.