Hi, I'm the Mom of an 18 year old son with SPD. I have found very little information about adults with SPD, so I am happy to possibly find some support here. My son has significant limitations, but currently we are concerned about teaching him to drive. We have been trying, but it has been very difficult for him. Moving his eyes around, which is necessary while driving, as well as turning his head and shoulders makes him feel disoriented. He wants to look only forward. He is VERY dependent on input from his eyes and any gross motor movements make him very uncomfortable and even nauseous. any ideas? thanks, Megan

My son is only 12, but his OT and I have already discussed that he may never be able to drive because of his difficult integrating all of the skills needed to safely drive.

Perhaps it may not be possible for your son to master handling a car. Sad to think about, but better than killing himself and possibly others by taking on a task his brain is unable to perform.

Marci, thanks for your reply and for your honesty. I appreciate it. I never thought driving would be this much of a problem, but it kinda makes sense.

(07-08-2012, 10:55 PM)Meg5 Wrote: Marci, thanks for your reply and for your honesty. I appreciate it. I never thought driving would be this much of a problem, but it kinda makes sense.

I think the saddest part of parenting a child with SPD is admitting the word "impossible" exists. The brutal reality is there are some things my child will never be able to do because his brain can not organize the necessary mental and physical tasks all at once.

Because of that, I constantly push him to use and gain the skills that he is capable of. Lately he's doing a lot of baking - an excellent activity for a kid who needs practice with executive planning skills: when you carefully follow the directions and do each task in the right order, you get a tasty result. We (OT and I) have had to admit my son will never learn to write cursive (2 years of trying) - so now I'm giving him creative writing projects to practice his typing skills.

1. Not everyone can drive.
2. Not everyone can drive at any given age.

I'm not planning on ever driving in my life. My boyfriend's just now learning to drive at 27. It wouldn't have been safe for him to learn as a teenager.

I can no longer drive. I never had an easy time driving, but my SPD and Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis combined to make driving very unsafe.

I would get stunned by a random stream of light, making quick corrective driving impossible.
I would get tired very fast and driving more than 15 minutes increased my risk for an accident greatly.

Meg5, before you guys totally give up on your son driving, is your son light sensitive and if so does he have anything to help him deal with that when he drives? There are many light sensitive challenges when driving.

Hi Meg5, I understand what your son is going through I'm 18 and when I tried to start driving it was hard for me with my SPD , I got my temps and just renewed them again , near me their is a company called Adaptive Experts who help people with learning disabilities learn to drive, you could look them up if you wanted . I will let you know if I have any luck learning to drive

Hi Meg5, my son is a little guy but has vestibular issues... when your son was little how did he handle swings? What has your son tried in terms of driving? I hope by the time my guy is learning to drive I remember the Adaptive Experts Co that PP mentioned.