Driving lessons torture

[Arsinoe]

Do you have access to a car to use early in the morning?

Five a.m. the roads are nearly empty. I have taught a few people to drive in empty grocery store parking lots, and on lonely country roads just after dawn.

You don't have to worry about hitting anything, and you can take your time, going as slow as you like.

Also back suburban roads are nice too. No stop lights, no cars parked on the side of the road.

Dirt roads are fun to learn to drive on. When I was a kid, I learned how to handle a vehicle by swerving around potholes and ruts, and going around corners on dirt and gravel roads. You can experiment with different speeds. Dirt roads are forgiving- if you left turn too wide or too narrow, the worst thing that will happen is you brush up against some bushes or bounce into a rut.

Sadly our family car will be in the repair store for a while and I don't have anyone whose car I can use for that. I would honestly do so if I could because it'd give me much more confidence even during the lessons :/

 

[Mary Terry]

I never understood the controversy around the 'Aspergers' term?? Like when did people start getting offended/annoyed with it and decided it should not be used anymore?

I think the name "Aspergers" was dropped because it set up an artificial distinction between aspies perceived as "high functioning" and those perceived as "low functioning". Basically, it created the impression that some people on the spectrum were smarter, more capable, more special than others. Autism is a "spectrum" so there was no logical reason to give the upper end of the spectrum a name not shared with people in the middle or lower end of the spectrum. It also gave people who are unfamiliar with autism the impression that Aspergers is an entirely different diagnosis than standard autism.

That's my understanding but others here will know the answer to this.

 

[NB79]

The ideal way would be to go for a spin in deserted streets with a relative or something, so you can be relaxed and drive at the same time and take your time, that how i learned with my mother and dad when i was a teen.

 

[Arsinoe]

The ideal way would be to go for a spin in deserted streets with a relative or something, so you can be relaxed and drive at the same time and take your time, that how i learned with my mother and dad when i was a teen.

Yea :/ Today was my 2nd lesson. I managed to find the right way to put my legs over the pedals and actually was able to press the pedals better but just as I was getting better at the accelerator (is this word right?) pedal and the clutch and switch between them he wanted me to learn how to do the 'stop' procedure with the brake. We did go to a secluded area with very little traffic but I still have issues with the motor coordination and multi-tasking thing and from what I realized today, I'd be way better if we went little by little each time. I just finally got the hang of the whole ''switching between accelerator and clutch'' thing so I wasn't ready to go into the brake-accelerator thing yet. I haven't even understood how to properly move the steering wheel yet. I either hold it too tight or I just can't figure out how much I should turn it left and right to put the car properly in the road. I did tell the instructor today that 1) I'm not in a hurry to learn it because I have all of this month to learn it and 2) that i'd take me long to learn it because it is difficult for me. I had decided to tell him because I didn't want him to expect 'fast results' from me or to think that I'd have the coordination for it from the first lessons. Ofc he doesn't know I have serious issues (nobody does) so he naturally believes that my only problem is that I'm too insecure/hesitant with the car. I will ask my brother in law to use the car (off mode only) to rehearse the whole pedal switching thing with driving scenarios, just to get a little used to how my legs press them and also to get my hands more used to the wheel. This is how I'd start off driving lessons ideally but nobody here pays so much attention to taking these instructions slowly. Everyone takes you to the road from the first day, which might work for most people but not for someone with coordination and motor issues on TOP of anxiety. I've just made up my mind that until the driving lessons are over, I'll be in a constant semi-sick state and just be patient until they're over. From then and on I will take our car to deserted areas as much as possible until I'm sure that I know how to control the car, BEFORE I attempt to take it to my work.

 

[Mary Terry]

@Arsinoe - You're getting the hang of it. It just takes practice. Confidence in your abilities will follow.

 

[Arsinoe]

@Arsinoe - You're getting the hang of it. It just takes practice. Confidence in your abilities will follow.

I hope so :/Yesterday I woke up with intense upper stomach pains, this whole thing has triggered severe anxiety symptoms on me :/