ADHD Weekly -- When Teens Can Start Driving and When They Should Wait

[KarenADHDWeekly]

Getting behind the wheel is an important step for most teens, but when should a teen with ADHD get the car keys for the first time? We asked an expert on teens and ADHD in bit.ly/nrcteendrivers

[Onthemove1971]

Thanks for this article, our son will start driving soon. I agree, children who have ADHD might need more time behind for wheel to get comfortable. Also most of his friends all have cars and are driving while he has never been behind the wheel. I found this article very helpful.

[ADHD_DAD]

My 16 yo son has recently started driving (with an instructor) and it's going very well. As my son has often explains, with his ADHD, it is not that he is not paying attention, it's that he pays equal attention to everything (rain running down a window, a squirrel outside, the lesson being taught). Frankly, it seems to (so far) make him an alert and cautious driver. Fingers crossed!!

[JustMeandMyADHD]

I appreciated this article. As I read the information it “normalized” my own experiences as a driver.

And, I can validate the success of an option stated in this article as beneficial to improving driving success.

I wasn’t “afraid to drive,” I simply couldn’t drive without ending up in the ditch, speeding, hitting mailboxes, etc.

I was 18 days shy of my 20th birthday before I had driven enough to feel confident that I had a chance of passing a driving test.

No one would give me the opportunity to practice driving with them because “I scared them” when I was behind the wheel. Perhaps, with justifiable reason. I did dent my brother’s Bronco by swiping a mailbox; his first brand new vehicle. This particular brother was the only person with patience to help me learn how to drive and unfortunately, he was only around on the weekends. My parents gave up long before he took on the challenge.

Even the teacher of my Driver-Ed. Class from when I was 16 stated after the second session that “I was all set” and had completed my six hours with him. Translation: he too was afraid and took the easy way out by saying I was done.

I can’t imagine trying to learn to drive as a teenager now with all of the added technology distractions, such as the ones mentioned in the article.

Another technology hinderance not mentioned, and I mean really, how could this possibly have happened with laws trying to prohibit “distracted driving?” What have vehicle manufacturers done? They have put little TV screens on the dash so a driver can watch the gas mileage fluctuate. I have to cover mine with a cloth.

When I finally took a driving test, during the final segment, the parallel parking portion, with speed comparable to a worm’s pace on wet pavement after a thundering rain, I inched my way up next to the vehicle that I was supposed to park behind, clunked the car in reverse, and then, the test administrator looked at me and said, and I quote from memory like it happened yesterday, “We’ll just skip this, you’ll still be within the point limit to pass.” Then, he told me to drive back to the testing site.

From that day forward, I maintained a “running record” of points on my license for more than a quarter of a century. I even totaled a State Trooper’s car. This unfortunate accident didn’t break the headlights on the “tank” I was driving, a 1969 Dodge Dart Swinger with a slant six. It was older than me, but that big hunk of metal kept me safe. I never injured another person. When I went through a car windshield, I wasn’t the one driving!

Getting to my point, despite the above example of past driving experiences, by pure accident, the key of improvement snuck up and crashed into my driving world. Dr. Russel Barkley identified this key and I’m a living example testifying to his spot on accuracy. I’m now driver “pointless!” And, I have ADHD meds. to thank for the improvement! I now have a lower car insurance rate!

I no longer become focused on details such as the fascinating way the prior night’s snowfall has moved to artistically decorate the black power lines with vibrant white squiggles, or the way the early morning dew has become sparkling gems dangling from spider webs in the trees as the sunrises above the knoll.

I am a genuine example, with a driving record as proof, that ADHD meds. have been a huge quality of life changer. Driving is only one example.

Parents, I hope the above anecdote helps with decision making if meds. are a questionable option in your mind.