ADHD Driving And Driving Lessons

I have noticed an increase in ADHD, anxiety and related medicines. So I continued to search for words that may follow this trend.

So what exercises do I focus on when working with someone who has ADHD?

1. Break tasks into small steps: Focus on one skill at a time, like lane changes or parking, to avoid overwhelming the driver, yet monitor for boredom or loss of interest and move to a related but different task. Maybe slowly rotating through 3 related skills would help but again allow the driver to stay focused on one. I call it Hardening-Exercises, as long as they like.
2. Use clear, simple instructions: Keep directions short and specific, avoiding complex instructions that may distract or confuse. Diagrams, sketches, and key reference points they write onto the sketch, stop and talk about the key focal points, and review a checklist, all help. And this can be emailed after class to further support the understanding.
3. Minimize distractions: Reduce noise and visual distractions inside the car (e.g., turn off the radio, avoid conversation) to help maintain focus. Close the windows, increase or reduce the temperature, and explain the noises of fans, or rattles inside the car. Also for some opening the window helps, again listen and encourage the driver to speak openly about calm, confidence and internal issues.
4. Practice frequent, short sessions: ADHD drivers benefit from shorter, more frequent practice sessions rather than long, tiring ones. Agree at the start on the time blocks that work best, or adjust as needed. For example, drive for 15 minutes, stop and sketch. Often as a team, you need to hit the exhaustion timelines to learn what the limits are. Again speaking internal calm and confidence is critical for all learners.
5. Encourage active scanning: Help ADHD drivers develop habits of scanning the road regularly to stay alert to their surroundings. This is a standard expectation across the board for all drivers I work with, especially helpful to keep our brains active and engaged on the primary task. A great top-of-mind practice anyone and everyone should develop! I call it Machine-Gun-Vision.
6. Build awareness of hyper-focus: Drivers with ADHD may get overly focused on one thing (e.g., a specific car) and miss others. Encourage a balance between attention to detail and broader awareness. This is becoming more and more common problem across many different learning populations, like drivers who grew up in other countries So it is not just the ADHD group that struggles with this. I call it the THEM vs US balance. Again developing the habit of keeping on the primary focus when driving is so critical.
7. Positive reinforcement: Give praise for improvements to build confidence and reinforce good habits. Everyone benefits from this. Find the positive view in every movement and every conversation. A wide turn is of great value when an unstable pedestrian is standing right on the curb edge
8. Train for handling impulsivity: Provide strategies to help ADHD drivers control impulsive actions like sudden acceleration or lane changes. Again we train every driver a strategy that goes against the common belief that you must have fast reactions to drive. I generally don’t agree. What you need is a huge awareness and fast eyes to ensure you do not get close to others where that fast reaction is needed. Plus you need experience with the full range of all the car controls, steering, gas and brakes, not just a full slam brake lockup! Everyone can fully lock the brakes up. But can you control the deceleration and acceleration precisely and both the upper and lower limits of the car’s ability? Or would you prefer to wait to figure it out 1 second before the truck slams into you?

The truth is these practices help all kinds of learners if you carefully listen to how they are advancing. Of course, you need to establish open and clear communication before you can start to receive accurate information from the learner. This is yet another skill that needs time to develop. With learning to drive, it is a very important channel to establish.

https://shamiehlaw.com/adhd-and-driving

Also ICBC has a ton of resources that may help here.

A QUALITY “CALM DRIVING” VANCOUVER BRITISH COLUMBIA CANADA DRIVING SCHOOL