Learning how to drive can be a stressful venture and a collaboration between the UCF Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) and The Neuro Hub is making things easier for teens to feel comfortable behind the wheel.
This year marks the second year CARD has offered a driving school specially designed to support young adults with autism. Instruction is provided through a driving rehabilitation specialist, a professional who is an occupational therapist and a driving instructor. Six students completed this year’s 8-week program, which covers the required skills and proficiencies to pass the driving examination. The course contains both classroom instruction and time on the road, with students learning in vehicles outfitted with adaptive equipment. Parents or caregivers participate in each session, serving as observers and learning the techniques used by the instructor to carryforward into practice sessions outside the course.
Families pay a portion of the course cost, and the program is supported through donations and a funding from the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism/Armani Williams Partnership and the Florida Autism License Plate Fund.
