- Learning to drive can be uniquely difficult for neurodivergent brains, especially because the process revolves around fast processing, multitasking, and high-pressure decision making.
- Not all neurodivergent folks struggling with learning to drive – or driving in general. Some even thrive in these areas.
- Kate Hyun, a researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington, has embarked on a mission to support neurodivergent teenagers and young adults learning to drive with new technology: driving simulators.
Learning to drive is a coming-of-age milestone for teenagers everywhere. Broken-hearted girls bond over Olivia Rodrigo’s “Driver’s License” anthem while decades of women were entertained by a newly-licensed Cher Horowitz famously ping-ponging her white Jeep Wrangler around Beverly Hills.
Getting licensed to drive is a moment that’s meant to mean independence and autonomy, but unfortunately comes with a unique set of problems for neurodivergent brains — often delaying this rite of passage. But as it turns out, new conversations and programs are beginning to acknowledge that gap.
After all, learning how to drive isn’t just learning how to drive — accelerating, stopping and staying in lanes. It’s an unpredictable process with critical stakes that could quickly become overwhelming, and even feel impossible. The process is designed around fast processing, multitasking and high-pressure decision making — things that don’t necessarily always come naturally to us.
But with awareness of neurodivergence rising, there’s also a rising pressure to rethink how driving is taught.
Learning how to drive isn’t just learning how to drive — accelerating, stopping and staying in lanes. It’s an unpredictable process with critical stakes that could quickly become overwhelming, and even feel impossible.
Because neurodiversity doesn’t make us inherently less trustworthy behind the wheel than neurotypicals, we’re just being told to quickly adapt to a system that hasn’t traditionally considered how we respond to the world around us. In fact, it can be a superpower. Take fellow ADHDer and decorated racing driver Lewis Hamilton, for instance. He’s spoken candidly about how his brain is uniquely suited for the track, where precision is critical. In daily life, however, he’s expressed that small imperfections in his surroundings can be all-consuming.
“When I walk into a room or my house, I really really like moving all the books in perfect position,” Hamilton said. “It really frustrates the life out of me when I see something off, like my lamp is tilted to the left.”
On the road, the distractions are endless. A tilted lamp pales in comparison to a broken streetlamp or confused pedestrian. The track, on the other hand, is predictable, uniform, and doesn’t allow a moment of distraction to pull focus.
With only a handful of specialized driver’s education programs rethinking the system, a researcher at The University of Texas at Arlington has embarked on a mission to support neurodivergent teenagers and young adults learning to drive with new technology.
“We did a little research, and we found there are like five, six programs nationwide targeted for them,” said Kate Hyun, the associate professor of civil engineering, in a press release. “But not necessarily very well customized to meet their needs because there are many different types of neurodivergence and there is a wide spectrum around it.”
Per protocol, a prospective driver in the U.S. must pass a written exam in order to drive under adult supervision. And only after completing a certain amount of hours with an instructor, the student is ready for the big behind-the-wheel test. And just like that — the road is their oyster.
Hyun’s team is using an advanced driving simulator to replicate the experience of navigating the road, before the stakes get real.
In this system, all of the mental tools are assumed, and despite there being no transition from the written test to hitting the road, it’s no secret that studying for a quiz is very different from operating a vehicle.
That’s why Hyun’s team is using an advanced driving simulator to replicate the experience of navigating the road, before the stakes get real. It includes a full driving unit with a lifelike visual display that replicates realistic traffic conditions; from routine highway circumstances to unpredictable urban streets complete with pedestrians, cyclists, roadwork, inoperative traffic lights and more.
“Our goal is not to train perfect drivers,” Hyun said. “It’s to help people become safer drivers by focusing on the situations that create the greatest risk.”
Hyun’s idea is that by analyzing how participants respond to these complex and realistic scenarios, researchers can measure reaction times, problem-solving and driving behaviors — in turn, creating more effective programs to teach neurodivergent people how to get behind the wheel with confidence.
“Eventually, everyone is going to be on the road,” Hyun said. “If we can better prepare young drivers for real-world situations, we can improve safety for entire communities.”
