What does driving have to do with neurodevelopment?
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 4:59PM Oh, quite a bit. If you've ever tried to teach or guide a new driver, especially one who struggled with learning, you may have noticed some of the following challenges. Or perhaps you've experienced them yourself. These challenges may or may not be eased much if the relevant neurodevelopmental systems are not supported.
1. A difficulty telling right from left. Following directions can be really hard when you can't tell which one's which. I'll call this a challenge with laterality. This becomes way trickier when you're trying to drive in reverse, say, for parallel parking.
2. A difficulty maintaining a rather constant distance from the other cars on the freeway. This may fall under proprioceptive awareness. Here's where I'd also list the stepping on the correct foot pedal (gas/brakes). And sorting out whether or not the vehicle you're driving can fit in the space you're hoping to occupy with it.
3. A difficulty alternating between focusing on the road and peeking at the speedometer. We'll put this under eye teaming. A difficulty with eye teaming can make you feel rather insecure regarding where a particular object (say, someone's car) is actually placed. And the whole environment may seem flat rather than in 3D. Speaking of visual function - does the movement of the scenery to your sides make you dizzy? Are you overwhelmed by headlights you're facing, or by quick changes of lights and shadow? Do you have enough night vision to see your way?
4. A difficulty turning the head without following it with the hands. Let's call this one differentiation of movement. This is also relevant when you're startled: can you keep it all together, or do you respond with your whole body (not good. But yes, once in a while you'll be startled).
5. A difficulty coordinating what the right side of the body is doing with what the left side is doing (shifting gears would be one example; stepping on the pedal with the correct foot is another). This may fall under interhemispheric integration.
These are of course just a few of the possible problems. And they can all be eased, at any age, by supporting the underlying challenged systems.
If you're helping a new driver and getting the impression that he or she has no idea what the other drivers are up to, you can help by "thinking aloud" as you model driving. "That driver doesn't seem to be slowing down", "He's been signaling to the left for several minutes; he may have just forgotten to stop signaling", "I need to turn right in a couple of blocks, so I'll start working on moving to the right lane carefully."
Would you add your own experience as a comment?
Reader Comments (3)
Wonderful analogy! As I'm learning a new language and trying to get it in the "automatic pilot" mode but the neurons are not as fast as I would like. Bless you and your work and those who have different sense perceptions in their dedicated quest to "motor" in this world!
This is a fascinating post. Every driver should be taught and tested with these criteria, if you ask me. Especially anyone w/ neurological challenges.
This is a useful way to help anyone curious about HANDLE to recognize how each skill or ability is influenced by different neurological "Systems". Someone who recognises that he struggles with certain tasks will quickly find a motivation for practicing specific HANDLE activities that can strengthen or organize the area which might improve their driving! Thanks!