Understanding the driving and licensing experiences of youth with autism

Throughout the motorised world, young drivers remain overrepresented in road crashes, and in fatalities and injuries arising from road crashes. Young drivers are youth who are progressing through the developmental milestone of adolescence, thus youth are experiencing developmental changes in cognitive, physiological and social domains. These developmental changes, combined with driving inexperience, increase the risks associated with driving. Such risks can be further increased in young drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as these individuals may have difficulties in problem solving, organisational skills, conceptual development, inferences and judgement, and attention and impulse control. Clearly these skills are fundamental for safe driving behaviour. The aim of this study was to understand the driving and licensing experiences of youth with ASD, and the barriers associated with licensure, using Bronfenbrenner’s Social-Ecological Theory (SET), with the sub-theme SET-Individual, as the foundation. A qualitative study analysis of comments written by 117 participants from three groups (101 Individuals with ASD, seven Relations, and nine individuals whose status was Unknown) in five online discussion forums, revealed perceived differences and similarities, between each group, regarding barriers experienced by individuals and/or drivers with ASD. To illustrate, while all three groups recognised the difficulties in licensure for Individuals with ASD, Individuals with ASD appeared to focus on the logistics of licensure, and crashes; Relations focused on their relationship and the ASD characteristics of the Individual; and Unknowns focused on reasons for licensure. The findings reflected the influence of internal structures, interpersonal relations, interrelations between settings, external environments, cultural frameworks, and social-historical changes on driving experiences regarding Individuals’ with ASD, relevant to Bronfenbrenner’s SET