Measuring the attitudes of novice drivers with autism spectrum disorder as an indication of apprehensive driving: Going beyond basic abilities.
Three months of VR driving practice lowers parent-rated driving fear in autistic teens and young adults.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked parents to rate how their autistic teen or young adult felt about driving.
Then the teens practiced on a VR driving simulator for three months.
At the end, parents rated the same attitudes again and the scores were compared with a group that got only regular lessons.
What they found
Parents said their kids felt less scared and more positive about driving after VR training.
The routine-lesson group did not show the same change.
How this fits with other research
Miller et al. (2020) saw the same pattern in preschoolers learning to fly. After three short VR airport walks, every child could board a real plane alone.
McGonigle et al. (2014) did the same for job interviews. Adults with autism practiced in VR and later looked better in live role-plays.
Simões et al. (2020) sounds like a downer: autistic adults still stood farther away from VR avatars. But that study only watched behavior; it did not train anything. Veerle’s work shows VR can teach when you add practice and feedback.
Why it matters
If a client is old enough to drive but worry is blocking progress, add VR simulator time to your plan. Ten-minute loops on a game wheel at home or in a clinic can cut parent-reported fear and open the door to real road lessons.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
For some individuals with autism spectrum disorder, driving apprehension may interfere with the acquisition and application of driving privileges. The Driving Attitude Scale Parent-Report provides an indication of novice drivers' positive and negative attitudes toward driving. Responses were compared for parents of 66 autism spectrum disorder and 166 neuro-typical novice drivers. After the autism spectrum disorder drivers completed 3 months of driver training, 60 parents repeated the Driving Attitude Scale Parent-Report. Parents reported autism spectrum disorder drivers to have less positive and more negative attitudes toward driving than parents of neuro-typical drivers. Parents of autism spectrum disorder drivers who received driving training in a safe/low-threat virtual reality driving simulator demonstrated a significant increase in positive attitudes and reduction in negative attitudes, compared to parents of autism spectrum disorder drivers undergoing routine driver training. The reports of parents of autism spectrum disorder drivers suggest potential problems with learning to drive that can go beyond general abilities and include driving apprehension.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2018 · doi:10.1177/1362361317735959