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Wheels of Freedom: Teaching Teens with Special Needs to Drive
Every day, legions of adolescents are gaining power—the power to maneuver tons of steel with their bare hands ... the power to traverse miles of highway in minutes ... the power to drive. Mastering the level of coordination and confidence necessary for driving is difficult for any aspiring young motorist, and it can be especially challenging for young people with mild mental retardation. With that in mind, Robin Gaines Lanzi, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Wanda Newell Washington, Ph.D., of UAB’s Civitan International Research Center, have designed a program to help young people with special needs earn that important piece of plastic called the driver’s license. “I’ve worked with people with special needs for several years, and many of them do have driver’s licenses,” explains Newell-Washington. “I’ve seen a lot of confidence develop in people with special needs who have the ability to drive. This project is an excellent way to integrate people with mild mental retardation into mainstream society. “At the Civitan Center, we focus on helping people with disabilities lead productive, independent lives. Mobility is an essential component of that goal.” Paving the RoadFunded by the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, “Project Drive: A Support Program to Help Adolescents with Special Education Needs Obtain Their Driver’s Licenses,” will focus on 15- to 21-year-olds who would greatly benefit by having drivers’ licenses. “The first part of the project will focus on helping participants obtain their learner’s permits,” explains Lanzi. “We plan to prepare a modified version of the standard driver’s manual, as well as supplemental materials. We’ll also develop a video featuring licensed drivers across the state who have disabilities and who can explain to our audiences the obstacles to obtaining a license and the benefits of having one.” But obtaining the learner’s permit is just the beginning for program participants. “After students in our program earn their learner’s permits, we’ll work with the school systems to see the students through driver’s education,” says Newell-Washington. “Each of our trainers will guide four to six trainees through the entire process of obtaining their licenses. Trainers will help students find the location of the test, give them helpful information and advice as they go through the program, and coach them on what they’ll need to remember when they take the test.” In conjunction with this project, Lanzi and Newell-Washington are conducting a survey of people with disabilities who have gone through the process of getting driver’s licenses. “The survey, which is being sent out through the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program, asks individuals what was difficult and what was easy about obtaining a license. The information we obtain will help us tailor our program to our students’ needs from the start,” says Lanzi. An Important Life Skill“We need to learn more about special-needs drivers,” says Newell-Washington, “because there’s not much information available on driving skills in this group. Sometimes special-needs drivers have difficulty getting good auto insurance, because companies aren’t sure they’re going to be good drivers. We’re going to follow our study participants for one year after they obtain their licenses, keeping track of how many tickets they receive, if any, and how many times they get lost, if ever, so that we’ll have a baseline understanding of their driving experiences.” “By following up, we hope to show that adolescents in this group get their licenses and become good drivers,” says Lanzi. “We hope to show that having drivers’ licenses increases their self esteem, enhances their social networks, improves their ability to get jobs, and boosts their independence. Driving is an important life skill, and we want to help as many capable adolescents as possible master that skill.”
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