Autisic + Insomnia + Severe Migraines = Not Allowed to Drive???

kellaway225 · 23 Apr 2010 at 20:17

So as some of you may know i have Autism, if you dont you do now

))
Anyway as part of my Jobseekers course thing i have been put into IT Engineer A+ course, however it seems to i have to have a driving license, now comes the trouble as i have Autism, Insomnia and suffer from severe migraines will this stop me from being allowed to learn to drive?

My Autism isnt the worst in the world, but i lose concentration easily, get angered easily, get lost VERY easy and get very paranoid now would that alone mean that i would not be allowed to learn to drive? My girlfriend has a similar level of autism and she was not allowed to learn to drive, given that i have insomnia not quite sure how that would effect anything other then on VERY rare occasions i can suddenly become very tired and having severe migraines means that i get really painful spike like pains in my eyes as well

So anyone - whats the chances that i will get rejected from being allowed to learn to drive?
are there any specific test/applications that i will have to complete due to above problems?

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 09:44

@ Nix -thats coz i am okay when its online, its a bunch of people that i have never met and most likely will never meet. If you knew me personally in my day to day life then you would think differently

@ Hikari Kisugi - I have suffered with Migraines my whole life, been on things for them before but nothing works its more about the sudden attacks that i can sometimes get, they come out of the blue and can last for hours

@ AMG and jahujames - Yeah thats true, but dont you have to have a provisional license to be able to do driving lessons? which would mean that i would still need them to say that i am allowed to learn to drive before i can actually do any lessons or anything

@ jamief, Fenris, Justintime, EdwardTeach, Robboftw - Dont worry i wont come after if i do manage to learn to drive, and i do understand why you are saying it and too be honest the more i think about it the more i can see the reasons as to why they would say No but i will just have to wait and see, i am not going to go all crazy if they say no, i will be able to understand why

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 15:41

Yeah i know that the doctors and everything will have final say but i was just wondering what you guys would think about it.

@ Hikari Kisugi - i get the sudden attacks during the day and i dont think its got to do with my teeth

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 16:23

i get several different types, some come on without any warning or anything others i can get severe pains around my head in several different locations, they feel like stabbing kind of pains and they last upto 20mins and then i just have the mingraine, with severe pains in the backs of my eyes, ear aches and the like.

I have suffered with insomnia my whole life i have been given Zoficone or something, the same thing my girlfriends step dad takes but he has double dosage and i took one of them and they didnt work either. so i might have to go on something stronger. theres not really any sort of connection between them - i have always slept badly and it hasnt ever gone away and come back or anything, just always had it

the thing about my Autism is that i cant use buses, unless i dont have anyone sat infront, beside or behind me as i get too paranoid and have to move, i get lost going to new places, dont like speaking to new people, dont like being in a crowded places or anything i think the key will be that i have no sense of safety - as in i dont think or anything when i cross roads and have been nearly run over on many times so thats kinda a worry - of course i am not going to lie or anything, i dont want to learn to drive if i think that i wont be able to handle it -the truth is i just dont know if i would

thanks for the info, i will consult my doctor about possible jaw thing coursing migraines, i am not too sure as my jaw has been fine my whole life til now, so i dont think it would be that otherwise it would surely have been hurting my whole life as my migraines have been for my whole life, plus my mum and sister suffers from them so could it be just one of them family things?

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 16:42

Thanks a lot! i will be recording that to make sure that i dont miss it

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 17:40

@ jwest - i believe its down to each individual if they are allowed, so i am not sure

@ HangTime - i think its a VERY important requirement for the course as in i dont have the license i am not allowed to do the course as the person i spoke to was chinese i am have misunderstood what she said so i will be speaking to the people at this place on monday to see for sure

to be honest, i like riding my bike (unless its raining) so if i cant do the course i will just have to find something else do to - its not that i think i MUST learn to drive, if i dont then its not the end of the world

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 19:46

yeah thats what i was thinking, i know my attention when crossing the road is poor, i constantly never look when crossing the road dont use signals when im on my bike, ride out in front of people and everything its like my brain just ignores that part and goes on to the next thing, i have tried and tried to change it but it never works, my Girlfriend has Autism but she doesnt have this aspect, where its just such a big thing that people with Autism can have its just not likely that say Person A with have the same aspects of Autism as Person B they might have similar but they wont have exactly the same, and one will be better then the other at some things while it will be the other way round for other things

kellaway225 · 24 Apr 2010 at 20:06

Well what ever happens i know one thing : i wont be lying, if i am not allowed to drive due to being a risk to myself or others thats fine - i wouldnt want to end up hurting someone if i did pass

kellaway225 · 29 Aug 2010 at 21:12

matthab said:
Im sorry but reading this I dont think you should drive. The 3rd paragraph also concerns me on how you will survive in an office enviroment.

Yeah i know what you mean, thats why i have been looking for a job in like small shop or something, its okay when its a few people but a busy office, shop or something and i get very paranoid

matthab said:
How will you cope in a busy office with people everywhere?

Again, thats why i am looking into small shops or something i have been looking at warehouse work as well something with as little customer talk as possible

matthab said:
If your boss asks you to go and see a customer or a customer comes to see you, how will you cope? If you have no sense of safety then what will you do in a warehouse with fork lifts or when using ladders?

As long as its somewhere i have been before i would be fine, anywhere i havent been before i would get lost a lot. Something that has me working away from there like packing or something, its been SUCH a pain trying to find a job!

matthab said:
Im not meaning to be cruel or horrible to you and im shore you are a bright lad capable of lots of things but i think before you even start driving you should look at the bigger picture. Is IT for you, as most of the work is long hours and can be stressful. There are lots of charities which can help and sometimes speaking to your GP so he can get you intouch with the right people is a great idea. Maybe give driving a go, but before you put other users in danger please think very hard whether its for you.

I dont know why but i love computers, taking them apart, putting them back together, finding faults, fixing them and such of course i dont think i could do anything in a busy office but if i could find a small computer shop then i think that would be fine. Knowing how dangerous i am on my bicycle i think there is little to no chance me learning to drive because to be blunt - i would end up killing myself or others, hell on my bike i have nearly been run over by buses, cars, trucks, vans.

Its hard to explain, i know that i should be looking around when i am riding and being safe, i just dont its like crossing the road i just do it i dont stop and think first - just like when i am talking to people (i upset people a lot)

well i finally got a response from DVLA looks 99.9% chance that i wont be allowed to drive but i wont find out for sure unless i pay to get the learning driving license thing which is like £75 but the good news would be if they deny it at least i would get my money back (well i would expect they would!)

kellaway225 · 29 Aug 2010 at 21:31

Yeah i have this book thing about how to improve my situation and such but it doesnt work when i am living away from everyone i know and with the fact that i would need a close job makes it even harder to find one

I dont mind getting the train, i prefer the train to a bus as i am so paranoid that i sit with my bike as i am too afraid that it will get stolen if i go and sit down (yes VERY paranoid) so that would help a little if i managed to get a job in which i could get to via bike and train as long as i have been there before otherwise i would have to start going there like 2-3weeks before i started the job to make sure i knew the way, i still get lost around here and i have been living here for over a year - i need repetition to be able to get comfortable going to places.

I dont like talking to my GP as hes my new one so i prefer not to see him, unless i am in like serious pain like with my jaw problems that STILL havent been fixed and neither the doctors or hospital people know whats doing it

kellaway225 · 30 Aug 2010 at 23:38

the difference is that i think i have realized that i just wont be safe on the roads, while all the grannies and boy racers that shouldnt be driving will be. There are special driving schools that have instructors that are fully aware and ONLY teach Autistic people so maybe that could be an option