ADHD and driving!

[Jennifer Newhouse]

Help! This isn't for me it is for my 16 year old son who is a new driver. He's a great driver, very attentive to all the rules, regs, etc. alsmost a granny driver. However my one fear for him materialized the other evening as we were driving down the freeway. There wasn't alot of traffic to watch, a long road in front of him and he just started "thinking about something" and before you new it we were seriously on our way to the barrow ditch with a last minute recovery because I looked up and saw where we were headed!

This was never a problem I seemed to have driving, granted sometimes I look in my rearview mirror and see a semi I have passed with out recolection but I have never driven off the road! 

Any ideas on how to keep your attention pinned to the road? WE live out west in rural Washington an there are lots of long roads with wide open spaces ...

[chalini kumar]

may be you should play some annoying boring song in a medium vol in ur musicset by this you might find the driving more interesting an the song. The mild annoying from the song will keep your mind from think about something else and u wouldn't wander off too much.

Just kidding not sure if it would work but this is how i got this idea........

I remember the only time I was in hyper focus while driving. I had just learned to drive and I was driving for the first time with my WHOLE family(mom,dad,my two brothers and their wives). Every one of them was at my back one telling me to honk, while the other to check my back view mirror or change the gear or something. Even my mom who has never driven a car in her life had something to say. After some confused moments and lot of mistakes trying to listen to everyone, finally my hyper focus kicked in, ignoring all their comments, I just stuck to my own way of driving. that helped I drove better after that . After some more time I found myself calm and enjoyed the commotion that my driving was creating in the family.

ha ha love them !!!

[Josef Hoffman]

I occasionally have this problem. When there's a lot going on in traffic, I'm very attentive. It's the LACK of stimulation that creates a problem. The only reliable way I know of to overcome it is to be medicated while I'm driving on long trips. A nice strong energy drink can do in a pinch, but I generally try to make sure that I'm on good ol' amphetamines before I do those long drives in Eastern Oregon. 

[Jennifer Newhouse]

I will have to give the coffe a try, it helps on test days. He can't take traditional meds his neurologist nixed them as they made his co occurring tic disorder sooo much worse!

[Sarah Gardner]

My ADHD (inattentive type) 16yr old daughter has her driver permit.  She is afraid to drive especially on the paved road.  She has driven on our dirt road a couple of times and seems to have a "heavy" foot to me.  She was prescribed Strattera 80mg daily.  She stopped her medication by choice several months ago.  She strongly believes she does not need the medication and can function without it.  Is her fear of driving a typical reaction for a child with ADHD or should she her medication prescribed be re-evaluated?  Perhaps a different med might help.

[Jennifer Newhouse]

I know that My guy is somewhat less mature than his peers and can sometimes feel unsure about things if he can't be sure that he can master them. Lots of patience and encouragement paid off with us to help him feel more confident.

[MarLa]

I try playing music that I like to sing along to so I'm able to just sing away while driving and it helps me "keep out of space" while I'm driving. I find also chewing gum or having some fruit chews, hard candy or breath mints help as well with concentration. Anything caffeinated does help as well, depending on how much of the hyperactivity your son has. I have quite a lot of energy, so I don't touch energy drinks or coffee, but I might go for a hot chocolate or cola if I will be or have been driving a lot.

[Shelley]

Jennifer was he all up for his drivers license? My daughter hasn't even been diagnosed, but recognizes her own distraction and refuses to get her permit. :( sheesh I'm not sure what one wood do for long stretches.

[Jennifer Newhouse]

You know Shelley it is interesting he hasn't been beating down the door for it like you would expect a young teen to be. I think he has some reservations about it. But as he gets experience driving he is becoming more and more confident, this little incident did kind of through him however. Give her time, opportuity and lots of encouragement. My son has a friend who is a girl who is diagnosed and just finally gave up and decided to wait till she turns 18. It is going to be very individual with all of them I think.

[Shelley]

Thank you, that itself is encouraging.

[Liz♥]

All I can say is "Boredom = Wandering thoughts", that seems to be my boy with everything and me too but I always find something to do.   He has to be interested in something to do it to be focused.  

How about making a game like estimating the distance to the destination before getting in the car and while driving counting down the miles to the destination.  If you guess under, then guess again, and so on till you arrive.

I just thought of that so idk :P  I may try it on a long trip, sometimes I get in go mode on regular trips to the store, school, etc. but I am a granny driver, and a very defensive driver so hyper focused because there is lots of traffic everywhere here.

[Jennifer Newhouse]

You guys are giving me some good feedback, I am going to try some of these ideas. As I told Shelley it kind of threw him off his game a bit and he hasn't been all that willing to drive lately. Gotta get his head back in the game! lol

THanks!

Jen

[Holly Seerley]

Boredom tolerance is such a brain challenge in ADHD. If your son can recognize when he starts to get bored before he exits current boring reality into his more exciting inner world (Hey, at least he has an exciting inner world!), he can experiment with strategies that keep up his interest in his surroundings and current moments of driving. I like the countdown game suggestion. Pulling off the road for a few jumping jacks or pushups (on the side of the road, please! LOL) or naming colors and shapes in the scenery are other possible experiments. Letting him know that driving frequently with you on open roads and learning about his early I-am-getting-bored signals and what brings his attention back to life will develop the tools he needs to be more confident.

I remember as a 15 year old wirh my permit getting so sleepy on a straight country road. In that state I thought I could close one eye to rest and keep the other open to drive! I jolted awake when I veered off the road. Thankfully, I steered quickly back onto the road.

Here's the good news. I am now 63 and have thankfully caused only one minor accident. Yes, I was multi-tasking while driving, searching for something in my purse and missed the fact that the car in front of me slowed down. Screech of brakes and crash.

I have to balance ways to keep my brain awake with being attentive to the road. Somehow I learned that after my scare at 15.

Even if your son takes a break for a couple years to allow his brain more time to develop better connectivity, it's important to reinforce that he will get there. And experience driving and learning his driving strengths (caution) and challenges (getting bored) as well as experimenting with what helps will bring more confidence over time.