It is professional consensus in the OT Driving Assessor community that the training, skill and experience of driving instructors is not equal, despite what they may advertise. Although standard driving instructors may advertise that they have worked with individuals with Autism in the past, this does not mean that they have undergone relevant training or possess the knowledge, skills and expertise to work with the Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and intellectual impairment (II) population.

Problems encountered with driving instructors who do not hold additional qualifications:
It has been our experience that standard driving instructors may have a basic understanding of Autism, ADHD and intellectual impairment/executive functioning difficulties, however their day-to-day skill is working with neuro-typical students and they have less understanding of the cognitive, sensory, visual and information processing challenges faced by individuals with these diagnoses.
- They are less able to identify skill deficits specific to neurodivergent learners and plan a remediation program to target and develop these skill areas.
- Learning to drive is a highly verbal and non-verbal process and it’s essential that the driving instructor can adapt their teaching and communication style to meet the communication needs of the individual with Autism/ADHD/II. Neurotypical teens will learn to drive by verbal repetition, but this does not work for learners with Autism/ADHD – where they have challenges with verbal/auditory processing and literally often have no idea what the driving instructor is saying – “in one ear and straight out the other”.
- A consequence of a neurotypical driving instructor teaching style of constant verbalisation and commentary (in an overloaded way) – is that we don’t know if the learner driver is actually able to recognise critical items and plan themselves. This has significant safety implications – the client may pass the test, especially if they have been practicing the TMR routes with the instructor, however they may lack the ability to recognise hazards and plan and problem solve effectively. I have seen this first hand in a client:
- Mr M: 3 weeks prior to his test, an on-road review with a regular driving instructor indicated that the instructor was still providing constant verbal commentary – so I didn’t know what the client was seeing/planning for himself, and then when I asked the instructor to be quiet, the learner driver had these problems:
- did NOT plan a lane change safely
- was frazzled with a red light ahead, did not see a merging lane or complete that lane change safely, and needed prompting to notice signs at a slip lane turn. The safety implications are huge and we cannot afford to be putting our teens in this situation.
- It has been our experience that individuals who participate in standard lessons with instructors who are not skilled in tailoring communication and lessons to their needs can lead to reduce understanding of what is being asked of them, reduced generalisation of skills, reduced self-esteem and increased anxiety. This may also lead to young people who may be capable of learning to drive, to be too scared to continue.
- It is of our opinion, that instructors who are not on this list above and not known to or engaging with the driving OT community, most likely lack the skills required to work with these populations effectively.

Some other examples include:
- Mr D.A:
- He had more than 20 lessons in a regional town before moving to an island in the Brisbane bayside area and having 10 lessons with a driving instructor on the island,
- He then had at an on-road assessment with OTDA and specialised driving instructor and was assessed to not have the fundamentals of observation and planning or tactical skills for driving in traffic, with additional lessons recommended to be able to optimise his chances of being successful with achieving his goal.
- Mr A.R:
- after more than 20 hours self-funded lessons with a driving instructor (advertising as experienced with working with clients with autism), had an OT “potential to drive” assessment identifying ongoing issues with observation and planning.
- He was recommended to have a specialised driving training program (20 lessons) through his NDIS plan;
- he elected to continue lessons with the previous instructor and at an on-road re-assessment with OTDA and specialised driving instructor, still was not identifying critical items, having errors with speed control and overall planning and judgement, including driving instructor intervening on the brake when the learner driver did not react to a gardener standing/raking in the middle of the road.
- This young man continued lessons with an instructor from the list below, who worked with him to address his gaps in driving performance, and then he was successful in obtaining his Provisional licence.
- A parent report: driving instructor “yelled” at their learner driver and caused harm to confidence and skills with progressing.
- Our own experiencing working with a driving instructor new to the OT driving assessment space (and self-reporting that he is experienced with working with teens with autism):
- Required significant additional direction and feedback and training sessions to modify his usual approach (targeted at neurotypical drivers / learners with high functioning autism who do not required NDIS support).
- Our own experiencing working with a driving instructor new to the OT driving assessment space (and self-reporting that he is experienced with working with teens with autism):

Our experience in the industry
Driving Well Occupational Therapy has been a leader in this space for five years:
- Director Jenny has been on the committee / convenor of the OT Australia QLD Driving Interest Group for five years
- Driving Well facilitated Dr Miriam Monahan to deliver the “potential to drive” approach to assessments through nine zoom workshops in 2020 and 2021, to approximately 200 OT driver assessors and specialised driving instructors across the country
- Driving Well won the 2021 Australian Road Safety Award for the project “Bringing the Drive Focus app to Australia” – which included the work with the “potential to drive” workshops.
- Jenny won the inaugural OT Australia “Oration” award in 2024, for clinical innovation and contribution to clients and the profession, and was keynote speaker at the OT Exchange conference, in June 2024.

Consensus criteria to be a Specialised Driving Instructor
For a driving instructor to be considered as a qualified ‘Specialised Driving Instructor’ by the OT Driving Assessor community throughout Australia, they must meet the following criteria:
- regular and ongoing experience working with an OT driver assessor and the wider rehabilitation team (GPs, specialists, allied health) with individuals with cognitive, visual and physical disabilities. This is a skill that takes years and years to develop.
- Active engagement with the state wide OT Australia Driving Interest Groups, to keep up-to-date with current practices, industry changes and challenges, and ongoing education.
- Very strongly encouraged: successful completion of the Driver Assessment and Rehabilitation course for Driving Instructors, run by the Institute of Driver Health.
- This course provides advanced training in assessment, treatment planning and teaching strategies for driving instructors who wish to specialise in rehabilitation of drivers with cognitive, physical, psychological or visual conditions including disabilities such as ASD, ADHD and intellectual disability.
- Strongly encouraged: successful completion of the “Potential to Drive” 2 part workshop run by Dr Miriam Monahan.
- The course covers the information processing challenges and learning needs of individuals with ASD and/or executive function disorders and how to approach assessment and treatment planning to maximise skill acquisition and optimise driving outcomes.
- For new instructors coming into the disability industry: Strongly encouraged: successful completion of the Certificate in Specialist Driving Instruction – training package with Micheal Maynard, Specialised driving instructor.
List of specialised driving instructors meeting these criteria in the Brisbane area:

So what?
Bottom line, is that regular driving instructors are likely to be ineffective in teaching in the way that neurodivergent brains will cope and understand, and are likely to waste time and money.
The better approach, is to work with a specialised driving instructor from the start; this is likely to be:
- more effective and SAFE
- be faster, and
- be the most efficient use of funding resources.