Brief report: driving hazard perception in autism

Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2017

The current study explored attentional processing of social and non-social stimuli in ASD within the context of a driving hazard perception task. Participants watched videos of road scenes and detected hazards while their eye movements were recorded. Although individuals with ASD demonstrated relatively good detection of driving hazards, they were slower to orient to hazards. Greater attentional capture in the time preceding the hazards' onset was associated with lower verbal IQ. The findings suggest that individuals with ASD may distribute and direct their attention differently when identifying driving hazards.

Proceedings of the 8th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design: driving assessment 2015

Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 2015

Objective: Understanding the viewpoints of drivers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial in the development of mobility support and driver training that is responsive to their needs. Methods: Fifty young adults with ASD and fifty seven typically developed adults participated in the study to form a contrasting group. Q-methodology was used to understand viewpoints on driving as a main mode of transportation. Data were analysed using a PQ by-person varimax rotation factor analysis. Results: Although some ASD participants perceived themselves as confident and independent drivers, others preferred other modes of transportation such as public transport and walking. Anxiety was also found to be a barrier to driving. The contrast group revealed consistent viewpoints on their driving ability. They preferred driving as their main mode of transportation and believed that they were competent, safe and independent drivers. Conclusion: These results are important in the planning of transport policies and driver training for individuals with ASD. Driver training manuals can be developed to address anxiety issues, hazard perception and navigation problems in the ASD population. Their use of public transport could be further facilitated through more inclusive transport policies.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2014

This pilot study investigated driving history and driving behaviors between adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as compared to non-ASD adult drivers. Seventy-eight licensed drivers with ASD and 94 non-ASD comparison participants completed the Driver Behavior Questionnaire. Drivers with ASD endorsed significantly lower ratings of their ability to drive, and higher numbers of traffic accidents and citations relative to non-ASD drivers. Drivers with ASD also endorsed significantly greater numbers of difficulties on the following subscales: intentional violations, F(1, 162) = 6.15, p = .01, g p 2 = .04; mistakes, F(1, 162) = 10.15, p = .002, g p 2 = .06; and slips/ lapses, F(1, 162) = 11.33, p = .001, g p 2 = .07. These findings suggest that individuals with ASD who are current drivers may experience more difficulties in driving behaviors and engage in more problematic driving behaviors relative to non-ASD drivers.

2013

Although it is speculated that impairments associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will adversely affect driving performance, little is known about the actual extent and nature of the presumed deficits. Ten males (18-24 years of age) with a diagnosis of high functioning autism and 10 age matched community controls were recruited for a driving simulation experiment. Driving behavior, skin conductance, heart rate, and eye tracking measurements were collected. The high functioning ASD participants displayed a nominally higher and unvaried heart rate compared to controls. With added cognitive demand, they also showed a gaze pattern suggestive of a diversion of visual attention away from high stimulus areas of the roadway. This pattern deviates from what is presumed to be optimal safe driving behavior and appears worthy of further study.

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2022

A survey asked autistic and non-autistic people about the driving difficulties they experience and their autistic traits. Principle components analysis was used to identify how reported difficulties clustered together in each group, and regression was used to determine which subscales of the Autism Spectrum Quotient predict these factors. For autistic drivers three factors of driving difficulty emerged: a Driving Executive factor, predicted by Attention Switching; a Driving Understanding factor, predicted by Communication; and a Driving Social Interaction factor, predicted by Attention Switching. For non-autistic drivers only one Driving General factor emerged, predicted by Communication. This suggests autistic people may experience at least three distinct domains of difficulty when driving which may relate to their particular profile of autistic features.

This paper examines the response of 10 typical and 10 autism spectrum participants in their reaction to a set of uni-and multisensory warning signals designed to indicate different levels of urgency. The warnings were composed of auditory, visual and tactile signals that were presented alone or in combination. Two experiments were conducted, a first that examined perceived urgency and annoyance with the warnings and a second that used a driving simulator scenario to explore recognition of the level of urgency and the speed of response. Results of Experiment 1 showed that there was no difference between groups in the perceived urgency of the warning signals, though the autism spectrum group reported less annoyance with the signals. Results of Experiment 2 showed that while both groups showed high accuracy in correctly reporting urgency level, the autism spectrum group performed better. Moreover, the fastest overall reaction times obtained were by the autism spectrum group when the warning included a visual component, with vision alone producing the quickest response. These results provide novel empirical insights on behaviour of drivers with autism when exposed to multimodal driver displays. They also highlight how consideration of characteristics of individual differences can contribute to the design of effective warning signals.

Transactions on Transport Sciences

Certain groups have been overlooked in the field of transportation research, for instance, drivers with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this article, we describe exploratory research into barriers and facilitators in the process of learning to drive for young people with ASD. Questionnaires were distributed in three groups involved in this process: young persons with ASD, parents or caregivers, and driving instructors. Respondents were asked about their experience of the process of learning to drive and to give suggestions for improving current driving training. Furthermore, they indicated their perceived impact of specific characteristics often associated with ASD on their ability to drive. The results show that young persons with ASD have a good knowledge of traffic rules, experience difficulties in violating traffic rules when necessary, as well as with multitasking and responding to unpredictable situations, and display perfectionism. Moreover, they show a need for structure and more-but shorter-lessons. Driving instructors consistently perceived the impact of ASD-related characteristics higher than the other respondents. Several proposals for adjusting driving training were made which suggests the need for more systematic research and the propagation of new training methodologies. Finally, we highlight the need for an increase of attention, as well as of means and resources for research on certain groups such as ASD in transportation.

Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2017

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 traini...

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2013

Adolescents are at high risk for motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have an even greater risk for MVCs due to impaired visual, cognitive, and motor skills critical for driving. This prospective two group study demonstrated the demographic, clinical, and simulated driving skill differences of seven adolescents with ASD (mean age = 15.14, SD ±1.22) compared to 22 healthy controls (HC) (mean age = 14.32, SD ±.72) through a comprehensive driving evaluation (CDE) conducted by an occupational therapist certified driving rehabilitation specialist (OT-CDRS). Adolescents with ASD performed poorer on right eye acuity (Fischer's (F) = 13.44, p = .003), cognition (Mann-Whitney Statistic (U) = 29.00, p = .01), visual motor integration (U = 27.50, p = .01), motor coordination (U = 5.00, p = .001), operational skills for managing simulator controls (U = 4.00, pU = 30.50, p = .02), speed regulation (U = 13.50, p = .001), lane maintenance (U = 34.00, p = .03), signaling (U = 38.50, p = .03), and adjustment to stimuli (U = 9.00, pU = 5.00, pConclusion). Compared to the HC, adolescents with ASD performed worse on visual, cognitive, motor, simulator operational, and fitness to drive skills, suggesting that an OT-CDRS may play an important role in assessing teens with ASD before they pursue traditional driver's education.