Driving? Those with older kids...

[cmedrano99]

I know there several here got older kids.. 15 and up !

Are your kids wanting to drive? Do you allow them to drive?


Reason asking!

My daughter is 15yr and soon to be 16yr and being asking and begging to take lessons and drive! She know all her friends are and wonders why she cant! I have let her drive around the block with me in the middle doing the gas and break and she does the steering wheel! But she NO WHERE NEAR READY!
She will be 16yr in Sept and ready LOL told her not till she 21! So got it hold off for a few yrs! Thought getting her a golf cart but still have to have to pass test and ect and has to have all the windows cover and lights and ect to pass for road!\

So what are you doing?

[Jackie]

I have posted to this many times...Emily doesn't drive and its by HER choice having had a bad go cart experience at Young Life Camp in Colorado in HS...she has no desire to even try.

I don't think that most kids or adults with DS have the judgement or reaction time needed to do this safely. They are somewhat like very senior citizens behind the wheel and even driving slowly can be a hazard.

HOWEVER...getting your license IS a Right of Passage for those over 16 and I think our kids should have a chance to at least take the test and learn to drive if their parents are ok with it. BUT...turning them loose with the car seems to me a bit risky (LOL as it is with most 16 yr olds...LOL).

I would really like for Emily to just try and drive...I think hers is a psychological hurdle that it would be good to get over, but I wouldn't want her to do much more than maybe drive the car around to park it...or maybe drive around the cul d sac to get the mail. Her BIL Tony has offered many times to take her somewhere safe to teach her. I am sure she could pass the book test and I think it would be good for her sense of direction.

Emily has some friends with mental retardation (non DS) who do drive and they do ok...but I am still uncomfortable having Em in the cars with them.

A car in the wrong hands can be a terribly dangerous weapon so this is an issue that each parent has to personally decide about. There was a time at the NDSC when boasting that your child had a license was a status symbol...but that now has been replaced by marriage ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Jackie

[sugarbabymarlena]

OOOOHHH boy, I didnt ever thing of the day Marlena would ask to drive.... lol, guess i have alot i havent really thought of!!!

[CC]

"Are your kids wanting to drive? Do you allow them to drive?"

Yes Christopher has been consistent on wanting a Blue Hummer and consistently points out Hummers and says BLUE for Chris ... LOLOL

NO we will NOT allow Chris to drive.

He does real well at the race cars things actually got his license at one of the places BUT that is about the only driving license he will get

CHRIS Loves speed way to much LOLOL

CC ~

[mollysmomma]

if it was up to me...NONE of my kids would drive!! HOlee MOlee!! I had to give up being in the passenger seat, and just send them down the gravel roads behind our house! IT WAS HORRIFYING!! I actually ENLISTED instructors (illegal by missouri standards) to help with the situation!! (one of the perks of being married to the patrol)

Shauna is still the worst driver in the US (actually drove OVER a parking block at her driving test)...but lives in DC, where she doesnt need to...and the boys both drive better than me!

Molly is already anxious to get behind the wheel.....UGH! Hope her sibs can convince her it isn't her...IT'S ME!!

[Jodi]

Hi Cynthia -

I think I mentioned on a post here that one day Ryan had the car keys in hand at 5 a.m. with his back pack on at the door. I thought I heard him so I got up and discovered him turning the door knob. I asked him what he was doing, he said he was going to school.

I think he is interested in driving because his older brother just started driving on his own. He is always asking me if he can have a turn. This will be tough when kids around him start driving. I think the phase with his brother will pass. Ryan turns 11 on Saturday Hopefully we can relax on this matter a few years.

I really don't think he will be able to drive. If it were an xbox game, he could do it and well. I just don't think he will be able to be aware of everything and control the car.

Jodi

[Googsmom aka Jennifer]

{{{{{{Cynthia}}}}}} Oh the joy's of growing up......NOT...LOL!!! I won't even let Mary get her permit/licence untill she's 18 yr old. (I WILL fight her dad on this one!!!) Brook, omgoodness, i'm SOOOO glad that discussion is well far away!!! Best wishes in your decission. {{{{{{{{{{MORE HUGS}}}}}}}

[Emilysmom]

Emily re-adjusts her own driving age every year.......when she was 15, she would say she would get her driver's license when she turned 16. When she turned 16, she assured us she would do it when she turned 17. And yes.....now that she is 17, she talks about turning 18 in another month and taking the driver's test and getting her license. When her younger brother passed his test, we gave her the study guide and told her there was a very hard test from all the info in that book.....and that NO ONE could drive until they took that test. She browsed it for a while and didn't say another word about driving for a while!!

Please do not get me wrong..........I'm not saying that Emily will never be given the opportunity to drive. For me, the biggest issue is that I know her. I know her reaction time. I have seen her get her entire hand slammed in the car door and there is absolutely NO response by her for several seconds!!! Driving safely absolutely requires the driver to react quickly to various things that may come from any side. At this point, I'm afraid Emily would not/could not be safe behind the wheel, and we won't let her do anything that would give her the impression that it would be ok to sneak out and take my keys, etc. We keep stressing that we just need to work on getting her ready to take that test. Certainly, there ARE people with Ds who do drive. But I know Emily. And I know her abilities. And for right now, driving is not realistic for her.

[Jenifer]

As much as I would love for Joy to have the independence of a driver's license someday, I doubt she will ever posses the right skills to be alone behind the wheel. I would love to have her take the test, and learn to drive (with her dad ... I'm way too impatient!), but doubt we would ever turn her loose in a car. Hmm ... maybe I can get one of those driver's ed cars with a brake on the passenger's side. Then I might feel better about riding with her! She's a very independent kid, so I'm sure there will be fights about this one day ... thankfully not for at least 8 more years!

Jenifer, mom to Joy Daisy