In the first study to investigate driving as it relates to teens with a high-functioning autism disorder (HFASD), child development and teen driving experts at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies found that two-thirds of teenagers with a high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) who are of legal driving age in their state are currently driving or plan to drive. The study was published in January's issue of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
A HFASD is characterized by subtle impairments in social interaction, communication, motor skills and coordination and by a difficulty in regulating emotions. Many of these capabilities come into play when driving.
"Little is known about how HFASDs affect a person's ability to drive safely," explained lead author Patty Huang, M.D., a developmental pediatrician at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Over the past decade, the rate of children diagnosed with an HFASD has increased, meaning that more of those kids are now approaching driving age. Car crashes are the number one cause of death for teenagers, so it is important that we understand how HFASDs impact driving and how to develop appropriate educational and evaluation tools."
In a first step to better understand the issue, researchers surveyed almost 300 parents of teens with HFASDs and discovered a few predictive characteristics among those teens who are likely to become drivers, including:
* At least 17 years old
* Enrollment in full-time regular education
* Planning to attend college
* Having held a paid job outside the home
* Having a parent who has taught another teen to drive
* Inclusion of driving-related goals in his or her individualized education plan (IEP)
"We hope this study will lay the groundwork for future research into improving the ability to assess readiness to drive among teens with autism spectrum," said Dr. Huang. More information about helping teens with special needs prepare to drive is available at teendriversource.org.
About The Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies The Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) that focuses exclusively on making children and adolescents safer. Through CChIPS, researchers from CHOP, The University of Pennsylvania and The Ohio State University work side by side with industry members to conduct translational research that is practical to industry. For more information, visit www.chop.edu/cchips.
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
Source Citation
"New study probes how teens with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders approach learning to drive." The Exceptional Parent Feb. 2012: 9. Psychology Collection. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.
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