See if the driving instructor your son worked with is able to take him to the mva for his test.

He/she can practice with him before the test, and calm any nerves he may have.

They also typically have very small cars that would make parallel parking much easier

OP - I don’t know where you live, but Montgomery county community college has a special class for people with special needs.

https://mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/insights/2019/01/11/helping-drivers-with-special-needs-get-behind-the-wheel/

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't sound like it has anything to do with intelligence. Does she have trouble with other things involving spacial awareness or judging distance?

Interesting that you assumed DC is a she. I automatically assumed a he

My dd has an iq of 175. She’s the best lockdown driver in the dmv

Parking is hard. Especially parallel parking. I’m glad it wasn’t required for the test otherwise I wouldn’t have passed. It took me living in an urban setting before I learned (well, sort of, I’m still not very good and it probably takes me 3-4 attempts to parallel park into a spot that my DH can get into on one try). I don’t have any learning disabilities but I’m not well coordinated, not sure if that’s a factor.

Anonymous wrote:My sister has learning disabilities and needed the right teacher. Then it clicked.

Your child may have executive functioning issues, coordination issues, processing issues, anxiety— don’t know. If you think testing would help figure out why, then yes. Or keep looking for the right fit teacher.

I don’t have a disability but I learned to drive late in life at 30. I took driving lessons with 3 professional driving instructors in addition to family members. The third instructor taught me in 2 lessons how to make a u turn in narrow street, reverse park, parallel park perfectly. He gave me steps and visual cues for each step. Awesome instructor!

OP have your daughter try new instructors at different driving schools.

Anonymous wrote:Why does she need a DL for a job?

Because so many jobs demand she work during the day (in the summers) and I have no way to get her to and from them unless she gets there really early and stays longer than the shift lasts. And I can't have her apply to jobs that are 10+ minutes away because I simply don't have time to cart her around constantly anymore. It has severely limited her social life. In high school if sports were cancelled for any reason she'd often have to wait alone. And yes a couple food places explicitly required a valid DL, not just an ID.

My sister’s IQ is low enough that she is legally disabled. She gets SSI and works in a sheltered workspace. She has a driver’s license and often drives.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, speaking from experience, sounds like your teen may never be a skilled driver and you should move somewhere with buses/trains/bike lanes/a street grid that’s walkable.

I am exactly like your teen, always have been, and I’m 40 with a masters degree in computer science (so, you know, reasonably “smart”). I think I’m missing the spatial awareness part of my brain. I do have a license, but I almost never drive and when I do I never go on highways. I’m very happy living in a walkable, transit-accessible neighborhood of DC.

I know adults who've never gotten DLs because of seizure disorders. They're plenty smart, smart enough to know they shouldn't risk driving. It's a challenge and limits job opportunities to those largely accessible via public transportation, but there are many people who overcome this problem.

Why does she need a DL for a job?

Keep your child of the roads. There are already enough distracted drivers as is.

Check her vision again. She might have depth perception issues.

Mom of two sons with disabilities, both of whom can drive.

Since you are paying for expensive lessons and there are still problems, yes, I would get an evaluation. Knowing what I know and knowing your goal, I would first check out ADHD and second I would look at whether anxiety is an issue. Both are easily diagnosed and both are easily remediated by medication.

The gold standard would be a neuropsych. But, given that you are looking at the limited issue of driving, I'd check with your pediatrician or maybe get a psychiatric evaluation.

My oldest had mild ADHD and moderate anxiety. He was really successful driving with low doses of medication but not at all successful without it. After about two years of driving, he was able to go off medication and he is a trustworthy driver.

Anonymous wrote:FFS, OP. My wife has a hard science Ph.D. and no driver's license. Smart has nothing to do with it. Sheesh.

This, my sibling is a doctor and choose to live in a city with no car. I think they may have a license but none of my family will get in a car with them.

Practice, practice, practice. I had a horrible time parking. Thankfully the test was the one time I somehow got it perfect. I still suck at it but I'm a decent driver.