TS and learning to drive

[kimwal]

My son is 15 and he has his learning permit. We try to let him drive to get practice at it problem is he is an awful driver. He has tics like wanting to pull his hands off the wheel, floor the gas pedal and then slow down, . He gets so nervous because he is trying not to tic that he gets even worse.

I know when he turns 16 in Dec he is going to want to get his license and drive by himself but he is so not ready. It kills me and my husband to have to tell him this.

What did any of you do when your kids were learning to drive? We try to always tell him he can do anything his friends can do or whatever that TS does not hold him back.

Thanks,

Kim

[Chemar]

Hi

sorry he is having this problem

 

my son has been driving alone for almost 3 yrs now and has no problems with ticcing or OCD while driving. We felt he needed to wait till 17yo to drive alone.

 

what you are describing sounds more like tourettic OCD which my son did have a lot of before he started his high dose Inositol treatment (he takes around 8-10 GRAMS of Jarrow inositol powder a day, upped to 16 gms when OCD flaring--we use Jarrow from iherb as it is cheapest and we find most effective)

Does your son have OCD tendencies?

 

just as an aside, when my son was learning to drive and had us in the car with him, he was a lot more nervous and agitated than when he started driving alone. it may well be that your son just needs a lot more practice and confidence. but honestly, if when his 16th birthday comes along and you feel he is still having a problem you may just have to risk him being upset and saying he has to wait a bit more. remember too that as they get older, the TS symptoms do tend to diminish in most

[CSP]

Hi kimwal,

 

our son will be 16 in Oct. and we have seen he changes his normal vocal tics to an eye squeezing tic while driving. This is not good because he closes his eyes for about 3 sec. My husband and I have told him he will wait until the summer before he turns 18 because that is the time we set for his older sister. We did not tell him it was because of the tics but that is the reason why. He thinks it is because he must have a job to pay for the car and insurance. We are hopeful the longer time will as chemar said give him more time to outgrow these tics, and we do think he just does not want to be loud while we are in the car, maybe he will go back to vocals when he is by himself.

 

CP

[AHB900]

I tic and OCD while i drive. Ive been driving since i was 16 and i am currently 20. Never had any problems. When i tic really badly the worst that happens is i start panicing and i look to my sides alot i blink and stuff like that. Like i said ive never really had a problem. Worst that happens is ill end up drifting to the other lane (i know it sounds bad) but thats about it. What i found useful is when i tic really badly i usually just have a friend of mine drive. When you start getting comfortable with driving it starts reducing by alot because you start to feel really comfortable in the car. Also ive noticed when the seats in the car are comfortable i am more relaxed and tic less.