Aspiring drivers with autism taught by Leamington man

Aspiring drivers with autism taught by Leamington man "I spent 42 difficult years wondering why I was so different from everybody else. "Social interaction is also difficult for me. As a result, they may unintentionally appear insensitive or rude to others. Three main symptoms: But when the BBC's Autistic Driving School documentary was on television, showing young people with autism learning to drive, it led to him trying again. Mr Myatt said he emailed the programme praising it and a producer put him in touch with a driving instructor with an autistic spectrum disorder, Julia Malkin MBE, who then trained him in the role. Mr Myatt's one-man Halo Driving School in Leamington Spa has been going for five months, specialising in teaching young people with autistic spectrum disorders to drive. He said: "Some pupils get overwhelmed with too much verbal information at once. Autism and Asperger's syndrome are part of a wide variety of disorders that can cause difficulties with communication and social skills, and which can lead to isolation and emotional problems. He said: "For instance, you can't use sarcasm or innuendo. " . Those with autism may have difficulties understanding gestures, body language, facial expressions and tone of voice, making it difficult to judge or understand the reactions of those they are talking to or to empathise with people's feelings. A great deal of stuff can go over my head. About two thirds of his pupils have autistic spectrum disorders or are people with dyslexia, dyspraxia or anxiety, which also involve the instructor using "largely similar" techniques. He added: "A good deal of people on the spectrum have fairly low self esteem. "If they don't understand something, they will say. As he celebrated his birthday on World Autism Awareness Day on Monday, he was looking forward to his first pupil with Asperger's syndrome taking her driving test in the next two months. "I think communication is the most difficult element of having Asperger's [syndrome] for me. Now the driving instructor hands out "simple" and "concise" information, which is "not open to interpretation". "The most important thing is to build confidence first before trying to correct faults. Mr Myatt, from Leamington, said: "Sometimes you get quite blunt responses. Mr Myatt had been in the design and print industry all of his working life, but after being made redundant in 2007, he decided to re-train as a driving instructor. Aspiring drivers with autism taught by Leamington man Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 04/04/2012