ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the preliminary findings of part of a three year project to investigate the nature and incidence of driving difficulties experienced by young learner drivers with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Practical difficulties made it impossible to complete road tests at the end of each ten hour tuition block. At the end of 1988, 40% of learner drivers had passed the driving test; 40% were still receiving tuition and 20% had discontinued lessons. Inspection of the cognitive test results of drivers and learners in Group A indicatd no significant differences in intellectual functioning. An additional advantage of attending a course is the motivation inherent in working as a group. There is also the opportunity to discuss difficulties which occur and strategies which might be used to compensate. In car assessment demonstrated that particular difficulties were found in acquiring skills related to Mirrors/Signals and Steering/Positioning.
