Drive Program Alum Talks Experiencing the program, learning to drive, More In Interview

Last month, I posted a story featuring an interview with Dr. Christina Potter. An academic researcher and experimental psychologist by training, Dr. Potter works as coordinator of the Drive Program run by Miami-based Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Established in 2023, the Drive Program exists to “prepare neurodiverse individuals for a driving exam” using a virtual reality headset. According to Dr. Potter, Nicklaus Children’s manager of IT and digital technologies, explained to me in part the “simple but powerful” impetus for the Drive Program was to “help young people, especially those who face challenges like autism, anxiety, or ADHD, to gain the confidence and skills they need to become safe and independent drivers.” The core problem the Drive Program sought to solve, she added, was conventional driving schools aren’t conducive to the needs of neurodivergent people, saying the schools “don’t offer the flexibility or patience or support that [neurodivergent people] really need to succeed.”

“We saw an opportunity to fill that gap in a way that aligned with with our mission at Nicklaus Children’s,” Dr. Potter said.

Fast-forward to this past week, I sat down for a brief interview with a young woman named Anna Mariani. Mariani, 24, is an alumnus of the Drive Program, having went through it herself a few years ago. When asked about her experiences being in the Drive Program, she explained the one thing she appreciated most about it was its slow pace; “I could do things in my own time… it was well-explained, all the things that you needed to do while driving and paying attention to all the things [on the road],” Mariani said.

“It was good for me to practice being in the car,” she added.

Mariani said she first learned of the Drive Program through CARD, or the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, managed by the University of Miami. She described CARD as a program which offers services to people in the neurodivergent community, telling me it was they who recommended the Drive Program “to learn how to drive.”

Mariani doubled down on her effusive praise heaped onto the Drive Program.

“I think [the Drive Program] helps because the teachers and instructors were really patient with me… I was able to be coached into what I needed to do,” she said. “Also, the virtual reality aspect was really good because it helped me feel like I was actually in the car. So when I got in the [actual] car, it felt more natural and that helped me feel more confident when I was actually driving the car.”

For Mariani, the Drive Program helped her best prepare for driving independently.

“With practice, it feels a lot more comfortable,” she said. “At first it was little scary, but then I started doing it more, and now I’m more comfortable driving in a car in real life.”

Mariani went on to say she highly recommends the Drive Program to everyone who may benefit from it, adding the Program’s staffers were invested in helping her learn and well-trained. The Program overall, she added, is “really advanced.” Mariani noted she has encouraged a friend to enroll in the Drive Program and hopes they do so “soon.”

“I definitely think other people should give it a try if they’re nervous or they don’t know where to start when it comes to driving,” Mariani said in endorsing the Drive Program. “I think this is a good place to start [helping] others feel more comfortable.”