A long-retired friend in Florida tells me that he keeps a car parked in his driveway although he is cutting back on his driving for personal health reasons which are atypical. Unlike his peers, he can see, hear and his response times to other drivers’ mistakes are as good as ever.

Still, he knows he should not drive much. But he is a long-time ladies’ man. He says, “Having a car in your 80s is every bit as important as having one when you are 16—-especially if you want to date.”

There have been plenty of other anecdotes like this one to back him up.

This story shows, one more time, the value of rehabilitation in keeping people functioning.

This interview is with a specialist from the National Rehabilitation Institute in Washington, D.C., a top-rated facility with a national reputation.

He can be a hero, the one who enables the elderly to drive safely again. He also can be the bad guy, telling an older person he or she should not drive any more.

NPR offers this link to help you locate a driving specialist, the kind of help discussed in the story below. It takes you to the National Association of Driver Rehabilitation Specialists.

On a related topic, rehabilitation of all kinds can be the last, important step in optimizing function, whatever the functional limitation is.

Always ask your doctor if there is a rehab program which could help you if you feel as if you are not “there” yet—-be that after knee surgery, after an injury, or yes, because you want to keep driving at 85 so you can impress the ladies.

NPR

“As we age, we often lose some of the abilities that make us safe drivers. Vision, memory, physical strength and reaction time may decline. That’s where a little-known health-care professional can help out: a driver rehabilitation specialist. That’s a therapist, often an occupational therapist, with special training to help people compensate for a disability that makes it hard to drive.(Emphasis added)

“We’re about helping you drive safely,” says Glenn Digman, a specialist who sees clients at National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, D.C. “Often we’re the hero when we put a nice man on the road. And sometimes we’re the villain.” Because sometimes the driver rehabilitation specialist has to tell an older person that he or she can’t drive safely anymore.

“To drive is to be independent. Among Digman’s clients are people with fading eyesight who need to test their night vision. Or someone who was partially paralyzed after a stroke, now learning to use a left-foot accelerator. Or it might be someone whose license has been suspended because of an accident or a flunked driving test.”

Source: NPR, July 6, 2009