Outpatient Services - Driver Rehabilitation

What is Driver Rehabilitation?

When stroke, age, disease or injury affects your ability to drive a car, it limits your personal freedom and independence. And it can often affect your attitude toward recovery.

Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center provides a comprehensive driver rehabilitation program that gives you the opportunity to regain your ability to safely operate an automobile and win back your independence. As an outpatient in this program, you will be rehabilitated by a registered occupational therapist specializing in driver rehabilitation. The program begins with a complete evaluation and concludes with recommendations and assessment of modifications to your vehicle that best meet your driving needs.

You can benefit from Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center's driver rehabilitation program if you have a condition or disability such as:

aging-geriatric amputation stroke traumatic brain injury Alzheimer's/dementia cerebral palsy spina bifida multiple sclerosis rheumatoid arthritis side-effects of medication muscular dystrophy visual disorders

The Benefits of Driver Rehabilitation

There are several important benefits to driving rehabilitation:

• Increased freedom and independence
• Less reliance on others for basic needs
• Improved self esteem, faster recovery
• Increased safety

The Referral Procedure

Before you can enter Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center's Driver Rehabilitation program, we will need information provided by your physician to help us evaluate your needs. And we will also need to verify that you have a valid driver's license or temporary permit from the appropriate state agency. Generally, if you had a license before your medical condition changed, this same license will allow us to assess your driving skills.

About Your Driver Rehabilitation Program

Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center's driver rehabilitation program has four parts. Depending on your particular needs, or assessment findings, you may require one or more parts of the program. The aim is to make you as skilled a driver as possible.

• Part 1. Pre-driving evaluation. In this step, you are evaluated to determine your skills and needs as a driver. You will be evaluated in a number of areas including vision, strength, range of motion, coordination, balance, and hearing.
  
• Part 2. On-the-road evaluation. During the road test, you are assessed while driving a car equipped with the same or similar devices you will be using once you have completed the program.
  
• Part 3. Vehicle prescription. You will be given a prescription that will define exactly the type of modifications your vehicle will require in order to best fit your particular needs. The prescription will include all adaptive equipment and accommodate wheelchairs and other special needs where required.
  
• Part 4. Education. You will be given training and education to enable you to operate your vehicle in the safest and most efficient manner.

What to Expect from Your On-the-Road Evaluation

Your evaluation while driving a car has four phases.

• In phase one, you will focus on basic skills such as your ability to get in and out of the vehicle, accelerating, braking and turning while in a confined driving range.
  
• In phase two, you will drive in low traffic conditions while focusing on lane changes, U-turns, and anticipating hazards.
  
• In phase three you will drive in a more complex environment including congested roads, hills, and inclement weather.
  
• In phase four, you will face more demanding conditions such as dealing with obstacles, making emergency stops, night driving and driving on the freeway.

 

Southwest Regional Rehabilitation Center 393 E. Roosevelt Battle Creek, Michigan  49017 269 .965.3206