For many young people, getting their driver’s license is a huge milestone. It means freedom and independence. But for participants with disabilities, that journey often starts with fear and anxiety. Dylan Blackley from Support & Connect saw this problem and decided to do something about it. He brought a professional driving simulator directly to the people who needed it most.
The Start of Something Special
Dylan noticed something important about the participants he worked with. “I found a common trend in my participants was that they had a lot of anxiety around driving and especially obviously on road. It’s a massive step from going from no experience to driving on the road,” Dylan explains.
This wasn’t just normal nervousness about learning to drive. For people with disabilities, learning to drive can feel impossible. They might worry about failing or not being able to keep up. Many have faced challenges before and don’t want to face another one.
Dylan knew that regular driving lessons might not work for everyone. Some people need more time and a safer place to learn. That’s why he partnered with My Drive School to create something different. The goal wasn’t just to teach driving skills. It was to create a safe space where people could learn at their own speed without fear.
Community Help Makes It Happen
A driving simulator with all the right equipment costs a lot of money. This could have stopped the project before it started. But the Renmark Lions Club stepped in to help.
“Renmark Lions Club are amazing. They provided us with all of the simulated gear that goes inside that is customised and put inside the actual Ford Falcon itself. So, quite a costly project really,” Dylan says.
The Renmark Lions Club didn’t just give money. They believed in helping young people become independent. Their support made it possible to buy professional equipment including:
- Steering wheels and pedals
- Working indicators and controls
- A TV screen that acts as the windscreen
- All the gear needed to make it feel like a real car
This partnership shows how community groups can make a real difference in people’s lives.
How the Simulator Works
The simulator is completely different from learning in a real car on real roads. It looks and feels like driving, but it’s much safer. There are no other cars to worry about and no chance of accidents.
The system has six modules that teach driving step by step. Students start with the basics like steering, braking, and using indicators. Then they move on to harder skills. “There’s a pass fail. When I say fail, it doesn’t mean they fail fail, it just means they have to repeat it until they’re satisfactory,” Dylan explains.
The best part is what the simulator can teach that regular lessons can’t. It shows students what happens when:
- They drink alcohol and try to drive
- They use their phone while driving
- They drive in wet or dangerous conditions
- They need to brake quickly in an emergency
These lessons help students understand why safe driving matters. At the end, there’s a three-minute free driving test that brings all the skills together.
Why It Works So Well for People with Disabilities
The simulator solves a big problem for people with disabilities. “The one thing is, honestly, it’s just not being on the road,” Dylan says. This simple fact makes all the difference.
People with disabilities often face extra challenges when learning new things. They might take longer to understand instructions or need more practice. In a regular driving lesson, this can feel stressful and embarrassing. The simulator takes away that pressure.
Even though it’s not a real car, students still feel nervous at first. “Honestly still anxious,” Dylan admits about first-time users. But this actually shows how helpful the simulator is. If people feel anxious in a safe simulator, imagine how scared they’d be in a real car with real traffic.
After a few sessions, something amazing happens. Students start to relax and enjoy the experience. They have help from an instructor sitting next to them the whole time. Most importantly, they can make mistakes without anyone getting hurt.
The program gives students more than just driving skills. It gives them confidence. At the end, they get a certificate that proves they’ve learned important driving skills. Many students say they feel much more ready to try real driving lessons.
Real Success Stories
The program is popular, with 10 students using it every month. The results speak for themselves.
Matthew was the first student to complete the whole program. He’s 16 years old and really wanted to get his license like other teenagers. Even though he was nervous at first, he did amazingly well. When Dylan asked how he felt about taking real driving lessons, Matthew said he felt “a lot more confident.”
Another success story shows how the program helps different types of students. One 18-year-old girl was so scared of driving that she wouldn’t even sit in a car for two years. At first, she didn’t want to try the simulator either. But with patient support, she finally sat in the driver’s seat and completed one or two activities.
“That’s a huge stepping stone for her, because at the beginning, she refused to even go through the door to get in the car,” Dylan says. This shows that success looks different for different people. For some, it means completing the whole program. For others, it means simply trying something new.
Getting Started
The driving simulator is easy to access. People can visit supportandconnect.com.au to book a session. It doesn’t matter if someone has NDIS funding or not. For NDIS participants, the cost comes from regular core funding. For others, Support & Connect will work out a payment plan.
Dylan has simple advice for young people who feel scared about learning to drive: “It’s a very common feeling. So don’t be scared of it. It means you’re human, to be honest.” Everyone feels nervous when learning something new and important.
The key is finding the right way to deal with those nerves. The simulator offers a stepping stone between knowing nothing about driving and getting behind the wheel of a real car. It’s a safe way to build skills and confidence.
Looking to the Future
Dylan’s goal is simple but powerful. He wants to “keep providing this service and this simulation experience to more individuals in the future.” His hope is that students will go on to get their licenses and become independent. Most of all, he wants to know that Support & Connect helped make it happen.
The driving simulator program proves that good ideas don’t always need to be complicated. Sometimes the best solutions come from seeing a problem in a new way and being brave enough to try something different. In this case, that bravery is helping people with disabilities gain the confidence they need to drive toward independence.
For many participants, learning to drive seemed impossible before the simulator. Now, it’s not just possible – it’s happening, one successful session at a time.
