Blog On! Welcome to my thoughts on OT Driving Assessments
Hopefully you have already devoured the website (www.atzds.com.au) and know that I am Nicole Young, Occupational Therapist and founder of ATZ Driving Solutions. During one of the recent Covid-19 lockdowns, I decided to write a manifesto and outline all the reasons I should remain self employed. As a result, I decided to branch off from my primary business being A-Z Clinical Solutions and focus my expertise and attention solely on OT Driving Assessments and Vehicle conversions. Hence the birth of ATZ Driving Solutions.
Along my way, I decided that too much of the information about OT Driving Assessments is difficult to get, convoluted and inconsistent. So my solution was to create an updated website where people can visit and download information. I didn't want to stop there, as I feel that road safety is important and to keep all road (and footpath) users safe it is vital that all drivers on our roads and are fit to be there.
Driver fitness can be a hot topic, because regardless of your position on the age spectrum, there is a social notion that driving is a rite of passage, and that once licenced it is your "right" to remain driving until your dying days. Questions and concerns about someone's driving fitness are often met with indignation and defensive posturing rather than open discussion. At the younger end, adolescents can be denied the right to try or can rush in to getting a licence before being ready for what learning to drive entails, at the older end people can lose licences too early or equally hold on to them for too long. For people with disabilities or specific needs, the information on vehicle modifications and alternate controls can be misleading and scary. Oh and don't get me started on what happens when you add NDIS myths and rumours into the mix!
So in addition to my website, I want to create this blog so that it can be a place to come with a cuppa (or a wine) for information, a destination for checklists of what to ask at the GP or Service Centre, a guide to what you need to consider if buying a new car, an overview of the different assessments that can be completed to help tease out driver readiness and driver fitness etc. It is not intended as an academic pool of fact and statistics that make your eyes water, but more a place of my opinion and experiences with content to help arm you to understand OT Driving Assessments and vehicle conversions.
If there is a burning issue you need addressed, drop me a line hello@atzds.com.au or jump over to the contact page on the website you could see the solution as the next blog post!