 Susan E. Grant, OTR/L  Director of Therapy and Adaptive Programs Carlisle Academy  PATH Certified Riding and Instructor  Level II AHA Therapist  Past program manager, one of oldest (1980) Driver Evaluation Programs Licensed  Class A Driver Educator

 Understand similar sensory motor and cognitive skills used in both motor vehicle and vehicle operation.  Understand “pre-driving” role of driving.  Understand how to market community partners.  Understand teaching strategies and ideas that will help a student generalize into a driver’s education curriculum.  NOT…determining driver readiness or driver evaluation.  Premier accreditation in therapeutic riding, hippotherapy and  Para equestrian  Students 2-80+ years of age  5% of students drive, teens, young and mature adults  Southern Maine  Driving added to competitive team  1 instructor, 2ABWs, 3 equines, 3 vehicles

 Teens or young with physical and/or mental health disabilities.  Adults post trauma or disease process that would like to resume motor vehicle operation.  Referral from driving professional, physician , schools, therapists, mental or physical health community partners.

 Children engage in pre-driving activities.  Bikes, scooters, skate boards, skiing, skating, boating.  Children with disabilities may miss out. e.g. parental fears, systems issues, lack of mentor, finances, resources, etc.  Access to personal transportation is key, especially in rural states.  Mobility independence is foundation for community based independence.  Provides centers with a unique service opportunity and method to connect to community.

 Driving is a visual motor task ; visual motor learning most common type of learning style.  Brain assimilates new information when the activity is functional and meaningful.  Many have difficulty with motor , sensory and visual perceptual skills.  Many need repetition to learn new information.  Many have difficulties with communication and vehicle operation requires interpretation of non-verbal communication.  Vehicle operation is a complex and requires the whole brain. Risk assessment triggers many parts of the brain, especially the frontal lobe.  Multi-sensory experience; vestibular input has organizing affect on the brain and helps to facilitate neural connections.

 Visual Tracking: Following a moving object smoothly and accurately.  Visual Fixation: The ability to quickly and accurately locate and inspect with both eyes.  Visual Focus Change: Ability to look quickly from far to near and vice versa with momentary blur.  Depth Perception: Ability to judge depth and distance and move accurately in 3 dimensional space.  Central vision: Center area of eye, focused, details and color.  Peripheral vision: Outside of central vision, determines movement and black and white.  Reality: if corrected vision does not meet state rules…they will NOT be eligible for motor vehicle operation. E.g. Maine very specific functional abilities profiles that must be followed.

 The ability to identify an object, shape or symbol from a visually incomplete or disorganized presentation.  In vehicle: Parking  Mounted/in carriage: cones course, dressage figures.  Visual Discrimination: Ability to see differences and similarities.  Spatial Relations: Ability to perceive the position of objects related to each other.  Position in space: Ability to understand the position of an object relative to one’s own body.  Figure ground perception: Ability to distinguish an object from the background.  Form constancy: Ability to identify objects that are the same despite the differences in their size, shading, texture and/or position.  Visual Motor Integration: The degree to which visual perception and movements are coordinated.  Skilled working memory: To retain information while processing other information.  Selected and divided attention: The ability to select and prioritize without being distracted.  Communication: Knowledge of verbal and non verbal.  Executive functioning skills: Ability to assess risks, problem solve, reason, analyze and make decisions.

 Varying degrees of strength and endurance.  Kinesthesia.  Motor planning.  Reaction time.  Bilateral skills and asymmetrical motor skills.  Midline crossing.  Many motor (purely motor) issues can be accommodated with existing assistive driving technology.

 “Under the hood” safety check:  ID Horse, harness and vehicle parts.  Horse, harness and vehicle “wear and tear” assessment.  Horse, harness and vehicle care plan.  Relative costs and budget associated with “preventative maintenance” and “expected wear and tear.”

 Harness fit  fit  Tire wear and inflation  Proper personal driving gear  Tools and spares  Audible signal  , header and ring support readiness.  Review of verbal and non verbal team and ring communication.  Driver on left side of vehicle.  Trunk elongated, elbows bent, fingers hands at 8 and 4 o’clock.  position and concept of contact.  Right foot fore, left foot stays “home”.  Whip and voice to accelerate.  Voice and to decelerate.  Steadiness of voice and hands for gradual acceleration/deceleration.  Concept of three second stop.  Risk assessment before “walk on.”  Eyes precede and direct vehicle movement.  Ring activities to include work on walk/halt/3 second stop and visual scanning for ring assessment.

 Straight line without over steering. (poles)  Managing a bend without over steering. (cones)  Risk assessment (safe obstacles and risks in ring) driving straight line.  Risk assessment driving a bend.  Understanding the various “horse gears” walk, walk on, trot, T-rot…trot on!”

 Pedestrian crossing  Work zones.  Rail road crossings.  Responding to school crossing guards and school zones.  Sign recognition by color and shape; traffic signs, warning signs.  Octagon/red, diamond/yellow, triangle/yellow, rectangle/white, rectangle/blue or green.  Move in/out of various “horse gears”.  Maintaining lane position; left shoulder up with center line.  Left turn; (one lane to one lane,  two lane to two lane) Right-Left- Right, 3 second stop  Right turn; Left-Right-Left, 3 second stop  Cart to carriage, longer wheelbase  “Turn off the axle”  Deviation and serpentines, decelerate through first ½ of turn, accelerate through 2nd ½ (half- halt, whip on for bend, lash flick)  Progress with additional vehicle, add risk and distractions  U turns; turn on haunches.  Straight line backing.

 Changing lanes (signal, visual check).  Four and two way stops.  Non verbal communication: Signal right and left, “Go ahead”, “I need help!” “Stop”  Time to slow down and speed up.  Maintaining proper vehicle distance.  Center line interpretation.  Emergencies and emergency communication.  Reaction time practice; timed obstacles.  Parking, loading and fire lanes.

 Search and scan ahead  Identify potential problems  Predict possible movements of other things in the environment  Decide on an action: slow down, stop, choose different route, steer around  Execute decision smoothly and safely  Teach the teacher, observations of other lesson  Alert  Don’t assume others intentions  3 second travel time between vehicles, less in bad conditions  Search to know your escape  Flexible with speeds to adjust for conditions  Know your blind spots  Quick looks don’t stare, body follows eyes  Soft eyes  Visual memory and navigation; obstacle course and dressage tests  Progression towards independence with tacking, putting to, use and communication with header and AB whip.  Emergency procedure drills.  Learning assignments with pre and post testing.  Teach the Teacher.  Competitive events.  Leadership responsibilities within a group.  Horse, vehicle and tack maintenance.  Assessment of defensive driving in a variety of terrains and conditions.  Self-assessment, guided questioning, videotaping.

Objective: At the walk, driver will accurately and safely maintain vehicle along the ring center line 3/3 trials and 2/2 trials at the trot.

Prep: Single turnout with driver sitting on left side holding primary set of reins. AB whip holding back up reins and whip. Poles positioned down center line.

Lesson Content and Procedure:  Review concepts of “whoa” “stand” “walk on” “trot on” with whip and voice aids.  Introduce concept of maintaining vehicle position at center (left shoulder)  Review concepts of voice and whip aids while maintaining vehicle position.  Driver self-assessment and guided questioning.

Progression: Add distance visual anchor to introduce concept of “soft” versus “hard” eyes.

Center Line Objective: The driver will safely and accurately execute 2/2 left turns and 2/2 right turns at a 4 way stop intersection.

Prep: Single turnout with driver holding primary set of reins, AB whip with back up reins and whip. 8 poles forming 4 way, single lane intersection. Red paper at end of each lane signifying red light.

Lesson Content/Procedure:  Introduce concept of red=stop.  Introduce concept of 3 second stop.  Introduce concept of 4-way stop.  Introduce concept of scanning (right, left, right) and (left, right, left) and turn taking at 4 way stop.  Introduce concept of steering through middle of axle to maintain proper vehicle position in lane.  Driver self-assessment and guided questioning. Progression: Widen poles, add center line and teach concept of turning into two lanes.

Objective: The driver will accurately and safely halt the vehicle while a pedestrian crosses the pedestrian cross walk 2/2 trials. The driver will accurately and safely halt the vehicle and follow the direction of a school crossing guard at a school crossing 2/2 trials.

Prep: Single turnout with driver holding primary set of reins and whip, AB whip with back up reins. Set up pedestrian crosswalk with a series of 6 cones, identify pedestrian (s) and school crossing guard. Construct a reasonable facsimile of school crossing guard sign.

Lesson Content/Procedure:  Introduce concept of pedestrian and school crossing.  Introduce crossing sign and non verbal communication of crossing guards.  Introduce a variety of crossing scenarios and progress the complexity of each scenario.  Student self-reflection, guided questioning .

 What was the task?  How was it supposed to be done?  How well did you do it? Describe all the things you did well during this task.  How does this relate to driving a car?  What can you do as a passenger in your family’s car to reinforce this skill?  Name three other games or activities you can do as a driver that will help you reinforce this skill?

 Problem Identification  Target Audience  Goals and objectives  Educational strategies: content and methods  Implementation: resources, marketing  Create instructor’s guide that assists in skills progression and lesson planning process  Identify cost for delivering the service and hit the road with your curriculum to sell it!  Board members with curriculum development experience and access to targeted community partners.