ASD now has to be declared to the DVLA

[SmilingButClueless]

Just drawing people’s attention to this - previously the guidance said that it only needed to be disclosed if it affected your driving.

I am somewhat pissed off that it’s the mental health form that needs to be completed. And that the policy seemed to change without actually telling anyone. I found out from this Guardian article

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/03/autistic-people-angry-at-having-to-disclose-diagnosis-to-dvla-even-if-driving-not-affected

Wow-that's shocking.

You might get more awareness if you also post this in chat.

Thanks for posting

DS applied for his provisional license at 16 and had to declare his asd. It took 8 months to come through. Hes been driving 2 years now

I've just heard about this and was going to start a thread to ask if anyone else knew about this - was the guardian article the first you knew about this too or have people been aware of it for a while?

I am diagnosed Autistic. Dx about 15 months ago. I checked the DVLA website when I was diagnosed and it said the notification was only if it affected my driving then. Apparently it has since been changed.

I function pretty well in my job and in the world and I am not "out" about my condition as I don't feel most people need to know. Suddenly being unable to drive would cause chaos in a huge number of ways socially and professionally and I would need to give a reason to people who I do not feel need to know about my neurological status.

This is shit.

The Guardian article was the first I heard of it as well. My understanding is that it wasn’t communicated at all.

Agree that it’s shit. Have been driving without incident for over 20 years, checked the DVLA website following my 2015 diagnosis and like you, said that notification was only needed if it affected my driving.

I’m “out” about my condition but if I can’t drive, I lose all my independence, can’t get to work or the shops (public transport is a challenge). And I am a safe driver, and that hasn’t changed because of words on a page...

Hopefully someone will talk sense to the DVLA and it can go back to the way it was.

They've changed it back again and tweeted about how sorry they are for "muddying the waters"!