Beginning about my mid ‘70s, I began to experience numbness in my feet, due to onset of borderline diabetes mellitus. Although this condition progressed slowly, over time I began to experience falls due to loss of sense of balance while standing or walking, which now necessitates my use of a cane. I remained able to drive a motor vehicle, or so I believed. However, after crashing a vehicle into a stationary object because of inability to move my right foot quickly enough from the accelerator to the brake, I was forced to confront the reality I could not be sure I could safely operate the pedals in a vehicle. Therefore, I voluntarily gave up driving and my spouse took on the responsibility of all the driving of our new car.
It did not take long for both of us to realize that having only one driver creates numerous day to day problems. Furthermore, what happens if the driver (herself of advanced age) were to require hospitalization, however briefly?
Given that I have no disabilities either physical or otherwise except for my feet, we decided to investigate the possibility of adding hand controls to our new vehicle. We quickly learned that one does not simply go to the nearest dealer and have hand controls installed. For safety reasons, installation of alternative controls in a vehicle for a handicapped person entails a sequence of steps. This begins with a request by a physician for an evaluation of the person, followed by evaluation by a qualified professional, leading to a prescription for individually tailored controls and on-the-road training by a qualified instructor in a vehicle equipped with the prescribed controls. On successful completion of all the above, the prescribed controls may then be purchased and installed.
In my case, I began by researching and comparing the available controls, leading to selection of a preferred type and specific brand of controls. It turned out that the only dealer of the selected brand in our home state of New Mexico is located in Albuquerque. The dealer recommended Driving to Independence to do our evaluation, who we then contacted. Our experience with Driving to Independence was uniformly positive from initial contact to our post-installation checkout.
The evaluation was performed by Ms. Jenny Nordine, a Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist and Occupational Therapist. Although based in Tempe Arizona, the firm also operates in New Mexico and Nevada. Ms. Nordine flew from Arizona to New Mexico for the evaluation meeting, which took about three hours.
I found Ms. Nordine to be very dedicated and highly professional in her approach. The evaluation led to a decision that I was a good candidate for hand controls of the specific type my research had led me to select. I was then scheduled for driver training by Mr. Jon Sarli, who is a driver rehabilitation specialist and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. Mr. Sarli does all of the training for the Albuquerque office. Because the training required us to travel to Albuquerque from southern New Mexico, Ms. Nordine and Mr. Sarli worked together to schedule all of the training to take place over several consecutive days in the same week.
I was extremely pleased with the training I received from Mr. Sarli. His abilities as a teacher are off the chart. On a scale of 1 to 10, he rates at least a 12. I cannot imagine anyone better at their chosen profession than Mr. Sarli. Thanks, Jon! You really are the greatest at what you do.
I highly recommend Ms. Nordine, Mr. Sarli, and the entire team at Driving to Independence. When I thought my driving days were over, Jenny and her team made it possible for me to get behind the wheel again.
Phil & Kathryn
Las Cruces, NM