Asperger's Syndrome, or AS, doesn't limit a person's ability to drive in every case. It's a spectrum disorder, so the ability to drive safely must be judged on an individual basis. People with AS must follow some guidelines in order to drive a car.
Assemble a group of professionals such as the parents, a psychologist or school psychologist, a drivers education instructor and others to discuss whether or not the person with AS is capable of driving a car. Assess her visual/motor tasks, how easily she get's distracted and overall motor skills.
Apply for a driving license at the normal legal age, but be sure to put down AS on the application at the DMV. It's against the law not to declare this on the application but it won't disqualify people for getting a license.
Take driving lessons with a drivers education instructor, but double the amount of physical driving practice to really get used to reacting to normal driving situations. Also, bring information that can help the instructor adapt strategies to help a person with AS understand better. Take frequent breaks during this time, ask that the information be broken down into small sections and ask the instructor to use physical cues to help with estimate speed and distance.
Continue to practice with someone familiar to make it more comfortable for the person with AS. Simulate situations in an empty parking lot that require avoidance steering, emergency breaking and distractions like loud music, water on the windshield and pedestrians until the driver's comfortable.
Drive along familiar routes as often as possible. New routes and not knowing where they are going can easily distract and upset someone with AS.
Remain calm when other drivers break the rules of the road and be ready for when they do. People with AS follow the rules of the road and the signs concretely, sometimes to a fault. Anticipate the actions of other cars by observing their behavior--the most important thing to pay attention to is other cars.
