Driving Simulation TrainingDriving Simulator Training For Adults With Acquired Brain Injuries

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the driving simulator (eight sessions) or eight sessions of traditional occupational therapy as a control group.

Clients in the driving simulator intervention arm will receive eight sessions in a Drive Safety R-300 driving simulator. This simulator is a partial Ford Focus cab with a full interior, standard driving controls, and instrumentation, The exercises and realistic driving scenarios on the Drive Safety R-300 simulator will enable participants to have an immersive driving experience with interactive traffic, scripted behavior models, and triggered events. The researcher will initially provide more guided feedback during the motor tasks using a series of exercises in the simulator. More difficult motor tasks will be introduced gradually. As clients' motor skills became more refined, driving practice will be introduced in diverse scenarios and environmental conditions to improve the transfer and generalizability of motor skills.

Participants will be randomly assigned to either the driving simulator (eight sessions) or eight sessions of traditional occupational therapy as a control group.

Participants in the control, occupational therapy group will receive interventions based on typical occupational therapy assessments which assess range of motion, strength, coordination, functional mobility and self care management. Participants will receive sessions that focus on their deficits using occupation-based interventions to improve their assessed deficits.

The exercises and realistic driving scenarios on the Drive Safety R-300 simulator will enable participants to have an immersive driving experience with interactive traffic, scripted behavior models, and triggered events. The researcher will initially provide more guided feedback during the motor tasks using a series of exercises in the simulator. More difficult motor tasks will be introduced gradually. As clients' motor skills became more refined, driving practice will be introduced in diverse scenarios and environmental conditions to improve the transfer and generalizability of motor skills.

Traditional occupational therapy interventions are based on typical occupational therapy assessments which assess range of motion, strength, coordination, functional mobility and self care management. Participants will receive sessions that focus on their deficits based on their acquired brain injuries. The researcher will use occupation-based interventions to improve the participants performance in functional tasks and performance in areas of occupations such as self care, leisure, play, health care management, and work.