I posted a blog the other day searching for useful information on resuming driving and received responses from rehabilitators and stroke patients that there is a lot of free material.
"Helpful Information: Documents for Recovery and Stop Driving After a Stroke"
I'm Aoi Hashima , an occupational therapist who works in Saga Sumai and Fukuoka . Returning to driving or not driving after a stroke
I heard that there are almost no cases of quadriplegia after a stroke, and cases of self-harm by driving immediately after being discharged from the hospital.
If you're quadriplegic, it's easy to understand that you and your family have the aftermath of a stroke, but if it's mild, higher brain dysfunction may be overlooked.
During hospitalization, even if there are no problems with paper tests (tests, etc.) related to advanced brain dysfunction, after discharge, you may feel "problem" in your daily life, or feel "something in danger" "only if you drive There are many people who feel this way.
When it comes to driving, both motor functions (such as holding the steering wheel, handling the accelerator and braking) and higher-level brain functions (such as attention and coordinating movements to enable motor functions to perform correctly) are important.
In terms of steering, acceleration and braking, it is possible to drive even when paralyzed by the modified car.
There's a lot to do with driving when it comes to higher brain function.
I think the diagram below shows "high-level brain functions related to driving" in a very easy-to-understand way. 
Source: Procedures to resume/stop driving in the event of brain disease/brain injury
Advanced brain functions related to driving include:
□ Attention function
・Be able to focus properly on what is needed
・Instead of focusing on one thing, you can change where you focus according to the changes
・Able to distract attention in a balanced way
□ Visual-spatial cognition
・Understand the positional relationship between the lane and the car
・You can see the distance relationship between the front and rear left and right cars and the car you are driving.
・You can see how fast other cars are moving and the direction you are driving.
□ Administrative functions
・Understand the sequence required for driving
・Able to implement solutions when driving problems occur
□ Memory and intellectual function
・It is possible to temporarily memorize the positional relationship of cars and the status of traffic lights, etc., and take action.
□ Language
・Understand the meaning of navigation sounds
・You can read each display and understand its meaning
A summary of the high-level brain functions required for driving revealed a wide range.
If you have attention deficit or visuospatial perception problems, it can be dangerous to leave the hospital and resume driving immediately after a stroke.
As a rehabilitation worker, I explained the process of resuming driving to people with higher brain dysfunction during my hospital stay, but not all hospitals provide such an explanation.
Check with your doctor or public safety about resuming driving.
I want to step up support so we can resume driving safely.
Citations/references
1) Masaru Mimura et al.: Higher brain disorder and motor vehicle movement. Journal of the International Traffic Safety Society Vol.42 No.3 2018
https://www.iatss.or.jp/common/pdf/publication/iatss-review/42-3-01.pdf
2) Noriaki Kato: Procedures for recovery/stop driving in patients with brain disease/brain injury. Journal of Advanced Brain Function Research Vol.40 No.3
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/hbfr/40/3/40_297/_pdf/-char/ja
3) Noriaki Kato: High Brain Dysfunction and Car Driving. High Brain Function Research Vol. 41 No. 2
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/hbfr/41/2/41_178/_pdf
☆*:.｡. Thank you for reading to the end.｡.:*☆
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This article was reprinted on September 20 , 2022 on Aoi Hashima's blog " Stroke Rehabilitation Longevity Consultation Center " .