Key to the study is the driving simulator inside Hyun\u2019s lab. The driver\u2019s seat and center console of a Ford Focus are surrounded by screens that depict a road scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The rural setting shows a two-lane, divided highway with trees and wide-open spaces around it, while the urban layout depicts what someone might see in Dallas-Fort Worth, including pedestrians, office buildings and grocery stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Researchers can adjust the scenarios to reflect real-life complications drivers face, including rain, fog and nighttime darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neurodivergent drivers may face difficulties in navigating unexpected situations such as passing emergency vehicles and school buses, so those were included in the simulation, said Jeongyun Ryu, a second-year doctoral student also working on the project.<\/p>\n
Researchers will first assess the participants\u2019 real and perceived driving skills through surveys, interviews and by putting them through tests on the simulator.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, the young adults will go through an online education program that uses artificial intelligence to tailor the course to each participant. At the end, researchers will ask participants if the education was helpful and how it could be improved.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/rice_neurodivergentdrivers_02-1024x683.jpg\")
Associate professor Kate Hyun sits behind the wheel of the driving simulator on March 18, 2026, at the University of Texas at Arlington. (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
The study is unique for its emphasis on real people in a field where many projects focus on computers, Hyun said.<\/p>\n
She found an interest in human-focused research as a doctoral student. A project required her to interview low-income older adults about their transportation challenges, a departure from the typical research focuses of traffic congestion and accidents. Hyun described the experience as eye-opening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I started thinking about how I can contribute as a transportation engineer to really help our communities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The researchers will work with others from UTA\u2019s College of Nursing and Health Innovation, who will complete motor assessments of the participants. Those assessments will be combined with the engineering researchers\u2019 work to better understand how different levels of conditions impact decision-making and coordination.<\/p>\n
Hyun is particularly curious to see how the young participants\u2019 self-assessments compare to their actual abilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sometimes high school students come into her lab during tours, and although they verbally assert that they know how to drive, they do not always do as well when they take a turn on the simulator, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow they perceive risk, how they evaluate themselves, how they control themselves \u2014 those are the things that I\u2019m wanting to know more about for these populations,\u201d Hyun said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The researchers are recruiting participants. Those interested can take an eligibility survey here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.<\/p>\n The Report\u2019s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Science Center. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/03\/19\/improving-driver-education-for-neurodivergent-teens-young-adults-focus-of-uta-research\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=452700&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/03\/19\/improving-driver-education-for-neurodivergent-teens-young-adults-focus-of-uta-research\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by McKinnon Rice, Fort Worth Report March 19, 2026 Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,7612,352,122],"class_list":["post-212359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-autism","tag-higher-ed","tag-tarrant-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}