My son with the fear of driving is also autistic. I am on the spectrum as well but as I mentioned, no driving phobia. This is not to say I don't have moments when i imagine I am in a horrific car crash ( that is always somebody else's fault.)

Phobias that are not dealt with properly in childhood are often carried into adulthood, unfortunately.

Tanit, I believe in our ability to practice a choice-centered astrology.

I also empathize. I grew up learning to drive on ice and snow and didn't think much of it, until I was in a highway accident caused by my losing control of the car while skidding on an icy road. Thankfully nobody was hurt, but it was one of those moments where we just as easily could have been killed, and I literally saw my life flash in front of my eyes.

It was a long time before I recovered enough from that accident to be OK with winter driving. I was terrified.

But at times when I had to drive, I developed some methods to boost my confidence. Prayer. Imagining myself to be a pilot car, leading the vehicles behind me to safety.

I also have Saturn in Virgo, and we do tend to be the worry-warts of the zodiac.

Each planet, sign, and house has multiple interpretations that are entirely consistent with its core meanings. Some of these interpretations are empowering and some are disempowering. Saturn as symbolizing fears and phobias is fair enough, but it's disempowering.

Saturn also rules self-discipline. If you want to drive despite your fear of driving, try focusing on self-discipline. Saturn also has the capacity to be concrete and material in a practical way. If there is a driving school nearby, perhaps you could take a few lessons before you need to drive on your own. Even a friend or family member might willingly take you out driving, starting in an area with little traffic, just so you get back in the habit. (Saturn is also the old man-- maybe you know one who would serve as a driving instructor.)

Anyway, you get the point. You are stronger than you realize, and the best way to deal with a fear is to face it one small step at a time.

I have taken driving courses 4 times already and have my license. My teachers have told me I am an excellent driver when it comes to following rules. Driving teachers are not equipped to deal with phobias, they can only teach you the rules. The third time the driver did not listen to me when I told him I had issues and I was forced to drive for 3 hours straight and was covered in stress hives for a week and was so exhausted I could hardly move. Unfortunately, I am not good at vocalizing my problems as they happen, so the teacher was clueless I was having an emotional breakdown (what is known as a shutdown, or the opposite of a meltdown). It has nothing to do with mastery. If there is a cure for autism, that might help, though. It isn't just about fear, it is how my brain is wired and how I respond to incoming information. For an autistic, having many things moving towards you at once, and loudly too, can overcome your senses and debilitate you. It causes great fear and anxiety, and is my ultimate fear, but it is also a safety hazard and that has been the primary reason I have not been driving and likely will continue not to. It took me many years to be capable of being a passenger in a car without feeling overwhelmed. It is like an animal being asked to drive. It is very common for autistics to be terrified and incapable of driving but mastery isn't the problem. We are very good at mastering a task but we cannot change how we react to changes in our environment, such as sudden movement and loud noises.

Also, I don't just have Saturn in Virgo, I have Saturn conjunct the North Node, and stationary in the 3rd. I haven't looked at the charts of a lot of autistics but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of us had Saturn influencing the 3rd house in unique ways. I think the fact that my Saturn is stationary does describe well a crippling fear of driving, though.

tanit,

thanks for explaining your situation more fully.. i have interacted with some who are described as being autistic or having asbergers.. you strike me like someone fair removed from what i have known, but i have a very limited understanding of autism and asbergers.. my wife works in a field where she has spent much more time interacting with people who are described this way.. one of the characteristics is being unable to see the grey areas - what i mean my that, is generally more of a literal interpretation of everything is taken..

i don't have an answer for you, but i am wondering about how you were able to make the transition described below? what allowed that to happen over time?

Tanit3333 wrote:It took me many years to be capable of being a passenger in a car without feeling overwhelmed.

i am wondering just how accurate the following statement below is... do we have control over our reactions in life? it is a good question to ask.. i think it is possible, but it would probably involve a lot of work.. i am thinking of myself and the many ways i react to things.. i think it is possible, but i don't know the pathway to getting their personally..

Tanit3333 wrote:....we cannot change how we react to changes in our environment, such as sudden movement and loud noises.

Autistics can find coping skills but it doesn't really get rid of the problem, it just helps us deal with it. For me, when in a car, I immediately look away from the road and daydream, read or use my phone. I don't focus on the movement around me. That is a problem when being a driver, though, since you are forced to stare at the road. This deviates off of the topic, though.

Autism has a spectrum, so some are more capable of functioning with neurotypicals than others. There is no longer a distinction between asperger's and autism, they are both termed autism clinically
Women are especially more likely to appear more functional than male autistics, although we are also more prone towards depression and suicide. In fact, at least one study showed that our lifespans on average are shorter due to suicide for female autistics. I think it is because we internalize more than males do because we try to function and the frustration goes inward rather than outward.

tanit,

a friend of mine is visiting here at present.. he is 40 years old and has never driven in his entire life ever...he was born in 78 and also has saturn in early virgo.. he will be 40 this year, more specifically..

why do you have to drive? is it possible you can set yourself up in such a way where you don't ever have to drive?

Tanit, thanks for your explanations. Given what you just posted, I am sorry that you did not more fully explain your situation in your previous posts. You posted about a driving phobia, not autism. I did not know about your mental health condition. We're not unsympathetic. I sometimes joke that I'm an amateur astrologer, not a mind-reader.

So what solutions have you developed?

Incidentally, my 34-year old daughter has never gotten her driver's license. She has no disability: she just never got herself to the point of being ready to take the test. Most of her life she's lived in cities with good mass transit. I don't blame or scold her for this.

Incidentally, I have Saturn in early Virgo. I don't drive a lot, even though I live in a rural area. My husband prefers to drive, so he does it most of the time, and usually we bundle our trips so we do them together.

A lot of people don't like to drive or have fears of driving and I wouldn't be surprised if in some more severe cases Saturn was influencing their house of transportation. Again, driving is my greatest fear, hence the topic.

Many autistics have no problem driving, it just depends on the individual issues that person goes through. My doctor would probably say this is a phobia issue (anxiety disorder) more than something physiological, so I do think it is apropos to mention. I brought up autism merely because there was emphasis that I wasn't trying hard enough or even that all phobias can be cured, and that isn't always the case - many autistics never feel safe enough to drive, as well as neurotypicals for whatever reason, such as anxiety or due to emotional trauma. I have Mars in Aries angular and have always been self motivated and good at teaching myself how to do things or how to cope with things in spite of adversity.

Autism isn't a mental health illness, it is a developmental disability that is usually diagnosed in childhood but carries into adulthood (with varying degrees of influences; a spectrum). I am going to quit commenting here because I think this deviated into an area that is likely going to just put me on a soapbox to try to explain autism to people.

Tanit3333 wrote:I have a very bad phobia of driving and have stationary Saturn in Virgo conjunct NN ruling the 8th in the 3rd in aspect with Mercury. Apropos, I am in a Mercury return and it is besieged currently, but I have a requirement to drive for work/family issues, after almost 10 years of not driving and need to purchase a vehicle (although the planets being in such a way is only increasing my fear). Are others with Saturn in the 3rd this terrified of driving, or perhaps Saturn in general showing a bad fear of something that holds them back in life? I normally look at Saturn for bad phobias.

Wherever you find Saturn in natal chart he carries influence in that house.

Satur in 3 rd hous is a classic aspect for the fear of driving (not, of course, just for that)

but Saturn is not a classic fear.

Saturn need experience primarily. It could be called insecurity, or lack of experience, which can lead to fear...

But the classic fear is instinctive reaction. , adrenaline reaction ... so that's Pluto... If it comes into contact with the Moon, it is a sign of a deep, dramatic way of experiencing life (as opposed to people who do not have that aspect) because that aspect is an "event enhancer"

To me, Pluto deals with trauma and things that take away your power, which could relate to fear in relation to those events that happened in a person's life. For example, people with Mars in hard aspect to Pluto are more likely to be a victim of an assault (or cause one) and that can take away their power and cause crippling fears to resurface. I saw a very good video on this recently from one of my favorite astrologers, Lada Duncheva, who also has an opposition with this aspect at 0 degrees.

My fear of being inside fast moving things - this relates to anything, whether an amusement park ride, airplane or motor vehicle, is not due to trauma, it is something I was born with and has stayed with me - it is instinctual. Almost every astrology book I have ever read says Saturn rules fears so I am not sure why so many people here disagree with that. You can do a simple Google search about astrology and fears and Saturn will be the planet to pop up, so the general population also agrees.

It's a forum ... I have the right to give my own opinion and that's what I did... nothing more than that ...
If you think that's wrong it's your thing

Absolutely have no need to prove anything to anyone