SOUTHFIELD — Thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Byron and Dorothy Gerson Innovation Fund, individuals with disabilities can take a driving assessment through STISIM Drive, a driving simulator that helps determine an individual’s potential driving capabilities. The simulator is located at Gesher Human Services in Southfield. “We help individuals with some form of a documented disability find employment, and over the years, one thing that we continue to see is that transportation remains one of the biggest barriers to the people that we serve,” said Rene Dell, vice president of vocational rehabilitation at Gesher Human Services. Dell explained that the driving simulator provides a driving assessment in a “safe, no-risk” environment where individuals can see where their skills are at. “The best part about the driving simulator is that it truly mocks real-world driving,” Dell said. “You can drive in residential areas, suburban areas, jam-packed cities, rural back roads or highways, and it’s really assessing your reaction time, your responses to emergency situations. You could be faced with a low tire light, a check engine light, a low fuel light.” According to Dell, the assessment evaluates the response time of the participant, as well as their ability to follow traffic laws and their memory skills. Each assessment takes about two hours and costs $325. However, Michigan Rehabilitation Services may be able to provide funding for some participants, and there are also limited scholarships for those in financial need. About a week after the assessment is completed, a detailed report is generated, which can be shared with family and physicians to help make an informed decision about whether driving would be feasible for the participant. “For somebody that excels and runs into very little barriers and doesn’t really have issues, the next step may be moving onto the on-road driving training,” Dell said. “For other people, if barriers are noted, it’s possible that vision therapy or occupational therapy could be helpful. They could be given targeted ideas of things that should be worked on before driving is further explored.” The assessment is also available to older adults who are concerned about their safety on the road. “As people are aging, sometimes family members question, ‘Should this person still be on the road?’ And that’s a difficult question as a family to answer,” Dell said. “So when you’re able to come get an unbiased opinion from an organization that you can trust, it helps to take the family dynamics out of it, and you’re able to then present hard data.” Ten assessments have been conducted since the equipment was installed at Gesher in September, including that of childhood cancer survivor Juliana Marrocco. After having brain cancer, Marrocco’s right side of her body became weaker than her left side. “I’ve always wanted to be able to try a driving simulator to try to have the left foot acceleration,” she said. “Everybody says, ‘Oh, driving, it’s nice because you get the freedom and stuff.’ Growing up, I’m like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that because of my right foot.’ I’ve tried driving (with my) right foot, and I can’t feel the pressure.” The left foot acceleration is an adaptation that can be added to vehicles to meet the needs of individuals like Marrocco. Dell explained that the simulator can be adapted to meet the various needs of people who may need adaptive equipment once they get onto the road. Marrocco said that everyone around her was kind and joked with her, which made her feel more comfortable during the assessment. Through her assessment, she learned that she is impulsive. “Which we already knew,” Morocco said, jokingly. “I learned that it might be a struggle to get there, but eventually, I will be able.” She encourages others to take the assessment. “Give it a try because you don’t know what kind of doors that would open for you, and it’s a cool experience to get to see how they can assess all that through the simulator,” Marrocco said. For more information, or to arrange for a simulator session, contact Rene Dell at rdell@geshermi.org or call (248) 233-4448. For more information about Gesher Human Services, visit www.geshermi.org.

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