Driving

Max and Boom, waiting our turn for minor car repairs, after a Christmas program

  Like most young men, my boys have grown up wanting to drive a car.  They have different impediments to doing so, but
Boom did get his license at a not-too-culturally late date, at age 17.

The Map in our Head

  You see, Boom's difficulty is the Map in his Head.
  For example.  One time, i gave Boom different directions to our dentist's office.  He's gone to the same dentist's office all his life, and driven himself a few times.  But there was serious construction on the beltway, and i wanted to spare him that.  So i directed him via a route some three miles west of the usual, which would have involved a right turn instead of a left.
  He turned left.  He was in the next town before realizing his mistake.
  However, lots of people drive successfully lacking this map.  Missing a dental appointment is inconvenient, but small potatoes compared to the consequences of Max's difficulty.

Roads Go More than One Place

  Max may never receive a license.  He's had a flawless Map in his Head since before age 2.  This was not a good thing.  If he thought we were going someplace he did not want to go, he screamed from the moment we got on a road that might go there.  Once - Max would've been about two at the time - he thought we were going to his grandparents' house, but turned to go to the place his aunt and uncle had just moved to.  The next ten minutes he screamed inconsolably, until he saw his aunt.
  Learning that Roads Go Different Places was a huge milestone for Max.
 

Who's There?

  No.  His problem is he doesn't know what other people might do, or often even notice them.  In the grocery this afternoon, he was often impatient with me for insisting we defer to other shoppers.  Left to himself, Max would have continued on our path to the next destination regardless.
  Later, in the parking lot, i asked him to return the cart to the cart bin.  i should've checked traffic with him first.   The car was at the far end of the row, just entering the lane as Max started, but he was oblivious.  Fortunately there was plenty of time - i may or may not have crossed the lane then myself - and the driver was aware.
  But Max was not. 
  And that's scary.