Mom fights for driver’s licence for son with a disability

Helen Carstensen from Norscot is frustrated by the back and forths of trying to get a driver’s licence for her son who lives with a disability. She said her son Dean (17) has dyslexia, which is a disorder that primarily affects his skills in reading and writing.

Carstensen said he needs to take an oral learner’s licence as a result.

“He has been coached by a qualified driving instructor and is now ready to take the test. I took my son out of school early one day to get this booked and sorted. We were told to go to the Randburg Testing Station and had letters from the school and doctor to motivate for an oral test.”

But she hit a brick wall. “We go and get sent from one office to another as nobody knows how to assist us as they haven’t done an oral test in years. We were asked if we had booked online and requested an oral test. Do they not know their system and that you can’t book online for an oral test? We went to the office we were sent to and I said ‘Excuse me’ to the woman sitting there who was so busy watching movies on her phone it took me several attempts to get her attention.

“We get sent to another lady who then proceeds to tell me that the neurologist letter I presented to her needs to be on a letterhead, which it is. She then says she can’t help me and will need to discuss it with her manager who is in a meeting and she takes my number and says that she will call me. That was two weeks ago! And I haven’t heard from her which I knew would happen.”

“My son has worked so hard over three months to get ready for this test. It’s not fair that to book it isn’t an easy process. This should be a simple process to encourage and give hope to those with learning disabilities and those who are illiterate. I also want to highlight that there is an option for people with learning disabilities to get their learners as they may not know it. I didn’t know until I did some research but nowhere does it say how to apply for the oral test.”

Carstensen contacted the Department of Transport to intervene, “They tried to get it sorted with the testing station but they don’t respond to her emails.

She said she refused to believe that her son is the only person in the country who needs an oral learner’s licence test.

“Why is it so difficult to get this sorted? Why is it not a simple process? South Africa claims to be a country of inclusivity. Well, it isn’t and anyone who has a child with learning difficulties knows how hard things are for them and you want to allow them to be independent but the authorities in this country clearly don’t.”

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