“It’s wicked important,” says Mark Whitehouse, a retired driving-rehab instructor. “Wicked important.” He’s gotten rather fired up while we’re talking, his mellow Florida-tinged accent turning steadily more Massachusetts over the course of the conversation. “Picture you can’t drive,” he says, “can’t drive to work, to the store, to socialize. You’re stuck. When you drive your car, it feels great, doesn’t it? Feels free.”
Whitehouse believes everyone should have a chance at that feeling, even if vehicles need to be modified or people taught different ways to drive. That’s what driving rehab is: a combination of occupational therapy, doctors’ input, modified vehicles, and specialized training so people who have physical or cognitive disabilities can get behind the wheel.
It’s not a new concept. In the early ’60s, an engineer named Ralph…
