Michael Mercadante, founder of Modern Driver Institute and its sole instructor, is a nationally-recognized expert in teaching drivers with learning differences, including those with autism, anxiety and many other neurodivergent conditions. A subject matter expert with an academic background in educational psychology and years of teaching experience, he teaches defensive driving skills from a cognitive/behavioral perspective, and specializes in working with individuals with autism, anxiety, AD/HD, panic attacks, bipolar disorder and various other learning differences which require additional expertise and attention.
How is he different? The overwhelming majority of professional driving instructors come from two groups: gym teachers and football coaches who previously taught driver’s ed in a high school, and retired cops and truck drivers who are seeking part-time work. Mike is an accomplished traffic safety scientist who teaches from a psychological perspective.
Mike began working as a research associate at a traffic safety research lab in 1999. He specialized in developing multimedia components for novice driver education. This work included developing training scenarios on driving simulators, creating explanatory videos of critical concepts, and even contributing photos, illustrations and text revisions to the PennDOT Driver’s Manual. Other clients included the U.S. DOT, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), and AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Mike participated in one of the first major studies to examine the role of cell phones in driver distraction, which was awarded “Scientific Paper of the Year” by the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. Read more about his publications here.
He began teaching novice drivers full-time in January 2011, and, because of his background in scientific research, was given all the students other driving instructors were unable to successfully teach. Over the next two years, he studied all the latest journal articles and attended as many seminars as he could, learning all he could about the various diagnoses he was encountering, including autism, AD/HD, Fragile-X Syndrome and anxiety. In 2014, he decided to open his own driving school to better serve this community.
Nine years later, Modern Driver Institute remains the only driving school in Pennsylvania expressly specialized in providing services for neurodivergent novice drivers.
Mike holds a Master’s degree in Psychology, with a specialization in Educational Psychology. He worked on his doctorate from 2015 until the global lockdown in 2020, earning the status of Ph.D Candidate by completing all of his coursework, his comprehensive exams and his dissertation seminars. His BA degree in History was awarded by Temple University in 2007. He is writing a book about driving on the spectrum. He lectures on the topic of autism and driving several times a year, and works closely with research colleagues around the region.
In addition to teaching hundreds of people behind the wheel and classroom driver education since 2011, Mike’s other teaching experience includes time as an adjunct college professor, a teen programs coordinator, summer camp counselor and a kindergarten teacher.
Mike also operates HistoryWho.com, where he provides services as a professional historian and genealogist. He has been actively researching genealogy and his own family history for more than 20 years, and began helping other families in 2022. He is currently pursuing board certification as a professional genealogist. He has lectured on historical topics including the Civil War.
Mike is an amateur paleontologist and serves on the board of directors for the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society (DVPS).
Mike is a pop culture enthusiast and historian, and co-hosts a podcast called “The Logic Man and Fan Boy Power Hour”, available on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. He also runs a pop culture website at www.logicaldinosaur.com.
Mike is also an award-winning filmmaker, accomplished artist and published writer. He has flown hot air balloons, has performed precision driving maneuvers in a Hollywood film, and enjoys competing in regional rally and autocross events. He brings this creativity and desire for precision control to every lesson.
He has three children: Georgia Rose (15), Giovanni Danger (14) and Sadie Grace (9).
A few of Mike’s certifications are below:
