YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Like a lot of 16-year-olds, Nicholas Gardner loves cars.

"Just the way everything is put together and functions," said Gardner. "The freedom you have is quite immeasurable."

Saab's are his favorite.

"Quirky and interesting," Gardner said.

Despite getting his license only five months ago, he's already put thousands of miles on his car. Out of all those miles though, 9.8 are pretty special.

"It's something I've wanted to do since I was little," Gardner said.

You see, those 9.8 miles are what it takes for Nicholas to drive from home to school.

"I've always had the dream just to drive up and roll on in by myself," he said.

Last month, Nicholas lived that dream, becoming the first ever student to drive himself to his school - Potential Development - a school for students with autism.

"This is a huge, huge accomplishment," said Paul Garchar, CEO of Potential Develoment. "We're so proud of Nicholas and everything he's been able to accomplish in his time here. I think it sends a great message to the community. Nicholas is a great example to show how Potential Development can serve students of all abilities."

It wasn't long ago, Nicholas couldn't find the right path. He struggled in middle school and was soon diagnosed with autism.

"His ability to cope with stimulus and to follow rigid sets of instructions without really understanding why, because he likes to ask questions, caused sort of a crisis and so he was no longer able to attend schools in our home district," said Lisa Gardner, Nicholas' mother.

Things changed once they got to Potential Development.

"Brought me out from a really dark point in my life and it was an incredibly helpful stepping stone in my school career," Nicholas said.

Nicholas not only found the keys to success, but a roadmap for life.

"They provided a really accommodating and happy place to learn basically that catered to my individual needs as somebody on the spectrum and they really helped me discover myself as a person and find my strengths in the world and go out and try to apply myself," Nicholas said.

"For Nicholas, Potential has made basically the difference between life and death," Lisa said. "The child who came here partway through the 8th grade feeling like an utter failure at life is the child you see now who is looking forward to going to MCCTC, looking forward to owning his own business and specializing in SAAB's because he loves them and just being able to create his own space in the world and having the confidence to do that."

Nicholas now lives his life in the fast lane and is ready to navigate whatever twists, turns or potholes that may arise.

He's proud to be a trailblazer at Potential Development and hopes others will be inspired to find the courage to do whatever they want.

"I hope to inspire people that maybe are a little bit hesitant about driving or find it a little bit scary to figure out that its something that is really fun and interesting to do and gives you a new amount of freedom and excitement that is really never known before," Nicholas said.

Nicholas says he wants to be a mechanic and open his own service garage some day. He'll continue his studies towards that at MCCTC next year.