Transition

Leaving school and moving into adult life can be an exciting and challenging time for young people and their parents, with lots of changes and choices to be made about the future.

A group of young people If your son or daughter has a learning disability, making this transition can be even more complicated. You may be receiving support from a number of different agencies, including health, social care and education services, and these will all change as your child approaches adulthood. In addition, these changes may happen at different times and may not always join up.

To make sure your son or daughter has a positive experience of transition and receives the right support, you as a parent need to make sure that you have the right information and are well prepared for the process.

To begin with we had no idea about the key stages in the transition process. They organised the odd work experience placement for him, and tried him on a course for a week, but there wasn't much else. However, by the end of the process I had become a bit of an expert!

About this guide

This guide offers advice and information for parents and carers about the transition process – how to survive it and how to make sure you are able to make successful and positive plans for the future.

Throughout the guide you will find links to other useful organisations and websites, as well as advice and tips from parents who have already been through the transition process. There is also information on action you can take – look for the "what next?" sign for things you can do.

You can find a short explanation of important words and phrases in the key words section at the end of this guide.

This guide is also available to download as a PDF.

Main sections

Author:: Rachel Crews
Last updated:: 24 August 2010

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