Moving on to adult life - People with additional support needs and their communities

What are the difficulties that families face when a young person with additional needs is getting ready to leave school?

What can staff at the school do to help?

How can people who work in other settings support young people when they are making choices and exploring options?

Why is continuing to learn an important part of being part of a community?

What are the problems that young people and their families face?

Some families in Fife wanted more information to help them plan for the future and increase the ways their daughters and sons could be part of their communities. They were finding that some aspects of the way services are organised got in the way.

Children's services and adults' services often aren't co-ordinated.
The assessment process can focus on what people with that disability need, rather than on what that individual wants.
Many professionals - and parents - have low expectations of what young people with disabilities can achieve.
The starting point is often that disabled people need services that will be separate, or at least different, from everyone else.
The planning process can become very stressful for everyone.
Ordinary community resources such as swimming pools and parks are often overlooked and the managers are usually not asked to make the necessary changes to their facilities to make them available and more easily used by the whole community.

The families shared their experiences and ideas on how to increase the choices for their sons and daughters and how to help make sure they would be included in their communities. They also looked around for sources of information and examples of how things could be different. Staff who work in a range of settings and families are now using the packs. Their feedback is that the resource packs are having the impact that was hoped for: they show people practical ways round problems and show them that the problems are often not as big as they thought they were.

Cover detail of Moving On resource pack from Outside the Box

'Outside the Box' resource pack

The families in Fife and staff from Outside the Box developed a resource pack for other families to share the ideas and practical experience with people across Scotland who want to support young people with disabilities as they move on to adult life.

The pack builds on ideas and practical approaches that apply to the way any community welcomes disabled people. It draws on a wide range of research and practical experience from many projects in Scotland and further afield.

It has contact details for many sources of information and support which can help young people as they move from school to adult life.

Outside the Box has also written a guide for staff, to help them work with young people and their families, and to develop policies and practices that support and encourage inclusive communities.

What helps?

These are some of the points which this project and other people working to achieve successful transitions for young people and inclusive communities have identified as making a difference.

The starting point is knowing that each of us has our own strengths, capacities, personality, likes, dislikes, enthusiasm and gifts.
Disabled people and their families are looking for help from friends and neighbours, as well as from services, to get a good life. A good life is about being well, having opportunities and having friends and people to stand by you, as well as about being safe.
A good life is also about planning for the future. What happens to children and young people as they are growing up or starting to live more independently has a big impact on their lives later on - whether they have friends around them, or whether they have the confidence and skills to try new things or adapt to new situations.
When people start thinking about ordinary resources first - the things that everyone uses - and then about services to back up the ordinary things, the choices and possibilities get much wider.
One of the reasons why families worry about the future is that our society still does not always welcome disabled people. It helps when there are good quality services that people can rely on. It also helps when there are lots of ordinary people around to be friends with someone who needs a bit of extra support, and to give the types of help we give to our other friends and neighbours.
Disabled people are citizens. Part of having a good life is making a contribution, as a friend, member of a club, neighbour, volunteer, employee, voter. Communities which welcome everyone gain a lot.
Continuing to learn brings many benefits for the person - confidence, skills and knowledge, making friends, widening the options and helping other people stretch their views of the world. People learn in all sorts of ways and sometimes they need other people to use their skills and experience to find what will work for each person.
Many disabled people want jobs, and could work with the right support. One of the main barriers they face is other people's low expectations of what disabled people can achieve and of the ability of other employees to come up with solutions.
Communities should include everyone, and the discussions about what our communities will be like in the future should include everyone. So disabled people and their families need to be part of discussions about your area - housing, transport, jobs, the social economy, investment priorities, safe communities, how you tackle poverty, education.

What you can do

If you have a role in education and creating opportunities for children and young people, think about how your policies and actions will enable disabled children and young people to have a good life as they grow up and when they are adults.
If you have a role in making communities work, think about how your policies and actions will help the community to welcome everyone.
If you are responsible for the services and facilities that a lot of people enjoy, think about how these can draw in all of the population.
If you are working alongside people from a local community, what can you do to make all services welcome people with a range of needs, and to promote inclusion?
There are disabled people in your area who are making a contribution as employees, members of clubs and neighbours. Ask them what helped and what would have made things easier.
Whatever you do, think about what a good life would be for you and for the people you care about. Think about how you encourage and support people to realise their good life.

Where to find out more

The resource pack, which has been written by families for other families, and a guide for staff, are published by Outside the Box. There is more information on the Outside the Box website about the publications and how to order them, or phone 0141 445 3062.
Some other good sources of information around transition for young people with additional needs are at Transition Information Network
Trans-active brings together young people with and without learning disabilities. There are sections of the website for teenagers and for parents and teachers.
Moving On Up is a multicultural website for young people with disabilities.
The Road Ahead brings together a lot of material for young people, their parents and staff who work with them.
There are local projects and services in many parts of Scotland which offer training and information to help young people, their families and staff to have more choices.