Transition Support
Growing
up
The Transition (Year 9) Review
The Actual Transition Review
Meeting
How we
support you – parents with children age 13-16
How we
support you – parents with children age 16-25+
General Information
It can be a shock when your child
reaches the age when puberty and adolescence approaches. This may be a time
when long-buried dreams about the future for your daughter or son child are
re-awakened, as the milestones they pass through take on a different
significance. Our aim is to support and prepare you emotionally and
practically before every main stage of your daughter or son’s life – through
offering the opportunity to talk through any concerns you may have, and
giving you the right information at the right time.
The transition from child to
adult status is an important period in terms of planning ahead for services
and support that may be needed in the future. We can advise you of resources
to help you find your way around the various systems of adult education,
health and social care services, leisure and housing options. We would
encourage you to ensure that Education and Social Services include personal,
social, educational, health and leisure opportunities into your daughter or
son’s Transition Plan (known as the Year 9 Review), and to make sure the
Plan is monitored and regularly evaluated.
The key to good planning at any
stage, is an up-to-date assessment of your daughter's or son's needs. The
assessment should involve, apart from yourself, all those who know her or
him well, for example school staff, careworkers at respite, epilepsy nurse,
and anyone else you think would be useful. The social worker is usually the
person that co-ordinates an assessment like this.
Some families experiences of the
Year 9 review have not always been positive. It is likely there will be a
number of different professionals at the meeting, and it’s not always easy
to express your point of view in these circumstances. It can be helpful to
bring a friend along for support and/or to take notes. You may find that you
are told at the review that it is “too early to plan or make decisions”.
However, this would be contrary to government guidance and good practice.
The aim of the Review is for everyone involved to come up with an agreed
plan that will address your child’s current and future needs. More
importantly, the plan should contain very clear action points, the name of
the person responsible, and the date the action should be completed by. We
know this does not always happen, so it may be a good idea to mention early
on that you would like these details recorded. It can also be helpful to
agree at the meeting (or beforehand if that feels more comfortable) a time
by when the minutes/plan should be circulated.
All our members with children
approaching 14 years will receive from us the RSAUK booklet ` Rett Syndrome:
Adolescence and Adulthood' which contains useful advice and shares the
experiences of other parents. We also send the Contact a Family Factsheet
called ""Preparing
for Adult Life and Transition" which explains in more detail what
a Transition Plan is and how it should work. The reason for the
“between” ages is to pick up on an ongoing basis any new members that join.
When your daughter or son
approaches 16, we will send you our
"Planning Ahead" factsheet which contains information on the
range of options and topics to consider. Where appropriate, we will also
send the Contact a Family factsheet 'Post-16
Transition in Scotland.
We are aware that planning ahead
isn’t just about making practical arrangements. Thinking about the future
may naturally bring up feelings of anxiety as you wonder who will be
involved in supporting your child and whether it will be enough. As always
we are here to listen to your individual situation and to talk through any
difficulties you may be experiencing.
As you will have read, all of the
information referred to above is sent to families when their child reaches a
particular age and is also available to download now.
RSAUK are pleased to be members
of the Transition Information Network (TIN). As part of the network we are
in touch with others who are also working to improve disabled young people’s
transitions into adult life.
Any links to external websites have been carefully selected but are
provided without any endorsement of the content of those sites
