‘Stroppy’ or ‘confident’? Do carers and professionals view the impact of transition support on young people differently?

Abstract

Accessible summary Young people with learning disabilities encounter many problems when they leave school. Support is provided by schools and other agencies, but often families feel that this support is not good enough. One reason may be that carers look at transition from school in a different way to school and support staff. We wanted to know how carers see the changes that happen in their young son or daughter during transition from school and how their view is different to that of teachers and support staff. Carers often stressed how things changed within the family during the time of transition while teachers and support staff emphasised changes in independence and social skills of the young people in our study. SummaryThe study examined the effects of transition employment support to two cohorts of young people who were in their last year in school or college in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. This paper reports the views of carers, teachers and support workers of the impact this additional support made to the young people. Analysis of the data reveals a difference between the views of carers and those of professionals. The paper argues that these differences may reflect different understandings of the aim and purpose of transition support and which may make it difficult to achieve a smooth transition for all stakeholders when not taken into account. This may have implications for how to structure and deliver transition support, some of which are being outlined in the discussion.