Autistic young people’s experiences of transitioning to adulthood following the Children and Families Act 2014

Abstract

Changes to special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation in England were implemented in 2014. Here, we evaluate the impact of these changes from the perspective of 80 autistic young people aged 16-25 years. Using an online survey and/or interviews, we examined young people's views on three key principles of the SEND reforms: the help and support provided to them; whether they were given a say in the choices and support that they were offered; and their satisfaction with their educational journeys and outcomes. The results paint a mixed picture. Our sample of young people reported varied experiences regarding the help and support they received, and how much of a say they had regarding the choices and support available to them. The types of schooling they accessed played a role here: young people in mainstream schools highlighted particular challenges in accessing appropriate support, while many young people in special schools said they felt well supported. Parental advocacy was crucial for all young people, as was having key 'champions' in the form of teachers who really knew them well. The need for the development of general life and self-advocacy skills was apparent, however, especially in preparing the young people for life after school. Encouragingly, most of our participants were generally happy with their current situation, despite identifying several areas for further improvement. Overall, the results highlight the importance of listening to-and learning from-autistic young people, throughout their educational journeys and especially as they transition to adulthood.

The experience of transitioning to adulthood for young people on the autistic spectrum in the UK: a framework synthesis of current evidence using an Ecosystemic model

“…Support-Parental support was a vital part of the transition process (Crane et al, 2021a;McMinn et al, 2019;Spiers, 2015). Young people placed greater importance on the support from their parents, particularly mothers, than from professionals (Crane et al, 2022;Goana et al, 2019;Mitchell and Beresford, 2014): 'Really all the support I've ever received has just been family, it's not really been any in education' (Crane et al, 2022).…”

“….' (Crane et al, 2022). These 'champions' made a notable positive difference to the transition experiences of those who had access to them (Crane et al, 2021a;Spiers, 2015).…”

“…Variations between settings. There was variation in the experiences of participants (Goana et al, 2019), with Crane et al (2022) reporting just over a third of their participants (42%) felt they had received the support they needed, with much variability based in the exosystem. Causes of variability included: availability of local external services (Crane et al, 2021a) and setting: post-19 and specialist settings providing greater support than post-16 and mainstream (Crane et al, 2022).…”

“…I don't really like secrecy though, I would have liked more transparency' (Goana et al, 2019). Confusion about statutory processes and a lack of accessible information impeded young peoples' ability to self-advocate (Crane et al, 2022;Mitchell and Beresford, 2014).…”

“…Stigmatising views about autism were reflected by participants with professionals throwing young people 'on the scrapheap' (McMinn et al, 2019), perceived stigma in workplaces (Crane et al, 2021b(Crane et al, , 2022McMinn et al, 2019) and schools lowering their expectations (Crane et al, 2022;Goana et al, 2019). One young person summarised thus: 'we are assumed to be stupid solely for our disability, we are then denied an education because of said disability and then called stupid because we didn't learn things we were never taught' (Crane et al, 2022).…”