Why it’s important to plan for your child’s transition to adulthood

Leaving school and becoming an adult are big steps for all young people.

If your child has disability or ADHD, is autistic, or has other additional needs, their transition to adulthood might need extra planning and support.

When to start planning your child’s transition to adulthood

It’s a good idea to start planning while your child is at secondary school.

This will give you plenty of time to work on the skills your child needs to achieve their goals for adulthood. It will also give you time to find out about the supports your child will need, depending on what your child wants to do.

What is a transition to adulthood plan?

A transition to adulthood plan outlines how to support your child as they leave school and move into post-school life. It’s a key element of your child’s transition to adulthood.

Each young person’s transition plan will be different, but all plans should cover the following areas:

• further education
• work
• independent living
• social relationships and community involvement.

And for each young person, a transition plan should describe:

• short-term and long-term goals for the future and how to work towards them
• strengths, abilities, skills and interests and how to develop and support them
• needs and how to make sure these needs are met.

If your child is in Year 9 or above and your child’s school hasn’t started developing a transition plan, talk to school staff about starting the process.

How to develop a transition to adulthood plan

It’s important for your child to be involved in developing their own transition plan.

Step 1: describe your child’s goals

This is what your child hopes to do after school in the short and long term.

Step 2: describe your child’s current skills

You and your child can compare these with the skills that they need to meet their short-term and long-term goals.

This can help you and your child decide which skills they need to learn, practise or improve on and where they might need support.

Step 3: gather information

You and your child can create a well-rounded and thorough plan by talking with and including input from people who are significant to your child. These people might include teachers, support staff, therapists, siblings, relatives and friends.

Change might be stressful for your child. It might help if you and your child think about how they’ve coped with past transitions. It’s also useful to think about strategies and supports that have worked well for them in the past – for example, visual aids or mind maps.

Further education in your child’s plan

Further education options include university, TAFE or vocational education and training. If your child is interested in one of these, this should be included in their transition plan. This will help your child choose what subjects to study, especially in secondary school.

If your child wants to go to university, the Australian Government helps university students with disability through the Higher Education Disability Support Program. It’s also important to talk to individual training providers, TAFEs and universities about their disability services.

And in all further education institutions, your child has the same education rights as other students. This means that the further education provider must make reasonable adjustments to ensure your child has the same opportunities as other students to take part in the provider’s programs. Your child’s transition plan should include any adjustments that they need.

Work in your child’s plan

If your child wants to get a job, you could consider what sorts of jobs might suit your child’s interests and abilities and how your child could use their strengths in the workforce. For example, if your child loves animals and is good with them, your child might be able to get a job as a veterinary assistant or dog walker.

Volunteering and paid work in the teenage years can help you and your child work out whether your child’s interests can be turned into longer-term employment goals.

Many schools work in partnership with the vocational education and training sector and registered training organisations to organise work experience, traineeships or apprenticeships.

Job Access has information and advice on the employment of people with disability. This includes Inclusive Employment Australia, which helps people with disability find a job. You can also get information on workplace modifications and flexible working arrangements.

Independent living in your child’s plan

Your child might have a range of options for living independently. For example, they might be able to live:

• by themselves
• in shared accommodation
• in supported independent living accommodation.

Your child’s transition plan should include your child’s goals for independent living.

It should also cover the skills your child needs to live independently. These might include skills for:

• cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and shopping
• maintaining personal hygiene
• managing time
• using public transport
• managing finances.

If your child needs to stay living at home, it’s important to do some long-term planning as a family. For example, what care and support arrangements will your child need as you age? Who will look after your child if something happens to you? This can also be a good time to review your options for financial planning, wills and trusts.

Social relationships and community involvement in your child’s plan

Transition plans should include ideas and activities for:

• meeting new people and building social relationships
• maintaining old friendships or making new ones
• taking part in social and community activities.

Your child might be keen to carry on with social, recreational or community activities that they enjoy at school. Your child might also want to try something new.

As part of your planning, it’s good to look into local services for adults with additional needs. There might be services that help with routine activities, like grocery shopping, or groups that organise social outings, like going to see a movie or doing an exercise class with other adults.

Your state autism association, disability service or local council will be able to tell you about services in your area.

Your child might also need to plan for the transition to the adult health care system. Your paediatrician or GP will usually start talking about transition when your child is 12 or 13.

Reviewing your child’s transition to adulthood plan

Why it’s important to review

It’s important to review the plan because your child’s:

• goals might change over time
• skills might develop more quickly or slowly than expected.

How often to review

You might review the transition plan every 6 months in secondary school. It’s good to review more often shortly before and after the transition.

What to review

You can look at your child’s successes and challenges to get a sense of how your child is going. This will help you think about how to adjust goals and strategies in your child’s plan.

Who to involve

It’s important to involve your child in the review process. Talking with your child about their plan will help you understand how your child thinks they’re going, whether your child’s goals have changed, and what supports your child thinks they need.

Talking with school staff and other professionals involved in your child’s care will give you more information.

When your child turns 18, they become a legal adult and can make their own decisions about medical care, finances and personal information. It’s good to think about whether your child will need support with this and who your child trusts to help. You could talk with a disability advocate or solicitor about what’s appropriate for your child’s situation.

Funding for transition supports

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a national system that funds support services for children and adults with permanent and significant disability.

If your child has an NDIS plan, you’ll look at how the NDIS can support your child's short-term and long-term goals for becoming a young adult.

There’s likely to be a lot of overlap between your child’s NDIS plan and their transition plan.

The NDIS can provide funding for supports to help your child meet their goals. This might include:

• support to learn independent living skills, like money and household management
• support for daily living activities, like getting dressed and showering
• school leaver employment supports in the final year of secondary school
• transport so that your child can take part in community or social activities
• help at home with tasks like laundry and cleaning
• home modifications.