From child to adult

If you are a teenager, you may be thinking a lot about growing up, about becoming an adult.

So what does becoming an adult really mean? Well, partly, it means:

• you will leave school or college and find something more grown-up to do like getting a job perhaps;
• you will begin to use services for adults rather than ones for children.   

There are lots of things to think about, and lots of stuff to plan.

• Planning your move from child to adult
• Leaving school
• Moving from children's social services to adult social services
• Moving fron children's health services to adult health services

Planning your move from child to adult

It is important that you plan your move from childhood to being an adult. This is called Transition Planning.

You start your Plan at school in Year 9 when you are about 14. You then review your Plan every year.

The Plan will help you to think about things like:

• what you will do when you leave school and college
• how you stay fit and healthy
• how you get the support you need
• how to make friends

These things are usually in the plan but you can plan anything you want actually, - anything that’s important to you.

Leaving school

The biggest part of growing up for most young people is leaving school. You will wonder where you will go after school and what you will do.

People will help you to look at your options. These might include:

• going to college.
• getting a job.
• using a day service.

If you are 16 you might even be able to stay on at school or transfer to a school where you can stay on till you are 19.

Moving from children’s social services to adult social services

If you are a young person who receives support from the Children with a Disability team you will need to plan your transfer into Adult Services. 

You will get a new transition social worker from the Transition Team who will support you. They will help you to find new services to replace the ones you have as a child.

Moving from children’s health services to adult health services

If you go to a special school, your health needs have probably been looked after by a paediatrician (a specialist children’s doctor) and nurses and therapists attached to the school. But at some time between the age 16 and 19 your medical care will transfer to adult health services.

In adult services your health needs will be met through mainstream health services like your GP and community teams.