Transition is the journey from being a teenager to becoming an adult, and it brings lots of changes—like moving on from school, thinking about work, managing money, and switching from children’s services to adult support. This can be an exciting time with new opportunities and more independence, but it can also feel a bit uncertain, so having the right information and support can help you feel more confident about what comes next.
We have some practical information below to help you prepare for and manage these transitions including information on Adult Occupational Therapy Services.
In these BBC Bitesize videos, other students share their experiences of starting a new school alongside some tips on how to adjust.
There are lots of helpful ideas, tips and strategies for secondary school on the Kids website.
Here is a really useful worksheet for finding your way around school to help stop you getting lost.
Young Minds have videos and resources that can support you through the transition and reassure you that you are not alone in worrying about these changes.
People First and Westminster City Council have produced Moving On: A Guide to Becoming an Adult for Young People with Disabilities in an easy read version and the People First website has more information on the transition process from children's care services to adult's care services
Mencap has advice on the transition process for people with learning disabilities and has a free Learning Disability Helpline service offering advice and support.
The Transition Service at Mencap Westminster supports Young People aged 14-21 with mild or moderate mental health problems and Autism and/or a Learning Disability with personal development, e.g. budgeting, independent living skills etc, school/College/Uni/Employment transitions, accessing local activities and further referrals to other services.
Chelsea and Westminsiter Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have created this transition page for families and young people cared for by Cheyne Child Development Service on moving to adult services.
The National Development Team for Inclusion has lots of person centred planning tools to ensure that your views are at the centre of the Preparing for Adulthood process.
The Council for Disabled Children has a Transition Information Network that shares information and good practice for disabled young people, families & professionals and they publish the My Future Choices Magazine which shares articles about projects that support disabled young people and stories of transition written by disabled young people.
As you get older, your support will start to change from children’s services to adult services, and it’s important this is planned early so everything is ready when you need it. From around age 14 (and especially from 16-17), a transition team may work with young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) if they require social care to understand their needs. They will conduct Care Act assessments and create Adult Care and Support Plans if needed to help plan for things like college or work, housing, health, and becoming more independent, making sure young people have the right support in place for adult life.
If you already receive support from the Disabled Children’s Team in your borough, this team will help you begin to prepare for moving into adult life by supporting you to build independence, explore options like education or work, and make sure you’re connected to the right adult services such as the local Transition Teams listed below.
Bi-Borough Children with Disabilities Family Help Service
Telephone: 07790 362267 or 020 7361 2048
Email: Dutybi-boroughcwdfamilyhelp@rbkc.gov.uk
Hammersmith and Fulham Disabled Children’s Team
Telephone: 020 8753 6600 or 020 8753 3321 to discuss children already open to the service.
Email: familyservices@lbhf.gov.uk
Local transition teams
Westminster
(for people with learning disabilities only)
Westminster Learning Disability Partnership
Phone: 020 7641 7411
Email: wldpduty@westminster.gov.uk
Kensington and Chelsea
(for young people who have Learning Disabilities and /or Physical Disabilities)
Community Learning Disability Team
Phone: 0207 313 6843/6880
Email: asc.learningdisability@rbkc.gov.uk
Hammersmith and Fulham
Integrated Adult Social Care Transitions Team
Phone: 020 8753 2080
Adult Occuptional Therapy services are often structured and funded in a different way to children’s services.
If you have and Education and Health Care Plan and occupational therapy is listed in section F and you are still in education, OT support will continue to be provided by the local authority SEN Team in your school or college. However, if a young person is starting an apprenticeship or traineeship, SEN OT input is no longer provided.
If you have left education, the Triborough Learning Disability Occupational Therapy Service and the Community Neurological Rehabilitation Services Team provide occupational therapy services but they each have different eligibility criteria for who can access their service.
Triborough Learning Disability Occupational Therapy Service
The Triborough Learning Disability Team is a multi-disciplinary team of health care professionals including clinical and counselling psychologists, community learning disability nurses; physiotherapists; speech and language and occupational therapists. The team works across the three boroughs of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham and offers support for adults aged 18 years and above who have a diagnosis of learning disability.
The TriBorough Learning Disability Occupational Therapy Service can help people who:
- Have a Learning Disability
- Are 18 years or older, or moving from children’s to Adult Services
- Have a GP in the London Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster
They have produced this easy read leaflet explaining their services and how to contact them.
You can make a referral by contacting CLCH SPA at clcht.spa@nhs.net or you can call them on 020 8102 3889.
Community Neurological Rehabilitation Services Team
There are Occupational Therapists in the Community Neurological Rehabilitation Services Team which provide services for adults, over 16, with a primary neurological diagnosis which is the reason for their referral. They work with patients to develop a rehabilitation programme to meet certain goals and provide assessment, treatment and advice to clients and carers regarding:
- Indoor/outdoor mobility and supporting you to access your local community.
- Balance and falls.
- Exercise prescription, and links to other services to support you to be as active as possible.
- Promoting independence with daily activities, e.g. meal preparation, bathing
- Swallowing, eating and drinking
- Communication – including speaking, understanding, reading and writing
- Cognition - e.g. memory and attention
- Emotional difficulties relating to the neurological condition
- Fatigue management
- Work (for clients who are employed at the time of intervention), education and leisure
More information on referrals and the referral form can be found here.
Local hospitals have Learning Disability Teams in place to provide support to autistic people and people with a learning disability and their families and carers. You can find more information on how they can help you during hospital appointments at the links below. Some of these websites have easy read documents and videos to explain different processes such as having an x-ray or a scan.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hospital passport or Health Passport
You, your relative or carer can complete this hospital passport online or print if off.
You can add lots of information about you, including what is important to you, and how you like people to communicate with you, make a note of things that may make you worried and how people can help you feel less worried, as well as your routine and things you like or don’t like. If there is anything the hospital staff can do to help you get around or support you, you can also list it here.
You can bring this document every time you come to hospital and share it with the healthcare professional you are seeing.
This video explains more about hospital passports.
The 11 to 25 Hub developed by Imperial Health Charity is for young people, parents, educators and healthcare teams and is designed to help young people move from youth to adult services and to enable young people to learn how to manage their own health and conditions.
