A previous article described a project run by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities called “What kind of a future?” which addressed innovative approaches to transition. The second phase of the project is described here. This involved a series of workshops for young people and their families, held in Cardiff, Derby and the London Borough of Newham. This article focuses on the workshops held in Cardiff which were attended by 7 young people with learning disabilities aged between 14 and 27 years and members of their family. A total of four workshops were held in each region. The first explored person centred planning. In Cardiff the other workshops focused on work and supported employment, self-advocacy and financial support, and health and housing. In all the workshops local professionals were invited to talk about their organisations and self-advocates shared their experiences, thus helping families to make links at a local level. The results of questionnaires used at the start and end of the workshops indicated that there was a small increase in the number of activities and social contacts by the participants. There was also an increase in the number of professionals involved in their lives. Feedback from families indicated that they had a greater awareness of local services and their aspirations around their child entering the workplace had increased. The authors conclude that this model was far more useful than just the use of written information with no follow-up.
A previous article described a project run by the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities called “What kind of a future?” which addressed innovative approaches to transition. The second phase of the project is described here. This involved a series of workshops for young people and their families, held in Cardiff, Derby and the London Borough of Newham. This article focuses on the workshops held in Cardiff which were attended by 7 young people with learning disabilities aged between 14 and 27 years and members of their family. A total of four workshops were held in each region. The first explored person centred planning. In Cardiff the other workshops focused on work and supported employment, self-advocacy and financial support, and health and housing. In all the workshops local professionals were invited to talk about their organisations and self-advocates shared their experiences, thus helping families to make links at a local level. The results of questionnaires used at the start and end of the workshops indicated that there was a small increase in the number of activities and social contacts by the participants. There was also an increase in the number of professionals involved in their lives. Feedback from families indicated that they had a greater awareness of local services and their aspirations around their child entering the workplace had increased. The authors conclude that this model was far more useful than just the use of written information with no follow-up.
Subject terms:
independence, learning disabilities, learning disabilities services, life skills, life style, person-centred planning, self-advocacy, supported employment, user views, service transitions, young adults, young people, employment, family members, family support;