Beyond tick-box transitions? Experiences of autistic students moving from special to further education

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a qualitative, longitudinal case study conducted in England that explored the transition experiences of autistic students with intellectual disabilities (ID) as they left special school to go to colleges of further education (FE). Sequential interviews with six young people, their parents/carers and educators were developed to address an important knowledge gap in relation to progression to post-16 education for differently abled learners. Transition is theorised through both the lens of the social model of disability and the three typologies of induction, development and becoming. Combining these enables a focus on flexible systems and adaptive environments as well as an openness to the variability of autistic students. While the research found evidence of transition planning, it also identified gaps in critical processes, limited understanding of autistic students’ capacity to manage change and normative expectations around independence. Parents reported a largely ‘tick-box’ approach to transition that was further reflected in a lack of preparation for social transition. The paper highlights responsibilities of institutions to make adaptations to transition processes in order to enable autistic students to better navigate change.

KEYWORDS:

• Transition
• autism
• further education
• special school
• intellectual disability
• social model

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the young people in this study for their willingness to take part in walking interviews and tablet-based activities; the parents of the young people and the teachers, tutors and careers advisers who all agreed to be interviewed.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was based on an ESRC (10.13039/501100000269 Economic and Social Research Council) funded PhD: 1232999.

Notes on contributors

Jacqui Shepherd

Jacqui Shepherd is a lecturer in education, SEN, disability and inclusion at the University of Sussex. Her research interests include autism, transition and inclusive education in the UK and internationally.