Learning disabilities

It is really important that we work with you, your family and professionals to plan your future. The Transitions Pathway helps us to do this. It is a guide to help us plan with you.

The pathway has seven main steps. Sometimes we do the steps in a slightly different order depending on your needs.

1. Start transition process

• your transition starts in secondary school
• there is a school meeting to talk about transition
• we look at your health and social care needs
• we think about your future needs

2. Talking about the future

• start to think about what you might like to do
• who else needs to get involved to help you plan, this might be:
  • school staff
  • health staff
  • social work staff
  • family
  • friends

3. Planning for the future

• start your plan and assessment for adult health and social care
• we might need to do assessments with you and involve other people to find out what you need
• there are rules, called eligibility criteria, that professionals need to look at when helping you create a plan
• when you reach 16 years of age in Scotland your parents have no legal rights to make decisions for you
• some young people are not able to make safe decisions for themselves
• the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 gives more information about this
• the Office of the Public Guardian gives information about Guardianship Orders, Intervention Orders, Power of Attorney

4. What do you need?

• think about trying some new things
• do you need equipment, somewhere to live, help to think about transport options, something else?
• we agree your options based on your eligibility
• we agree what support you might need, this might include:
  • support with staff
  • equipment
  • transportation

5. Money matters

• we need to agree what money you will have
• we have to take your plan, support and finance information to a meeting called the Resource Panel. This is where funding is agreed
• your welfare benefits may change
• we need to work out your finances and you might be assessed by a community care assessor
• self-directed support is the way you manage your support. There are four options which we will discuss with you
• we will tell you if you will have to pay any charges for your support

6. Checking out the plan

• are you happy with your plan?
• has everyone involved in your transition completed their tasks?

7. Moving to adult support

• you move from children to adult support
• check out what is working well
• does anything need to change?