Working together at the transition to adulthood: services for young people with learning disabilities

The transition from childhood to adulthood has become increasingly complex in recent years for all young people. This is the result of a range of factors including the collapse of the youth labour market and the resultant increase in participation in further and higher education among young people, changing family composition and a lack of affordable housing (Jones 2002; Furlong et al. 2003). Nowadays the transition typically involves three main aspects:

n leaving school and engaging in further education, training or employment; n leaving the family home and moving to a home of one’s own; n leaving the family of origin and establishing a family of one’s own.