The Transitions Project will aim to follow a selection of young people as they progress through the different stages of transition, which can be one of the following:

· Individual transitioning from Early Years to Primary School

· Individual transitioning from Primary to Secondary School

· Individual transitioning from Secondary School to Higher Education/Post 16 Pathway

· Individual experiencing family life experiences such as separation, grief,

· Individual who is a school refuser/ school withdrawer

· Individual who may have poor social skills and unable to make friends

Only those involved with a child or a vulnerable young person with additional needs can understand the pain, the pressure, and the anguish that these families experience. Very often what the public see on the surface is not the reality. The reality is the screams, the tears, the meltdowns, the frustrations, the anger and the sleepless nights for all involved. Only those who hear the dark thoughts, and the talk of suicide can realise how difficult life is for these young people. DADS has listened.

The Transitions Project will map the impact, the issues and difficulties that these young people will confront and create strategies that make life more bearable. We will follow a group of young people through the various transitions stages and record the problems they face while at the same time working on strategies to help them deal with the difficulties they have to confront. We need to give these young people a voice and we need to encourage wider society to listen. The Project will be led by the young people and their parents/carers and supported by people with appropriate expertise who can engage and create strategies to support them.

We will work with any organisation either statutory or voluntary to create a manual of what life currently throws at these young people and what strategies might make things easier for everyone concerned. Because each individual will have a unique experience and will deal with the problems in a unique way, we have decided to limit the numbers targeted by this project.

The project will also look at setting up peer groups, youth groups, plan activites so that they can feel part of society.

The project is a Practice to Policy engagement. We will log the practice and the supported strategies and then hope that our findings and recommendations will become accepted as policy.We will make appropriate connections that will be able to assist an individual at a transition which is causing a crisis.

Tel: 028796301606

E: [email protected]