Au-dulting: Navigating the Transition to Adulthood
By Dr Theresa Kidd
For many young Autistic people, their families, and school staff, the transition to adulthood is a daunting one, marked by significant changes in available services. More than half of young Autistic adults are not successfully transitioning to adulthood in the first two years after high school. However, proper planning can ease this difficult transition and ensure that Autistic individuals build the skills and establish the support that will allow them to flourish in adulthood.
An area that I am passionate about is supporting adolescents (and their families) to build capacity, skills, and a sense of mastery during the schooling years, and creatively mapping a meaningful pathway to adulthood.
Often, I have found myself beginning work with young adult clients who share that they left school—usually two or three years before—and now spend most of their time in their bedroom. For some people, this may be fulfilling a multitude of needs, but our clients’ decision to seek psychological services often stems from underlying challenges such as mental health difficulties, longing for social connections, aspirations for employment, financial stability, or the pursuit of higher education in subjects that deeply resonate with them.
So, what is causing this gap between what they are currently doing and how they would like their life to be? It could stem from various factors, such as traumatic past experiences like bullying during their school years, unmet educational or support needs, or the loss of friendships and seeing peers ‘succeeding’ that has resulted in feeling 'left behind'. Often, it is also the transition out of the structured school environment. Suddenly, without that framework and without adequate planning and support, initiating and engaging in new activities can feel daunting. The steps required to move into further study, employment, or new social groups heavily rely on an understanding of self (e.g., what are my strengths, values, needs?) and executive functioning skills (e.g., ability to initiate tasks, plan, organise).
As time elapses, it becomes more difficult to move from what is comfortable and predictable to what is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Without engagement in activities and social connection (whether inside or outside the home), a sense of mastery is not felt and often a decline in self-esteem, and a sense of hopelessness and isolation may result. In addition, parents or caregivers often report feeling at a loss as to how best to support their adult child.
Parents and school administrators often ask me, “When is the best time to start planning for the transition from high school to adulthood?”
I have many ideas regarding how to support our young people in developing themselves and harnessing their interests. While this understanding commences from the moment they begin to learn, formal contemplation and planning for this important transition is best initiated by Year 9 or 10 of high school, depending on the young person's developmental stage. While a collaborative process is ideal (e.g., involvement of school staff, the young person and family), training around this process can initially begin with parent/s and teachers. If the adolescent has a Pathological Demand Avoidant (PDA) profile, then working with the parents and teachers is usually the best way to begin the contemplation stage as it reduces the pressure of demands on the young person and helps the parents to think creatively about how they can best support their child and include them in the process over time.
I created the Mapping Autistic Pathways Successfully (MAPS) parent program after observing the transition challenges and needs post-high school for Autistic young people.
The MAPS parent program focuses on helping parents understand their child’s neurotype, strengths, interests, values, and utilise MAPS tools to maximise participation in high school, higher education, employment, and independent living for Autistic adolescents or young adults. To support the transition to adulthood, individualised approaches are the foundation of the MAPS approach, with the aim of building the foundations for a positive and meaningful adult life.
In addition, after being their child’s biggest advocate throughout their childhood, this program assists parents in understanding the delicate balance between how to best support their child’s move toward independent living and wanting their children to be successful on their own. This program provides information, discussion, and practical tools to assist parents in supporting their child across a variety of post-school pathways.
If you are a parent/carer wanting to enrol in our September 2024 MAPS online group parent program, please click here
Educators can play a pivotal role in assisting our Autistic students with the transition from high school into adulthood.
Our training module, Transitioning Autistic Students from High School to Tertiary Education and Beyond, assists educators and school staff in facilitating the movement from school to the world of adult work, study, living, and community participation using an effective, collaborative and incremental planning tool. This training module has been approved by the Department of Education (WA) and is available through ProLearn. Non-state education school staff can also access this professional learning module by contacting training@kiddclinic.com.au.
