What is Transition?

You may have heard about Transition from others. Transition is where your care and support changes from children services to adult services when you are 16-18 years old.

As a young person with a learning disability and/or autism you, or your parent or carer, might find this information helpful to understand more about what transition means in healthcare. There is also information about the process available in easy read.

Transition might look a bit different depending on the healthcare team(s) involved in your care, but it can mean:

• Your hospital appointment may change to be in a different hospital to your usual one
• Your care and support will be moved from a children's hospital to an adult hospital and you will have different people involved in your health team.

It is normal to feel worried at this time; we recognise that change for people with a learning disability and/or autism can be difficult. 

However, it can also be an exciting time for gaining new rights, responsibilities and more independence and you will be supported in preparing for and moving hospitals.

A fundamental change when you are transitioning is the decision making process. The Mental Capacity Act (2005) aims to protect and empower adults to support them to make their own decisions. This means that an adult cannot provide consent for another adult. Each decision should be time and decision specific, and if assessed as lacking capacity, a best interest discussion will take place to ensure the best decision is made for the individual. During this process, the views of your parents/family/carers will also be taken into account as these are the people who know you best!

The Mental Capacity Act social care and support guide gives more information about this.

It is important that young people with learning disabilities and/or autism, their parents and carers plan for transition and the healthcare team will be able to support this.