CYP Now - Letter: Putting young people in control

There were lots of interesting points that came out of the feature on transition issues for young people with disabilities (Children Now, 6-12 September). For me though, and the young people I work with, the critical point lacking was an emphasis on young people being in control of decisions.

How can we put young people with disabilities in control? We need to bedoing two things. The first is offering advocacy to support young peoplewith disabilities so they understand and are part of decisions beingmade about their futures. Second, we need to provide more sustainablesolutions. We should be offering opportunities for young people todevelop their own self-advocacy skills. This is the way to genuinely putyoung people in control.

To support this latter principle, Speaking Up is this month launchingBig Box, a resource based on innovative work in special schools, toempower young people to have a voice in transition and develop thisskill set. We hope professionals around the country will use it to putmore young people with disabilities in control of their futures.

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