Learning disability

Moving from school to college, Day Services or work can be an exciting time and a time of opportunity, to meet new people and learn. However, it can also be a difficult time for any young person as it is stepping into a new world. This information will help you understand what will happen as you prepare to leave school and what options are available to you.

Your rights

A framework of legal rights and duties underlies the transitions process. A brief summary of these is set out in Appendix 1. If you are eligible to receive funding for services then you will be able to choose the services or resources that you want as long as they meet your assessed needs and outcomes. The process that is used to determine who is eligible and how much your budget will be is described in the stages below.

If you want to discuss your rights and entitlements with an independent organisation, then you can contact Ceartas Advocacy Service (see Section 11 for contact details).

At the beginning of your last year at school there will be a meeting in the school to discuss plans for what you want to do after you leave.

If you do not already have a social worker, a referral may be made to Children & Families Social Work at this time for an assessment of your needs. Your social worker will visit you in your home and at school and will ask you about what support you need in every part of your life, and about your hopes and aspirations. The social worker will also speak to your parents or carers as well as to your teachers and any other people who support you. If you do not have a social worker you can discuss this with the school or contact social work directly.

Once your Assessment has been completed a Resource Screening Group will determine whether you are entitled to services such as Day Care or Respite. Eligibility Criteria is used to help decide to whom we will provide services to and what those services should be for. You may also wish to consider other options such as going to college.

You can find out more information about the Eligibility Policy and the Fair Access to Community Care Resources Policy by accessing the link in Section 11.

If you are entitled to Adult Services such as Day Services, a social worker should be appointed from an Adult Social Work Team. The Children’s Social Work Team and the Adult Social Work Team will then work together to assess what level of support will meet your needs.

When you leave school you will transition to Adult Services and you will no longer have a social worker from Children & Families Social Work and any support provided by them will end.

If you are not eligible for social work support, you may be referred to the Local Area Coordinators (LAC) or to Skills Development Scotland   (SDS) who will tell you about what options are available to you on leaving school. See Section 11 for contact details for LACs and for more information about SDS and the Careers Service.

Your social worker from either Children & Families Social Work or Adult Services Social Work will advise you if you meet the Eligibility Criteria and are entitled to services such as Day Care or Respite.

If you are informed that your needs and outcomes can be met through a placement in a Health & Social Care service such as Kelvinbank or Outlook Services, this would be described as being under Self Directed Support (SDS) Option 3.

If you would prefer to go to another Day Service then you will be told what your budget is and you can then choose to spend your budget independently. This is called SDS Option 1 or a Direct Payment. This is a payment made to you in the form of an ‘individual budget’. This payment allows you to arrange alternatives to services your Council provides or buys to meet your needs.

Alternatively, you may choose the Day Service you wish to attend but ask Social Work to make the arrangement to pay for the service. This is called SDS Option 2. To access Option 1 or Option 2 Guardianship is required if you do not have the capacity to make decisions about your welfare or finances (see Section 9). Please see link in Section 12 to find out more information about the different support options available under Self-Directed Support.

If you are unable to make your own decisions then your Welfare and Financial Guardian will be able to act on your behalf.

If it is agreed as part of your assessed needs that transport should be provided, this will be arranged by social work, or you can request that the same cost is provided to you in the form of a budget so that you can purchase your own transport provider (See Section 12 for information about Self-Directed Support). If you choose to use transport that costs more than the amount in your budget, then you or your family will need to pay the additional cost.

There is a charge for both Day Services and for transport.

There will be a review of your support at least once each year by Social Work to check that the support you have in place is meeting the needs that you were assessed as having in your assessment. This will still take place if you have chosen to have your support provided through SDS Option 1 or SDS Option 2.

Your carer should be offered an assessment called an Adult Carer Support Plan or a Young Person’s Carer Support Plan. A social worker or an organisation such as Carers Link or Ceartas will be able to assist you with this.

If you meet the Eligibility Criteria and a Carers Assessment has been carried out and they also meet the Eligibility Criteria as a carer (see link at the end), your social worker will also carry out a Respite Assessment. Respite is support offered to carers to give them a break from their caring role. You may also benefit from having a period of respite, either in a residential setting, through a short break, or, at home.

Many young people who have learning disabilities choose to go to college or to Day Services, or to a mix of the two. If you are choosing to go to college, or are considering further training for employment, a worker from Skills Development Scotland or a Local Area Coordinator should attend your school review and be able to explain to you the options. See Section 9 for details about Skills Development Scotland.

You or your carer should contact the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss changes to your welfare benefits entitlement after you have left school. If your Child Benefit stops or you are moving to Day Services and no longer in education you will require to apply for Universal Credit (UC). You will be asked to complete a Capability for Work Assessment.

If your carer is in receipt of Carers Allowance, this should be able to continue, unless you move into residential care. See Section 9 for details about Kirkintilloch Citizens Advice Bureau.

If you do not have capacity to make decisions in one or all of the areas of personal welfare, property or finances then someone close to you, or occasionally the local authority, may apply to become your Welfare and/ or Financial Guardian.

If you do have capacity to make decisions in relation to your welfare, property or finances you may wish to consider appointing a Power of Attorney. This is someone who can act on your behalf either now (for assistance with finances) or in the future.

Both Welfare and Financial Guardians and Powers of Attorney must follow strict guidelines called Principles in relation to how they carry out their role. See below for information about organisations such as Carers Link, Ceartas and Citizens Advice Bureau that can give you more information about Guardianship and Power of Attorney.

Continuing care is a legal term which will enable a looked after young person aged 16 to remain in their current care placement until they are 21.

Children and young people may receive a “continuing care package” if they have needs arising from disability, accident or illness that cannot be met by existing universal or specialist services alone.

There are lots of places you can find help and advice. Some of them are listed below:

Independent Living Fund Scotland: Transitions Fund

This is a fund set up to provide support over and above what the local authority would provide. It can provide grants to assist young people to access resources or purchase equipment that will help them to be more independent.

You can find out more information about the Fund by calling 0300 200 2022 or by visiting the Independent living Fund Scotland website. 

• Local Area Coordinators – 0141 578 2142
• Ceartas Advocacy Service - 0141 774 0433
• Carers Link - 0800 975 2131
• Citizens Advice Bureau - 11 Alexandra Street, Kirkintilloch G66 1HB· 0141 775 3220
• Creatovators - 07981656184
• Differabled - 0141 558 0448
• East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action - 0141 578 6680
• East Dunbartonshire Initiative for Creative Therapy (EDICT) 0141 772  4554
• East Dunbartonshire Association for Mental Health - 0141 955 3040

Skills Development Scotland

Skills Development Scotland is the national skills organisation, which delivers the Career Service in East Dunbartonshire

Careers Advisers deliver career information, advice, and guidance to pupils in all secondary schools, Woodland View School and Secondary Wellbeing.

Careers Advisers work with pupils at various points in school via group work  sessions  and  one-to-one  interviews, especially at key times such as option choices. Support is designed to help pupils understand their options and build their career management skills. If you are still at school and want to speak to your Careers Adviser, you can arrange an appointment through your pastoral care teacher.

If you have additional support needs your School Careers Adviser may be invited to Transitions Meetings along with other people who support you (e.g.: parents/carers, teachers, social workers, health professionals etc.) to discuss the best way to support you. You will be invited to take part in these discussions as they are about you and about important

decisions. It is important that you are involved in making decisions about your future.

Click here to watch a three-minute YouTube video on How Can a Careers Adviser Help.

Careers Advisers also support young people who have left school/ college and need guidance making career decisions and finding suitable opportunities like jobs, apprenticeships, college or university places and volunteering.

Parents/carers can speak to a Careers Adviser by contacting the school office. They also attend parents’ evenings and Option Choice Evenings. To find out more about helping your child with option choices, visit My Kids Career website.

Careers Advisers are also happy to speak to you face-to-face, digitally or over the phone. Your local centre is based in Kirkintilloch. Please call them on 0141 777 5860 to make an appointment.

You can also access career information and advice any time if you visit My World of Work.      

For information on work-based learning like Foundation, Modern or Graduate apprenticeships visit Apprenticeships.scot website.

We work closely with a wide range of partners to support young people and their parents/carers to deliver the Young Persons Guarantee. To find out more visit - Young Persons Guarante website.

Contact us - Careers Centre, NCL Kirkintilloch Campus, 50 Southbank Road, Kirkintilloch G66 1NH tel: 0141 777 5860

Allander Resource Centre is located within Allander Leisure Centre in Bearsden, close to both Milngavie and Bearsden town centres and other local amenities.  The service is registered to provide support for up to 60 adults with learning disabilities each day.  The centre provides specialist facilities for people with severe and complex learning disabilities and provides a community resource for other people with learning disabilities who are supported mainly in community settings.  

The Team Leader is Sarah Stoddart – tel:  0141 777 3017 

The Outlook base is situated in Partnership House, Union Street, Kirkintilloch.  The service provides community-based support for people with a moderate learning disability who do not require to access the specialist resources that are used by people with more severe learning disabilities. 

The Team Leader is Mark Reynard – Tel:  0141 777 3027 

This is a service that provides informal group activities on evenings or at weekends for adults who have a range of learning disabilities or autism. 

The Team Leader is Ashleigh Grant-Ng – Tel:  07789 876344

The LAC service is a community-based service providing both one to one support and group support for a limited number of adults who have a diagnosis of autism or a learning disability (but who would not normally meet the eligibility criteria for formal Day Services).  LACs also support people with mild learning disabilities or autism towards gaining employment, getting involved in volunteering or training opportunities. 

The Team Leader is Ashleigh Grant-Ng – tel:  07789 876344.

The vision for Learning Disability Day Services within East Dunbartonshire is to provide an integrated comprehensive joined up Day Service where staff from the Allander, Outlook, Outreach and LAC services work together with shared leadership to best meet the needs of all the service users who access Learning Disability Day Services within East Dunbartonshie.  Service users will be provided with the support that best meets their needs and aspirations, whether that be building based support, community-based support, or a mixture of both.  

There will be shared leadership, planning and responsibilities with staff from both the Allander and Outlook teams being responsible for carrying out reviews and implementing support plans that have been agreed with the service user or their carer/guardian. 

Allander Resource Centre is a purpose-built centre designed to meet the needs of adults with severe and complex learning disabilities living within East Dunbartonshire.  The centre has specialist facilities such as a sensory room, physio room, quiet rooms, a low arousal room, hydrotherapy pool and Rebound facility.  There is also a large multi-purpose area that serves as a dining room as well as an art room, dance studio, music room and computer room and other multi-purpose areas. 

Service users can access some of the facilities within the Allander Leisure Centre including the swimming pool and games hall. There is also a sensory garden outside as well as raised beds which are maintained by service users in the gardening groups.  

People with severe or complex learning disabilities who attend Allander Resource Centre as their main base are supported to access the community when it is safe and beneficial for them to do so.  High levels of support are available at the Allander for service users who have severe and complex learning disabilities including those with profound learning disabilities (PMLD).

Outlook staff will provide community support, mainly for service users who have mild/moderate learning disabilities.  They facilitate groups that are of interest to and appropriate for groups of service users in venues that are accessible for most of the service users who attend.  Outlook currently support groups of service users to meet in the café area of Partnership House, the Milan Hall within Partnership House, Hillhead Community Centre, Milngavie Community Centre, Allander Leisure Centre and Allander Resource Centre.  There are also walking groups, swimming groups, cooking groups and a culture group.  Outlook staff continue to provide one to one support in the community for those service users who cannot attend group activities due to their high levels of anxiety..

Outreach staff will provide social activities and opportunities for people with learning disabilities in the form of evening group activities and clubs as well as some limited one to one support. This will help prevent social isolation and support a preventative approach as staff will be able to signpost service users and their families by providing information about organisations that may be of assistance, e.g. CAB or Carers Link.

LACs will continue to offer some individual support and some limited group support; however their main remit will be to develop and establish groups and networks within East Dunbartonshire and to direct the people who are referred to them to these groups.  The expertise of LACs will be very important in developing strategy and policy in relation to autism, training/learning for service users and in employment initiatives.  It is hoped that Outreach sessional staff and/or volunteers will facilitate groups which have been set up by LACs.

Volunteers will be used to provide a breadth of specialist knowledge and skills which will enhance learning and development opportunities in groups.  Volunteers will also be used as befrienders or buddies, providing support for service users who may be isolated or in need of support.  

There is regular consultation with service users and families about service provision, and what activities service users want to do which would meet their needs and outcomes. There is also regular correspondence in the form of newsletters including a Day Services newsletter and an Autism newsletter containing information updates about what is happening in the areas of learning disability, autism and neurodiversity. 

It is hoped that an active service users consultation group and a parent/carers group will be established providing the Day Services management team with insight into the views and wishes of service users and their families.