Understanding Transition Challenges for Young People with Learning Disabilities and Health Needs

1. The Transition of Young people with Learning Disabilities and Complex Health Needs: What can the data tell us?

2. The Plan • The ‘transition cliff’ • Some indicative numbers • PMLD • Visual impairment • Challenging behaviour &/or mental health problems

3. The ‘Transition Cliff’ • 80% of children with SEN associated with learning disabilities vanish from national statistics on leaving school • Most of these have mild learning disabilities • How many have complex health needs? • Some health needs (e.g., obesity) and risky behaviours (e.g., smoking, unsafe sex) are more common among young people with less severe learning disabilities

4. Some Indicative Numbers • Every year in an ‘average’ area with a population of 350,000 approximately • 130 young people with learning disabilities will become adults (have their 18th birthday) • 20 people with severe learning disabilities • 5 people with profound multiple learning disabilities • 5 will have a significant visual impairment • 45 will have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder (including 25 with ‘conduct disorders’/challenging behaviours)

5. But What About My Area? These numbers will vary between areas (sometimes very significantly) • Local age-profile • 15-19 year olds make up 3.6% of the local population in Wandsworth, but 8.2% of the local population in North Dorset • Affluence/deprivation • More derived areas will have more young people with (especially less severe) learning disabilities and more young people with mental health problems • Ethnic composition • Areas with higher concentrations of families with Pakistani or Bangladeshi heritage will have more young people with PMLD

6. Variation Across England PMLD: Q1 <0.09%; Q4 >0.15% MLD: Q1 <1.5%; Q4 >2.4%

7. Getting More Information • www.ihal.org.uk/profiles • Your local termly school census data

8. www.ihal.org.uk