Even though the formal transition to adulthood has changed in the past ten years, it is still based on the idea of becoming independent. People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), on the other hand, might never be fully independent as adults. Instead, they may become more interdependent. So, their transition into adulthood may be challenging because they are expected to take on more responsibilities and be more independent in many areas of life.
There is a lot of research on transitional-aged youth and youth who are leaving care, but there isn’t as much on the needs of people with developmental disabilities, especially those with FASD who are leaving care and moving on to adult services. It is not clear what services are available in Canada for young people with FASD who are in the age of transition. Also, no one knows how well existing programs help young people with FASD make the change from childhood to adulthood.The goal of a project, Review of Transition Planning Tools for Youth with FASD, was to look at the literature on transition planning processes for youth with FASD from all over Canada.
This was done to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the existing transition planning tools and to make suggestions for the future of youth with FASD and their families.
The review suggests a specific, nation-wide strategy is needed that outlines a set of consistent transition planning recommendations to support FASD youth across Canada transitioning to adulthood. Transition plans need to be individualized to each person with FASD to focus on their unique strengths and challenges. More research is needed to understand how often transition planning tools are used to support youth with FASD; to compare outcomes of youth with transition plans and youth without; and to understand the experiences of youth with FASD throughout their transition process.