Kids’ report On The Cliff Edge, authored by Will Bibby and Laurie Blair of Anthill Collective, documents the experience of young people with special educational needs and disabilities as they move from childhood into adulthood, and makes recommendations for urgent improvements to an entirely broken support system.
The existing challenges faced by young people with SEND are further exacerbated by a profoundly inadequate system of transition support in England. It’s too hard to find information about options for the future, leaves young people waiting without the vital support they need, and too often fails to meaningfully include them in society.
The cliff edge depicts how the support system is leaving too many young people with SEND and their parents on the precipice. The more complex the needs, the steeper the cliff edge. The scale of the problem must not be underestimated, nor the impact it has on family relationships, finances, and mental health.
Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to live a good life, but for many young people with SEND transitioning into adulthood, the current support system simply does not provide them with that basic right. That needs to change.