Professor Michael Shevlin:

There has been significant progress in many areas as the committee has heard this morning. We are very aware that the systems were not designed with these young people in mind so all kinds of anomalies arise and it is about how those are tackled. For example, our students are not entitled to a SUSI grant, so then we have to find workarounds all the time. That is where we try to streamline the systems so that these things happen. I was thinking about the implications of what we do for other young people with autism. There is a cohort who come to college and can avail of the supports but there is also a cohort who come to college and do not succeed and the numbers in that cohort can be very substantial. Research from two or three years ago found that up to 25% of young people do not make it through. Where do they go? We have learned that a pre-transition programme might be needed. It does not have to be two years like ours – I do not think that would be necessary – and it might vary depending on the types of areas but it would focus on the life skills and transition enabling so that the young people begin to understand how they can interact with different environments. The summer transition programme is a great idea. It is so that people get used to an environment. It would need to be flexible. That would make a big difference.

I am aware of something in UCC that might be helpful for some young people with disabilities for when they transition out into the world. Again, they do not have to be massive. They do not have to be two years; they can be three or six months or a year, depending on what the young people want to do. Sometimes they are settled. They might be doing their course in further education so where do they go next? If it is not a vocational-style course, real issues can arise about what it equips them for. That is when you find families and supporters trying desperately to find whether people will help them. If some of that was designed into the system with full funding there and the potential to apply for that funding then you would begin to see these young people thriving and beginning to make inroads into their own lives then.