Transition from education
Leaving school or college can feel daunting for young people with autism or learning disabilities—and for their families too. Familiar routines, trusted staff, and healthcare professionals suddenly change, which can feel overwhelming.
Some families find themselves trying to keep care standards high while putting new arrangements in place, others are left wondering how they're young person will gain employment or engage in meaningful activities.
We’re here to make that transition easier and less stressful. Our goal is to provide a smooth, supportive move into our services so everyone feels confident about the next step.
Planning the journey early
Planning the move from education is so important, and starting early makes all the difference. We’ll work closely with you, your family, your school, and your clinicians to plan your transition—mapping out your long-term goals and creating a personalised plan to help you achieve them. We’re here for families too, offering guidance and support every step of the way so you never feel alone in the process. As you get closer to leaving school, we can arrange taster sessions if you're planning to attend one of our day centres, so you can get to know us and feel completely comfortable from the moment you walk through the door.
We want the whole process to be seamless, so if you currently receive clinical support, like occupational therapy, physiotherapy, behavioural support, or speech and language therapy, our in-house clinical team will ensure you have an appropriate treatment plan in place from the outset.
Our experienced staff will also be on hand to source any specialist technology or equipment you might need, as well as implement visual supports if necessary.
We’re here to show you what’s possible, broadening your horizons and supporting you as you embark on the next exciting chapter of your life.
Get in touch
What comes next?
When it’s time to take the next step, ECL is here to guide you. We’ll help you make informed choices and connect you with the right services so you can get the support you need.
ECL offers a wide range of opportunities for young adults with learning disabilities:
- Inclusive Employment: If you’re ready and able to find paid work, our Inclusive Employment service can help you get there.
- Community Connections: Want to get involved in your local community? Our Community Connectors can support you into voluntary roles, social activities, or educational courses.
- Day Centres: We run a network of day centres for adults with autism and learning disabilities. Here, you can learn new skills, make great friends, and enjoy activities that build confidence and independence.
- Continuing Qualifications: If you’ve been working towards a qualification through ASDAN or City & Guilds, we’ll help you finish what you started.
Whatever path you choose, ECL will be with you every step of the way.
Find the path that's right for you
Transition FAQ
These are questions often asked by families
Transition planning normally starts from the age of 14 onwards. Every young person's needs and independence levels are different, and they progress at different speeds so we would suggest you have early conversations within your EHCP meetings, which should include education, health and social care professionals.
At ECL, we’re only able to support adults over the age of 18 in our services as we are not Ofsted registered. However, we do have links with schools and can support you during transition planning as well as organise 'taster' visits to our services accompanied by a parent or carer.
We can start working with young adults looking to access ECL’s services in advance, building those relationships while they are still in education. Working with families, clinical teams and schools ahead of formal transition means we learn about the individual so we can progress with them right from the beginning, rather than starting from scratch or introducing something new that might not work for them. Taster visits are available now.
Yes absolutely! Please see our Inclusive Employment page for more information about how we can support young people with learning disabilities and autism into work: Inclusive Employment Web page
We also support young people with access to voluntary work, apprenticeships, traineeships, and internships as part of their employment pathway.
You can contact us through our website: Contact ECL or telephone our contact centre on 03330 135 438. Alternatively, we accept referrals by Adult Social Care. If a young person wishes to access our Inclusive Employment service, they can do this by contacting us directly.
ECL is an ASDAN-accredited organisation. We offer courses which include English and maths skills (money and budgeting is a very popular course, for example). We also work with local colleges and education providers and can support those who wish to acquire further qualifications.
Yes. our staff are highly trained and we have the facilities to support people with complex needs.
Our assessments consider the level of staff needed throughout the day, and our clinical team includes, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and behaviour specialists who work with our staff to personalise support for your young person. You can find out more about our Clinical Team here: Clinical team
Our staff are trained to manage care for those with medical conditions such as epilepsy or diabetes and we work with GPs and specialist NHS nurses to develop protocols to meet those needs. When we meet your young person to carry out an initial assessment, we always ask for information on specialist involvement to make sure our staff are aware of any specialist interventions and have appropriate training before they join us. Similarly, Â if your young person is used to specific forms of communication or digital apps, we can ensure our staff know how to use them.
Yes. Our day centres excel in supporting those with limited verbal communication. We can involve our Speech and Language therapist to develop a comprehensive communication plan and ensure the day centre staff are able to support a person with their preferred method of communication.
We start with a comprehensive assessment to understand how each young person communicates, so we can respond and support their engagement. We use a planning-together process to make sure that key people in a young person’s life help us to understand their talents, likes and dislikes, ensuring that plans support the individual to develop and progress in the areas they are most interested in.
Our sites have well-equipped changing facilities and changing beds. We link in with our clinical team to ensure we have the right equipment for the people we support. Any specific needs will be planned for during assessments and be put into place before the young person starts with us.
Our staff are highly trained, attend mental health training and most of our services have Mental Health First Aiders. We also have access to a clinical team who have the skills and experience to create support plans that take into account emotional and mental health and can guide the staff on the approach and interventions needed to support that person.
Our clinical team can liaise with NHS and other health professionals who may already be involved in the support of a young person and can make onward referrals if necessary.
For more information about our clinical team click here: Clinical team.
Please get in touch and we can discuss your individual needs. You can contact us through our website: Contact ECL or by telephoning our contact centre on 03330 135 438, enquiries will be forwarded to the appropriate ECL contact.
Funding can come from a number of different sources - local council, funding support through your local health body and also from personal finances or trust funds. Please contact us and we can discuss your options with you. Contact ECL
When ECL receives a referral, our team will carry out an assessment. We will establish what support has been provided previously and look at any assessments that have been carried out by health and social care professionals, which may indicate the level of staffing required.
We will involve our clinicians where appropriate and discuss your options with you. If the local authority is providing the funding then they will also need to agree on levels of funding.
Depending on an individual’s personal circumstances, funding may be available from your local authority. You will need to contact Essex County Council to request a care needs assessment to request support and a fairer charging assessment to determine any contribution from yourself. Using personal funds is also an option where funding isn’t available.
Each person has an individual support plan that reflects their needs. For those that want to progress into paid work we will support them to identify their employment wishes and work with them on the next steps needed to achieve employment. For others we will look at areas which allow them to progress towards achieving greater independence (relevant to that individual). This could include using sensory opportunities to build interaction and communication skills, it may be looking at opportunities to progress life skills, money skills or for some, it might be about building networks within local communities and being able to benefit from their community resources e.g. local sports facilities, local amenities, and clubs.
Yes our services are interlinked, for example, someone on the Inclusive Employment pathway might access an ASDAN course which is being run by a day centre. Some individuals on the Inclusive Employment pathway choose to join in some of the day centre sessions when they are not engaged in employment-related activity.
ECL services are available to people aged 18 upwards. Our focus is to support individuals to progress towards greater independence.
Our service can last as long as people need it, there are no time limits. If funded through adult social care, a care needs assessment will be carried out.
Our day centres are open five days a week. Opening times vary slightly depending on the day centre, check out the page for the day centre you're interested in to see they're opening and closing times: Find your nearest day centre
Many of our services have arrangements for providing hot meals. For those wishing to develop their cooking skills there is an opportunity to participate in meal planning, shopping, and preparation. You can bring your own food if preferable.
Our minimum age is 18, we are not registered with Ofsted to provide services to children under 18. There is no maximum age, our Inclusive Employment team have supported a customer into employment who has been in our Day Services for 34 years! They have also supported a customer into volunteering who is in their 70's.
When ECL meet and assess how to support your young person we look at all options for travelling as independently as possible. We often carry out travel training - whether that's walking, using public transport or using their motability vehicles. Â Where appropriate, we can signpost you to apply to the local council for funded transport.
ECL certainly support carers to have short breaks but we do not offer overnight respite.