Transition Year Options for SEN kids?

[Craiconwithit]

Apologies for the length of the post!

We moved to Ireland when DS was 5 and he’s currently in 3rd year of secondary school about to sit Junior cycle exams. School has about 1200 kids in total and is in a small town about 90 mins from the nearest city.

DS is very unhappy at school. He has autism and social connections are very tricky for him. He was bullied in first and second year of secondary but we think this has more or less been dealt with by school as he’s not getting too much negative attention from the other kids but equally, he has zero friends in his year at school. He’s painfully shy and not sporty at all, due to severe dyspraxia. (Balance and co-ordination issues.) He scored 0.05 on the percentile scale when tested. For example, he struggles to use cutlery safely and to carry a cup without spilling it.

However, he is academically very able and attended some of the CTY courses in the summer hols when he was in Primary school. He’s also been teaching himself Bass guitar since November when we bought him one during half term as he showed an interest in it. (I’ve no idea why his severe co-ordination difficulties don’t seem to impact him playing??) We’ve talked about him meeting up with others to play music but he’s too shy to try that.

He didn’t see any other kids during the Christmas holidays but he does attend a Youth group one night a week. However, he only talks to the youth leader now as he had made a friend there previously but she left the area at Christmas.

We don’t know a huge amount about Transition year other than bits gleaned from friends whose children have been through it already. I know the school organise a few trips in this country and abroad and they have a reduced school timetable. Where we live is quite rural so I have to drive him everywhere and I think the work experience opportunities will be very limited as we have no family connections over here.

Frankly, I’m dreading Transition Year as I think he’ll just sit home alone for most of the time. DS didn’t go on the last couple of school tours at Primary as they were to adventure park/water park type places which DS can’t really join in with and he’s refused to attend a couple of school day trips in first and second year due to having no friends to sit with or talk to.

Obviously, we’ll talk to his Yr head and see what she suggests but I was hoping for any advice from other parents of SEN children who struggle with social situations?

TY isn't always compulsory, so skipping it may be an option? There is often a fair bit of movement between schools in TY as well, so moving schools could be an option.
Otherwise I'd recommend going to find the TY coordinator now and asking what they can do to make it better for him. Our school do a musical in TY which takes up a lot of time and the kids make new friends. DS has health issues so trips are tricky, but with enough notice we've been able to plan alternatives he can join in with.
And even though you are rural, the universities often run TY courses, see if there is anything you can get him too? That might help. But our school take a self directed learning approach to TY, to ease them into the Leaving years, and that sounds like it might not work for your DC.
The more I think about it, is there a school which offers more support you could move to? The Deis schools aren't always seen as popular, but are well funded and can offer great support services.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. It gives me something to work with.

I wasn’t sure if they can skip Transition year so that’s handy to know. The few friends I’ve spoken to seemed to suggest it wasn’t really done but they have non Sen kids and lots of wider family support, so see Transition year as a great opportunity! ☹️

As we’re rural, moving schools isn’t really an option as the next nearest school is a 40 minute drive away at a minimum.

However, I’ll check out the TY options at the University as I wasn’t aware of them. (Again this is a 90 minute drive from home so may not be feasible if they start early in the morning.) He loved the CTY courses he took and wanted to skip Secondary and go straight to University. 😂
We stayed overnight in a hotel that time to get him there on time each day.

Learning wise, he’s very independent and has basically taught himself the Maths curriculum as he’s had a string of teachers and they’re mostly fire fighting trying to get the less able students up to a minimum standard. Or so the teachers have told me when I’ve gone to parents evening. Discipline seems very poor at the school and I feel sorry for the teachers.

(My DH also has various health issues so I’m ferrying him to numerous hospital appts. quite a bit. One hospital is over 2 hrs drive away so I feel pulled in different directions at times.)

I feel your pain, I spend way too much time driving to and from hospitals round the country.
TY is great for many kids, it's such a good opportunity for building maturity. But it isn't compulsory usually and some schools don't have places for all their kids in TY so some are forced to skip. So maybe talk to the school about skipping to 5th year as an option? The joy of the Irish system is that it is much more flexible on ages that the UK.
Talk to the local or county Autism groups too, they may have more ideas.
Good luck!

Skipping depends on the school, its compulsory in my DDs school. There's 2 2 week blocks of work placement for her and one in a non-profit setting but but other schools organise it differently, like every Weds for a term etc. There is loads of stuff to do independently out of school and he seems quite self motivated given his record with maths but I appreciate it's not easy being rural esp if he's not up for commuting on buses. The guidance counsellor would be someone to link in with re all those outside options, best to research ASAP to get ideas and maybe some run online?

TY can be an opportunity to get to know classmates in a different way. In most schools, they also thoroughly mix the existing classes. I would speak to the year head/guidance counsellors to ask for their experiences with students who have autism. They may have seen particular students flourish or come into their own in TY, if it's well organised. A friend's son ended up doing lighting and sound for events during TY, he really liked the technological aspects of it, he used his quirky sense of humour to add sound effects to the school play and became a bit of a hero to his year. It gave him a huge boost going into 5th Year.

OP I've a child with asd much younger than your boy and I'd try and skip transition year if at all possible. I was chatting with a lady recently and her DS with asd is currently in TY and he can't do the trips as while is is getting on great academically she just wouldn't feel comfortable letting him go on the ski trip which is the big highlight of the year and there was another outdoor adventure one he wasn't going to do. You know your own son. Go in and chat with the school. Is there any music generation stuff going on near you? That could work for him

My ASD son is in 3rd year. The big advantage of TY for us is him being a year older leaving school so more time to mature. He does need that year. Now having said that he doesn’t mind school and has never been bullied. Everyone’s circumstances are different so what’s right for others doesn’t always work for your own family.
My DS has gone away multiple times with his hobby but I wouldn’t send him skiing because his dyspraxia is quite severe. Not all of TY go skiing in his school the number is capped so he won’t be the only one.

Thanks for all your replies so far. You’ve given me lots to think about.

Must admit, the work placements are the things that concern me the most. He struggles to speak to people, and in class will wait until directly asked a question. He never volunteers an answer even though he probably knows it.

He also won’t ‘have a go’ at something new but expects a lot of instructions. So if he’s faced with a new challenge will simply do nothing rather than try and figure out a solution. I know I need to help him work on that to develop his self confidence and become more self reliant.

Would you try and help him with his social skills? Because it seems to be the main issue here.

My eldest is very introverted and struggles to make friends. I've not actioned anything yet but I've been looking into the Peers Ireland stuff and the Adult and child therapy Center Dublin that offered support and help for these types of issues.

Don't worry about this. In a past job I was the TY student liaison at work, as an add on to my job and to be frank, they were all fairly useless and needed really clear detailed instructions and constant supervision. We had zero expectations of them and merely aimed to support them. You might find 1/20 displayed extraordinary initiative and problem solving skills. But most had no initiative at all.

If your DS has autism and dyspraxia, the school still has a legal duty to make reasonable accommodations for him under Irish equality legislation — even without a formal diagnosis or an official support plan. That can cover things like:

• Adjustments to work placements so they’re appropriate and supported
• Alternative activities if trips are physically unsuitable or socially overwhelming
• Support for building confidence in new environments (including pre-visits, visual guides, or structured peer introductions)

In Ireland, this comes under the Equal Status Acts and the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (EPSEN). While EPSEN isn’t fully commenced, many of its principles are already applied in practice. Schools also have obligations under the Department of Education’s Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. If TY is compulsory in your school but would be detrimental for him without major adjustments, you can make a case to the Year Head and TY Coordinator for a tailored programme. If those conversations stall, you can escalate to the Board of Management, and in cases of discrimination, to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission or the Ombudsman for Children. Even in rural areas, some TY elements can be adapted — e.g. online modules, project work from home, music or technology projects — so he’s not isolated or pushed into settings that will cause him distress.

Thank you so much for your comprehensive post. I really appreciate you taking the time to post.

The school have been supporting him much better in yr 3 but he’s about to go into Transition year now and I’m worried that he’ll get forgotten about as it’s not an examination year.

He’s spent most of the holidays on his own at home, not even venturing outdoors and your post has given me fresh hope. Thanks a million!

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Chris

I was away for a few weeks so my reply is a little late, however, my DD sounds a little like your DS. She has just finished TY. It was a very positive experience for her and having the extra year going into Senior Cycle will benefit her. She did the full year in CTYI and just loved it. She attended one day a week for a full day. I would really recommend getting in touch with them.
It also meant that she only ever had 3 consecutive days in school, which meant less overwhelm. Like your DS, she began to teach herself guitar, and this was positive for her too.
We were dreading the work experience for her, but again, it ended up being postive. She did the Walk in my Shoes programme, which was only one day in person and then four days online https://www.walkinmyshoes.ie/schools/secondary-school/transition-year-programme

She went on the trips etc.. and wsas incrdibly well looked after by the school, again, we had been apprehensive about this.

She ended up taking part in a number of school based TY things. Something that we would never have anticipated and made a few friends though that. not best friends or anything, but now has some people she can talk to during the day, which we're hoping will make school at bit more positive for her next year.

I just wanted to let you know that TY can work well too OP. We were genuinely anxious about it, but my DD ended up having a very positive year. I hope your DS does too, regardless of the pathway he takes.