Autistic young people’s experiences of transitioning to adulthood following the Children and Families Act 2014

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Crane, L., Davies, J., Fritz, A., O’Brien, S., Worsley, A., & Remington, A. (2021). Autistic young people’s experiences of transitioning to adulthood following the Children and Families Act 2014. British Educational Research Journal, 48(1), 22-48. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3753

Publication date: 21 Jul 2021 Added to AutiHub: 12 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)

Abstract

Changes to special educational needs and disability (SEND) legislation in England were implemented in 2014. Here, we evaluate the impact of these changes from the perspective of 80 autistic young people aged 16–25 years. Using an online survey and/or interviews, we examined young people’s views on three key principles of the SEND reforms: the help and support provided to them; whether they were given a say in the choices and support that they were offered; and their satisfaction with their educational journeys and outcomes. The results paint a mixed picture. Our sample of young people reported varied experiences regarding the help and support they received, and how much of a say they had regarding the choices and support available to them. The types of schooling they accessed played a role here: young people in mainstream schools highlighted particular challenges in accessing appropriate support, while many young people in special schools said they felt well supported. Parental advocacy was crucial for all young people, as was having key ‘champions’ in the form of teachers who really knew them well. The need for the development of general life and self‐advocacy skills was apparent, however, especially in preparing the young people for life after school. Encouragingly, most of our participants were generally happy with their current situation, despite identifying several areas for further improvement. Overall, the results highlight the importance of listening to—and learning from—autistic young people, throughout their educational journeys and especially as they transition to adulthood.

Related publications

These links indicate preprints, protocols, published versions, or related records identified in AutiHub.

Associated preprints

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 18:20.

Cited references
66
With a DOI
53
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
13
6 / 66 (9.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 66 (4.5%)
References with detected author names
63 / 66 (95.5%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
12
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
170
From DOI or external metadata
170
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
67 / 170 (39.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 103 / 170 (60.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 170 (4.1%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 67 (10.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 6 / 138 (4.3%).
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