What after secondary education? Preparing autistic students for further study or work
After secondary education, young people are expected to become more independent and develop several new skills when they start working or continue their studies. The KIDS and Kindsheid Jesu schools in Hasselt want to better prepare their autistic students for further study or work. Therefore, they have introduced a transition internship in the sixth and seventh year of secondary education. Their students go on a weekly base to a workplace, e.g. at a company, in a shop, or the service sector. In the seventh year, students can also choose to take a course from college or university. They receive guidance from the school.
What? Students go to a workplace once a week, where they become acquainted with life as an employee. If they wish, they can also take up a subject in higher education in the seventh year.
For whom? Autistic students in the sixth and seventh year of secondary education.
Why? To prepare them for life after secondary education by promoting independence, self-knowledge, and developing soft skills.
What is the research about?
Further development of the transition internship program
The transition internship program was recently started on the Kindheid Jesu campus with support from KIDS. The first goal of the research is to further explicitly elaborate in a script the guidance that can be offered by the school and at the workplace during this process. To this end, focus group meetings are held with stakeholders at the school, and focus groups are organized with parents and supervisors of the transition internship.
How does the transition internship help to better prepare young people for work or further study after secondary education?
Several young people who have followed the transition internship program are interviewed. These interviews take place after the students have left secondary school and started higher education or work. Young autistic people, who attended another secondary school and did not receive this support, are interviewed as well. We compare these two groups in how the transition to further study or work went, and in what way the transition internship played a role.
In collaboration with
KIDS en Kindsheid Jesu
Anke Lenaers, Kristien Luys, Loriana Napoletano en Sanne Vande Reyd
Contact person ACCA
Sara Vanderpaelt
Academic Collaborative Centre for Autism 