Debate contribution: Support for Young Adults with Learning Difficulties and Complex Needs: Mid Ulster
Debate contribution by Mr Keith Buchanan on .
- MLA
- Mr Keith Buchanan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 20 January 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Support for Young Adults with Learning Difficulties and Complex Needs: Mid Ulster
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5348937
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank Emma for bringing the topic to the Chamber today. It is timely. It is a matter that has been discussed in our office many times. The transition from childhood to adulthood for young people with learning disabilities and complex needs is an issue that is deeply human and profoundly important for the future of our society. It is not a new problem: families have been trying to navigate and highlight the challenge for many years. In 2012, one of my members of staff, Claire Knox — I have permission to mention her name — recorded a programme with the BBC entitled 'Special Me'. The concerns raised then are the exact same concerns as families are raising today. For most teenagers, leaving school marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter, but, for many young people with learning disabilities and their families, that moment brings not excitement but anxiety, uncertainty and a profound sense of loss. When those children turn 18, their lives are transformed overnight. They move from child services to adult services, which is a shift that brings new social workers; new respite arrangements, if they are available; and a complete change in routine. For those young people and their families, those changes are not administrative adjustments; they are deeply disruptive. Claire Knox, the mother of a young man who has been through that transition, still speaks movingly about the hopes that she has had for her son and the fears that she felt and still feels as vital support fell away. When her son first left children's services, the family suddenly had no overnight respite; a lifeline simply vanished. Those young people are no different from any of us. They are hopeful, nervous, funny, brave and full of potential, but they face challenges that most of us have never had to consider. When we left school, we moved on to further education, training or work. Those young people do not have the same post-school or education options. Their pathways are narrower, more fragile and too often dependent on overstretched services. Too many families face a cliff edge at 18. Too many young people lose the structure, support and stability that they rely on. Too many parents are left fighting — as was mentioned, it is a fight — to get whatever support is available. They are sometimes begging for services that should be guaranteed, not gambled for. We have a responsibility not just as policymakers but as a society to ensure that the transition to adulthood is not a moment of fear but a moment of opportunity. That means properly resourcing adult services. It means ensuring the continuity of care. It means supporting respite provision, employment pathways and community programmes that give people dignity, purpose and independence. Most of all, it means recognising that every young person, regardless of disability, deserves the chance to thrive.
479 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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