A programme that advocates for teenager and young adult independence for individuals with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) has been approved by the Sheffield City Council.
Head of Service, Resource and Business Planning Manager, Mark Sheikh, mapped out the contents of the revised proposal, highlighting the Expansion of the Independent Travel Training (ITT) Scheme.
Head of Service Manager, Mark Sheikh said: “We want to further develop and expand our already existing Freedom to Travel – Skills for Life programme to make sure that enhanced independent travel training is available for post-16 students.”
Mr Sheikh shared his ambition to eventually extend the scheme – making it accessible for under-16 students.
Independent travel training offers SEND students with personalised training and support with home-to-school travel.
Parent, Gaynor Stevenson shared her experience with independent travel training in the Education, Children and Families Policy Committee meeting on 7 May – sharing how it has been nothing but a ‘win-win’ scheme for her 20-year-old son Robert.
Mrs Stevenson said: “It’s improved his confidence; it’s given him a sense of self worth; it’s enabled him.
“He’s going to go to university in September, and because he is going to be taking himself there and back it will also allow him to access all of those things at university that we all take for granted such as the social scene, the clubs, everything.”
Coun Toby Mallinson also shared his son’s experience with using the ITT scheme and said: “We were offered travel training which was fantastic. The travel training didn’t only just give him the confidence, it gave us the confidence as parents to allow him the freedom to travel on his own.
“I don’t know where we would be if we didn’t have that.”
Mr Sheikh went on to highlight the benefits of enhancing the scheme – linking it to ‘greater social inclusion’ and ‘increased personal development.’
Mrs Stevenson said: “It’s going to open his life up. It is going to give him those job opportunities, those further education opportunities that would’ve been difficult for him to access otherwise.
“In the end it’s a win-win situation. It’s a win for us, it’s a win for him and it’s a win for the council as well.”
