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ASDAN — My Independence

3 min read

ASDAN’s post-16 SEND-aligned non-regulated programme. My Independence is a suite covering several adjacent programmes:

  • Realising Aspirations — ambition-setting and aspirational life-planning
  • Transforming Aspirations — converting ambition into concrete plans and practice
  • Supporting Aspirations — for the supporters in a learner’s life (family, allies, advocates)
  • Exploring Aspirations — for learners earlier in the journey, exploring possibilities
  • New Horizons — the consolidated outward-facing post-19 transition programme

The suite is organised around the four Preparing for Adulthood outcomes from the SEND Code of Practice and is structurally well-suited to learners with EHCPs whose post-19 plan is being shaped.

Module clusters

Across the My Independence suite, modules group around:

  • Aspirations and self-direction — naming what the learner wants their life to look like; recognising what shapes ambition; reframing limiting beliefs
  • Independent living in adulthood — managing one’s home; managing money; navigating services; handling administrative life (banking, GP, dentistry, benefits, council tax, utilities)
  • Work and meaningful occupation — paid work, supported employment, volunteering, social enterprise, self-employment; recognising the difference between a job and meaningful occupation
  • Health, wellbeing and self-care — managing physical and mental health as an adult; using services proactively; managing chronic conditions; sleep, nutrition, exercise as adult-life practices
  • Friends, relationships and community — building and maintaining adult relationships; community participation; intimate relationships and consent in adult life; recognising and resisting exploitation
  • Citizenship in adulthood — voting, jury service, civic engagement, advocacy, knowing one’s rights and how to use them
  • Lifelong learning — recognising learning as a lifelong practice rather than a school-stage task

Why this is well-suited to the NEO cohort

My Independence fits NEO learners — particularly post-16 learners — because:

  • Aspirational by design. The programme starts from what does the learner want? rather than from what does the learner lack?
  • Honours adult identity. Treats the learner as an adult-in-the-making with sovereignty over their own life
  • Family-and-supporter-aware. The Supporting Aspirations strand recognises that adult life happens within networks of support
  • Builds on Transition Challenge. A learner who has worked through Transition Challenge in Year 10–11 can move naturally into My Independence in Year 12 onwards
  • Portfolio-evidenced. Vision-board work, life-plan documents, video reflections, evidence of community participation, self-managed care plans are all natural evidence forms

Tests canonical

Cornerstone fits

All six Cornerstones depending on the learner’s profile. Particularly strong fits with Reflection (●●●), Connection (●●●), and Rest (●●) — the latter because adult-life self-care is a recurring theme.

Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) anchor

My Independence is structurally designed around the four PfA outcomes. Together with Transition Challenge, it forms ASDAN’s most cohesive PfA-aligned offer for the 14–25 SEND population.

NEO operational note

My Independence enters the NEO offer principally for post-16 learners on EHCPs and for learners whose Year 11 transition plan looks like a continued NEO placement rather than a move to a sixth-form college. As with all ASDAN routes, registration sits with the LA / commissioner; NEO supports curriculum delivery and portfolio evidence.

Source

ASDAN — My Independence overview (publicly available). Course handbook required for outcome-level tagging.

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