Dr Ger Scanlon at the launch of the PASTE Project April 2018

The report from the Progressing Accessible Supported Transitions to Employment (PASTE) project investigated the concept of supported transition for school leavers with intellectual disabilities, as a means of accessing mainstream opportunities in further / higher education, training, and employment (FETE). The collaboration between researchers Dr Ger Scanlon and Dr Alison Doyle in the Institute of Education at Dublin City University and WALK PEER arose in conjunction with the enactment of the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for people with disabilities (2015) and an innovative model of supported transition developed by WALK PEER. The model was developed to engage young people with Intellectual Disabilities whilst they are in school, to support them to develop their career aspirations, explore mainstream opportunities, and implement ambitious transition plans to enable them to exercise personal choice about their own futures. The report was launched by Fergus Finlay the chairperson of the Implementation committee for the strategy who said that "this research is timely and important". The researchers have been invited to make a submission to the the committee in light of the findings for the enactment of policy in this area. The launch was chaired by Dr Justin Rami on behalf of FETRC.