Supporting students with neurodevelopmental disabilities as they transition from school to postsecondary settings through enhancing self-determination

Transition can be an overwhelming and scary process, primarily due to the uncertainties that come with significant changes. For individuals going through transitions—whether it’s from school to adulthood, moving from one environment to another, or entering a new role—the unknowns can feel daunting. For people with disabilities, transitioning out of school can be harder due to fewer accessible opportunities and the need for tailored and careful planning. They often face additional challenges in finding suitable employment that recognise and leverage on their strengths, compounded by societal barriers and the loss of familiar routines and structures in postschool settings. With this in mind, I aim to support and enhance the transition process for students with neurodevelopmental disabilities through the following steps:

1. Understanding transition support needs: Understanding and addressing these uncertainties is essential to providing the necessary support during any transition process. These uncertainities can be unique to nuances of local culture. I aim to first gain a better understanding of their support needs and desires in the local Singapore context by seeking stakeholder perspectives and conducting participatory research to ensure that youth priorities and voices are at the forefront.
2. Enhancing self-determination: Self-determination is a key factor in successful transitions, empowering individuals to take control of their lives and make decisions aligned with their personal goals. In schools, I aim to explore what self-determination means to everyone involved in transition planning, while enhancing teacher and staff capacity to support students’ self-determination development. This can be achieved through implementing self-determination curricula that structure learning of key concepts and offer opportunities to practice related skills.
3. Communication as precursor to self-determination: Recognizing that communication is a fundamental precursor to self-determination, I intend to explore the implementation of a structured literacy curriculum to enhance students’ basic literacy skill development and establish a solid foundation for effective communication. Simultaneously, I want to examine how we can incorporate teacher reflexivity while implementing the curriculum to support generalized use of evidence-based practices for autism across their teaching.

Important Note

We welcome you to have a conversation with Assistant Professor Delia Kan to discuss this PhD project further. You are strongly encouraged to reach out to him at least 3 months in advance of application deadline (i.e. 31 January 2025) as the process of confirming the supervision and preparing your proposal for application may take longer than you anticipate. 

Minimum Entry Requirement

A Bachelor’s degree with honours at least at Second Class Upper level, Master’s degree in the relevant areas and the ability to pursue research in the candidate’s proposed field of advanced study.

Shortlisted applicants will undergo an interview session as part of the selection process.

A valid GRE score is required for applicants who are not graduates of the Autonomous Universities in Singapore. See detailed requirements for English language on competency and GRE requirements here.