An FCA for a teenager or young adult may examine activities that are changing as school, study, work or living arrangements change. The useful question is what the person needs to take part in those activities, rather than whether they are meeting a single idea of independence.
Some young people are planning a major transition. Others need an assessment of their current routine. The purpose should be agreed before booking.
Start with the young person's priorities
Ask what they would like to do, keep doing or change. Their priorities may differ from those of a parent, school or service provider. The report should make those perspectives clear rather than combine them into an assumed shared goal.
The young person may use conversation, writing, communication equipment or support to explain their views. Needing assistance with communication does not mean their preferences can be omitted.
An assessment should not treat an interest or lifestyle as a problem simply because it differs from what another person would choose.
Identify the activities that are changing
Leaving school can change transport, scheduling, social contact and the support available during the day. Starting study or work may introduce new instructions, unfamiliar environments and different expectations.
These changes are not all predictable from age or diagnosis. The assessor needs information about the actual setting and what the person will be expected to do.
For example, a person who manages a familiar school route may need to learn a new journey to training. The existing ability remains relevant, while the new route presents a separate question. It would be inaccurate to describe the person as either fully independent in all travel or unable to travel at all.
Describe current assistance
Family members may help organise appointments, prepare meals or manage paperwork. Explain which steps the young person completes and which someone else carries out.
This helps identify what will be available after a transition. It should not be used to assume that family help will continue indefinitely or that all assistance must stop in adulthood.
Appropriate support can be part of independence. Recommendations may enable a choice or activity without requiring the person to perform every component alone.
Consent and sharing information
As a young person approaches adulthood, review consent and representative arrangements. A parent's previous involvement does not automatically authorise all adult health decisions or access to the report.
Seeds needs to confirm the applicable authority and how the young person will be supported to participate. An NDIS role and authority for clinical consent should not simply be treated as interchangeable.
Keep the report specific
The report should describe current abilities, the demands of any planned setting and what remains uncertain. Some questions may need information from an education provider, employer or another assessor.
A birthday alone does not require a new FCA. A defined change in activities or an identified evidence need is a more useful reason to consider one.