Direction and transitions

Direction is a skill, not a destination

The question is rarely only “which job should I choose?” Usually something else sits underneath.

Who am I? What matters to me? What can I do? Which surroundings do I function in, and which ones sink me? What actually gets in my way — and what have I simply never tried? What options genuinely exist? What do I want to test? And what did I learn from it?

I do not promise to determine the right path for you. I do not know it. What can be built is the ability to explore, test and navigate options yourself — and you will need that well beyond this one decision.

Which transitions are meant

• From the last year of school into training, upper secondary or university
• From training into work, or into something new after leaving
• From one job to the next, including after being let go
• From home into a first place of your own
• After a late recognition: sorting everything out again
• And the transitions nobody planned — illness, separation, a move, an exit that was necessary

Transitions cost more capacity than they appear to from outside. For neurodivergent people often considerably more: everything is new at once, and what usually runs automatically does not run during that time.

How we work on it

First, what matters

Before options are sorted, it needs to be clear what they should be sorted by. That differs for everyone and is rarely what the guidebooks say.

Taking surroundings seriously

Not only “what do I want to do?” but “where can I do it without fighting the environment every day?” Noise, structure, pace, how much closeness, how much predictability — these are not side issues. They are often the difference between staying and leaving.

Testing options rather than enduring them

We look at what is actually available and how something can be tried before committing: a taster day, a conversation, shadowing someone, starting small.

Trying and reviewing

After the attempt comes the review, and that is the actual point. What of it was the thing itself, what was the day, what was the environment? An attempt that did not work is a result, not a failure.

Preparation that expects deviation

A fully scheduled plan that collapses at the first deviation is not preparation, it is a risk. Particularly with autism, the aim is not to fix every detail in advance but to know: what happens if it goes differently? Who do I ask? Where can I step out briefly?

This is not careers guidance

I am not an official careers, study or vocational guidance service. Switzerland has dedicated bodies that know entry requirements, follow-on options and funding questions authoritatively and keep them current. Where that is what is needed, I point you there.

What happens here is the work before and alongside: finding out what fits, how to test it, and how to live with a decision once it is made.

Case management is not part of it either. More on the limits under how I work.

For parents

Transitions are often the most exhausting phase for parents: the pressure is real, the deadlines are real, and worry is hard to switch off.

At the same time it is the phase in which taking over costs the most — because the ability to handle the next transition is built precisely here, and there will be more. Where your line between supporting and taking over runs can be talked through in the introductory call.