Transition from primary to secondary school is considered a key milestone in children’s education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, children experienced additional changes in their lives (lockdowns, self-isolation, school closures and changes to school routines when open). Such changes disrupt the structure that children with neurodevelopmental conditions thrive on and can negatively affect their mental health (Sideropoulos et al., 2021; Sideropoulos et al., 2022).
During transition from primary to secondary school, autistic children seem to experience high levels of anxiety and adjustment issues (Mandy et al., 2016), but little is known about the effect of transition for those with Down syndrome (Hargreaves et al., 2021) and those with Williams syndrome (Palikara et al., 2018; Van Herwegen et al., 2018). As a result, it is unclear how school transition can amplify anxiety levels and adjustment difficulties in these populations.
