Online courses

Our online courses offer convenient access to up-to-date information and evidence-based, practical guidance for parents, teachers and therapists supporting children with Down syndrome.

Each course includes a series of modules, each of which includes a video presentation, handouts and an assessment. The video presentations can be viewed online, handouts downloaded and assessments completed at any time.

Features

Our online courses feature:

  • Video presentations - lasting between one and two hours, available to course participants for streaming on-demand
  • Handouts - download copies of the slides in the presentation to work through
  • Assessments - check your learning with online assessments
  • 'In practice' checklists - guidance and checklists to assist course participants to identify how to apply what they have learned for each child that they work with
  • Further reading, references and resources - references to research discussed in each module, together with further reading and recommended resources are provided for those wishing to develop their knowledge further
  • Certificates of achievement - certificates for participants who successfully complete each module and assessment in this course
"Many thanks for such an awesome, well presented, very informative course. All 10 modules have been very interesting and delivered in a most positive and professional manner by Sue. There was a great balance of research and real life stories bringing an in-depth meaning to the reality of Down syndrome"
~ Early Intervention Teacher, New Zealand
"It is absolutely fantastic and my husband and I have learned more from this course than we have in all the 6 years of therapies and Early Interventions we have done for our son."
~ Parent, USA
"I just want to start my message by saying how unbelievably helpful and informative all of the sessions have been."
~ Speech and Language Therapist, UK

Unique expertise

Our training services are underpinned by over 40 years of research and practical experience supporting children with Down syndrome, their families and educators around the world.

Developed and led by Professor Sue Buckley OBE - a recognized leader in education research for children with Down syndrome - our courses are rigorously grounded in the scientific understanding of the learning needs of children with Down syndrome. At the same time our services are firmly focused on practical advice designed to improve outcomes for children with Down syndrome at home and in the classroom.

Evidence-based, focused on effective practice

Our online courses provide participants with an understanding of the latest research and its practical implications. They also offer extensive practical guidance on teaching and learning across the curriculum with many examples of children's progress provided in video clips and work examples from our extensive experience of supporting early intervention and education in schools since the 1980s.

" the high quality information included gives an overview of high quality practice for all young people with SEND and not just for young people with Down syndrome " (Senior Specialist Teacher, UK)

Covering a broad age range, recognizing individual differences

Children with Down syndrome progress at varying rates with, for example, some reading at 6 year of age others starting to read in their teenage years. Our courses provide practical advice and work examples for teaching children and supporting their development across the age range, and are designed to take account of the wide range of individual differences in rates of progress and educational needs seen in the population of children with Down syndrome.

Available courses

The following courses are available:

" I really find this course well structured, informative and very useful. I am glad that I took it. " (Parent, Switzerland)

" Just finished all the modules and found this course brilliant. " (Parent, UK)

Technical requirements

Our online courses are accessible via the Internet using any modern web browser on a variety of computers and tablets.

We recommend using the latest versions of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari web browsers. We also recommend you use a high speed Internet connection when streaming video presentations. You will need a device with speakers or headphones to listen to the pre-recorded presentations.

Our handouts, reference lists and checklists/handouts are provided in PDF format. There are a variety of applications that will read PDF documents for Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems.