Our early years course offers families and preschool professionals comprehensive information about the early development of young children with Down syndrome, together with guidance on effective approaches to early intervention.
The first few years of life are a critical time for development for all children. From birth, children with Down syndrome experience developmental delays and need additional support. Research is helping us to better understand these challenges and identify effective strategies for early intervention. Presented and led by Professor Sue Buckley OBE, this course examines how Down syndrome influences early development and what this means for effective support for young children with Down syndrome from birth.
This online course offers convenient and low-cost access to up-to-date information and practical guidance for early years professionals supporting children with Down syndrome aged from birth to 5 years, including health visitors, early years teachers and assistants, speech and language therapists, advisory teachers, educational psychologists and outreach/advice staff and volunteers at organisations supporting young people with Down syndrome. The course is also valuable for parents seeking detailed advice, based on the latest research.
The course includes 10 modules, each of which includes a video presentation, handouts and an assessment. The video presentations can be viewed, handouts downloaded and assessments completed at any time. In addition, course participants are invited to join an online discussion forum with DSE tutors for the opportunity to ask questions and seek additional advice. Course participants should plan to spend a minimum of 20 hours studying to complete the course and assessments.
For full details, please refer to our main web site.
Pricing and ordering
Course duration
We provide access to the course for a period of 12 months. Most participants complete the course within this time. We offer extensions at 50% of the original course rate if you require access for longer.
Discounts for parents and family members
A lower rate is available for course participants who are the parent of a child with Down syndrome or other close family member. Please select the correct rate when ordering.
How to order
To order places on an online course, add the course item to your basket (one per participant). Please be sure to select the parent rate if appropriate.
Registering participants
Shortly after submitting your order, you will receive an email with instructions on how to register for access to the course. If you are ordering on behalf of someone else, you can register them at this point (you will need their email address and name).
After participants are registered, they will each receive emails explaining how they can now access the course.
Email notifications will be sent automatically at each step in the ordering and registration process. If you are expecting an email and it does not arrive, please check any 'Junk' or 'Spam' email folders.
Support
If you have any questions or experience any difficulties registering for an online course, please contact us at online@dseinternational.org