CDS announces second Disability Intensive Course on cerebral palsy

The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based curriculum for direct support professionals and managed in partnership by MC Strategies/Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, announced today that its second Disability Intensive Course (DIC) on "Cerebral Palsy" is now available for administrators and learners to use as part of the online curriculum. It is the second of the DIC courses added to the CDS course lineup. The CDS had released a DIC course on "Autism" earlier this year.

The DIC courses are different in nature from the traditional CDS course format of multiple lessons.

A DIC is a specialized course within the CDS Curriculum that focuses on a specific disability or condition - like cerebral palsy. Unlike other CDS courses, a DIC has one longer lesson instead of multiple lessons. These courses define and describe the nature of a specific disability or condition and have information about the causes, characteristics, and symptoms of the disability or condition. They share stories of people who have this disability or condition and how it might affect their family members. These courses will help Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and family members understand how each disability affects people in their day-to-day lives and how co-occurring disorders with this disability or condition affect people as well.

A DIC will help identify strategies that work well when supporting people who have the disability. Finally, DICs offer suggestions for many specific resources that will help learners continue their studies towards understanding this disability or condition and the role they play in supporting individuals more fully.

The "Cerebral Palsy" course introduces DSPs and others to the disability. Cerebral palsy is a very common disability. It is a brain disorder that affects body movement and also affects muscle coordination. Cerebral palsy can begin in infancy or early childhood and can also be acquired at a later age when a specific part of the brain is injured. It is a permanent condition, but it does not get worse over time. Learners will learn to recognize common characteristics of cerebral palsy and it will also describe the main types of cerebral palsy. Finally, it will help DSPs and others understand some of the typical supports needed by someone who has cerebral palsy.