Profound and Complex Learning Disability PGCert
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Course description
This Distance Learning Course is aimed at students who come into contact with individuals with severe or profound learning disabilities or other complex needs, and those who have a desire to gain specialized knowledge in this area. A theoretical framework is reinforced through consideration of practice related issues.
The course aims to promote strategies that enable individuals with learning disabilities to share the same rights, opportunities and choices as other people. This is achieved by studying a range of subjects including:
- Communication issues;
- Health issues including epilepsy and sensory impairment;
- Behavioural issues;
- Access to learning;
- Inclusion in everyday contexts;
- Families and relationships;
- Supporting choice
Participants on this course come from a range of professional backgrounds and include Care Workers and Managers, Social Workers, Teachers, Nurses, Foster Carers, Speech and Language Therapists and Psychologists. There is an opportunity to meet other students at a study school.
Special features
The course is distance learning and equivalent to 60 credits at M (postgraduate) level of study. Students are allocated an academic adviser to guide them through their period of study and are supported through a telephone/email tutorial system and via a dedicated internet site.
An October Study School forms an integral part of the course where students attend a residential study school in Manchester.
The aim of the Study School is to introduce students to the concept of a person-centred approach to support and development based on a Human Rights framework. The accent is on moving towards increasing choice, developing relationships, improving competence, developing community presence and participation, as well as increasing respect for the individual. This approach underpins all aspects of course delivery.
Course unit details
Students study two compulsory Course Units and one optional Course Unit
Compulsory- Towards Inclusion - 15 credits EDUC70300
- Communication Issues - 30 credits EDUC70320
Optional
- Health Issues - 15 credits EDUC70520
- Understanding & Responding to Behavioural Challenges - 15 credits EDUC70280
- Access to Learning - 15 credits EDUC70270
- Families and Relationships - 15 credits EDUC70260
- Supporting Choice
Course content for year 1
Students study compulsory Course Units 'Towards Inclusion' and 'Communication Issues' and one additional optional Course Unit.
Details of Compulsory units:
Towards Inclusion
The Towards Inclusion course unit traces the development of 20th Century theories, policies and approaches to learning disability and critically evaluates their impact upon the lives of people with profound and complex learning difficulties. Students then consider contemporary approaches such as person-centred planning, supported employment and inclusive education and examine the role of such approaches in fostering and promoting inclusion.
Communication Issues
Communication is the fundamental skill of human interaction. The course looks at the development of the cognitive processes that underpin this ability, and the manner in which that development changes- from pre-intentional communication to intentional and symbolic interaction. The course units also examine the physical equipment involved in transmitting verbal and non-verbal communicative information. Use of equipment that has been recently developed to assist and augment the range of communicative behaviours is also considered.
Additional course fees information
- Postgraduate Certificate - UK/EU students - £2555 (1 year DL)
- Postgraduate Certificate - international students - £4900 (1 year DL)
It is possible to pay in three installments (at registration in September, mid January and mid April) via Direct Debit.
Scholarships and bursaries
Please see information regarding the Career Development Loan: