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Direct Support Courses
- Supporting Healthy Lives (.6 CEUs) - This course provides an overview of information needed to understand what it takes to lead a healthy life and how to support people with disabilities in making good choices related to their health. It covers the importance of making healthy choices such as eating right aues across the life span and give advice on working with health care providers. A lesson nd getting the right amount of exercise. It reviews health-related isson recognizing the signs and symptoms of illness is included along with information on how to take care of someone who is ill. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Living a Healthy Life
Lesson 2 – Health Through the Age Span
Lesson 3 – Individual Health Needs
Lesson 4 – Care of Common Health Care Conditions
Lesson 5 – Recognizing Signs and Symptoms of Illness
Lesson 6 – working with a Health Care Provider
- Cultural Competence (.7 CEUs) - This course is an overview of cultural competence and its importance in daily support to people with disabilities. The learner is helped to understand the key components of cultural competence including: valuing diversity; recognizing one’s own culture and the culture of others; and having the resources and ability to adjust one’s behavior to meet the needs of the situation. Learners are asked to reflect on their capacities in these areas at different points during the course. The learners is given many opportunities to learn more about their own culture and reflect on the similarities and differences with other cultures:
Lesson 1 – What is Cultural Competence?
Lesson 2 – Understanding Your Own Culture
Lesson 3 – The Culture of Support Services
Lesson 4 – The Cultural Competence Continuum
Lesson 5 – Cross-Cultural Communication
Lesson 6 – Cultural Competence in Daily Support
Lesson 7 – Direct Support Professional Roles in Cultural Competent Organizations
- Medication Support (.7 CEUs) - This course is an introduction to supporting people in effectively and safely managing their medications. The course includes information on: working with prescribing health care professionals; proper storage and administration of medications; monitoring for problems or reactions to medications; and communication and documentation. The course must meet the needs of multiple and at time conflicting needs of different learners caused by differences in regional laws and the needs of the persons being supported. It has been developed with some unique tools and structures to help the learner with this. This course has been developed with 2 min-lessons which are highly focused on one set of skills and can be completed more quickly than the full lessons. Learners should take these only as they apply to their needs. The following lessons and mini-lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Introduction to Medication Support
Lesson 2 – Medication Basics
Lesson 3 – Working with Medications
Lesson 4 – Administration of Medications and Treatments
Lesson 5 – Follow-up, Communication, and Documentation
Mini Lesson 6 – Using Medication References
Mini Lesson 7 – Medical Abbreviations
- Personal and Self Care (.5 CEUs) - Grooming and hygiene is an important part of daily life. Grooming and hygiene can reflect a person’s well-being and self-esteem. Poor hygiene can lead to poor health. Many Direct Support Professionals help people with grooming and hygiene activities. These include tasks such as helping with dressing, bathing shaving, or using the toilet. It may also include teaching these skills to children or adults with special needs. DSPs may feel uncomfortable assisting people with grooming and hygiene. Learning to support people with personal care in a sensitive and respectful manner is discussed. It is also important to respect a person’s own grooming habits. These are personal and unique, and can be culturally based. DSPs will learn how to find out about people’s personal style and preferences. Learners will review methods for completing many grooming and hygiene tasks. This course will also help learners understand heath concerns and risks related to personal care:
Lesson 1 – Understanding Personal and Self Care
Lesson 2 – Providing Individualized Personal Care Support
Lesson 3 – The Basics of Hygiene
Lesson 4 – The Basics of Grooming and Dressing
Lesson 5 – Oral Care
- Positive Behavior Support (.7 CEUs) - This course is an introduction to methods of supporting people who engage in challenging behaviors. Strategies that are safe, fair, compassionate, and effective in preventing and reducing problem behaviors are included. The learner is provided with definitions of challenging behavior and basic behavioral terms and principles. The learner will understand more about the history of treatment of people with developmental disabilities and why the person-centered practices at the heart of positive behavior supports are being embraced. The course teaches learners about regulations in the use of behavioral interventions and provides practical information on how to effectively support people who present behavioral challenges. The following lessons are included int his course:
Lesson 1 – Understanding Behavior
Lesson 2 – Functions and Causes of Behavior
Lesson 3 – Understanding Positive Approaches
Lesson 4 – Preventing Challenging Behavior
Lesson 5 – Responding to Challenging Behavior
Lesson 6 – Behavior Support Plans
Lesson 7 – Rules, Regulations, Policies, and Rights
- Direct Support Professionalism (.5 CEUs)
- This course introduces the learner to the importance and benefits of a professional orientation to the DSP role and to the history and status of the professional movement. The national movement to professionalize direct support is described. The reasons why professionalism is important, progress that has been made in creating a profession and how DSPs can become part of the professionalism movement are included. An ethical code for DSPs is reviewed along with ways of applying these ethical guidelines in daily practice. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Becoming a Direct Support Professional
Lesson 2 – Contemporary Best Practices
Lesson 3 – Applying Ethics in Everyday Work
Lesson 4 – Practicing Confidentiality
Lesson 5 – working with your Strengths and Interests
- Safety at Home and in the Community (.8 CEUs)
- This course provides an overview of methods for preventing and responding to safety issues at home and in the community away from home. Lessons include information on safety while driving, creating safe home environments, and safe handling of blood borne pathogens (universal precautions and OSHA requirements). Information for preventing and responding to specific situations such as fires, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other emergencies is covered. Throughout the lessons, the learner is asked to think about balancing safety concerns with personal choice and opportunity for people with disabilities by reflecting on examples that represent the types of challenges DSPs face today. Because safety risks have a lot to do with individual circumstances, the learner is asked to apply learning to the policies and procedures of the specific support setting in which they work, as well as to the unique needs of each person supported. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Risks, Choice, and Common Sense
Lesson 2 – Safety at Home
Lesson 3 – Fire Safety
Lesson 4 – Responding to Emergencies
Lesson 5 – Safety for all Occasions
Lesson 6 – Motor Vehicle Safety
Lesson 7 – Universal Precautions and Infection Control
Lesson 8 – Accident and Incident Reporting
- Community Inclusion (.4 CEUs)* - This course helps DSPs understand their roles in supporting the inclusion of people with developmental disabilities in the communities in which they live and work. It provides an overview of inclusion and why it is important, and the learner is given strategies for enhancing inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – The DSP Role in Community Inclusion
Lesson 2 – Matching Community Resources with Individual Interests
Lesson 3 – Community Bridge-Building and Networking
Lesson 4 – Natural Supports
*This course is offered in conjunction with the course entitled “ Person Centered Planning” for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Person-Centered Planning and Supports (.4 CEUs)* - This course will help learners understand the foundational concepts and values of Person-Centered Planning and the benefits of this type of planning. The history of Person-Centered Planning is reviewed. The course includes an overview of five different types of planning as they are done today. It includes information and tips on participating meaningfully in a Person-Centered Plan. The course outlines steps that help the direct support professional bring these plans to life. Common challenges to person-centered services are reviewed and the learner is given a chance to learn about and create solutions to these types of challenges:
Lesson 1 – Foundations of Person Centered Planning
Lesson 2 – Overview of Person Centered Approaches
Lesson 3 – the Person Centered Planning Process
Lesson 4 – Bringing Person-Centered Plans to Life
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Community Inclusion” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Functional Assessment (.4 CEUs)* - Some people use disruptive or harmful (challenging) behaviors to meet their needs. They do this when they don’t know how to use other better options. They do it when they lack motivation to use better options. People in direct support roles need to be able to identify the reason a person uses challenging behavior. When challenging behaviors are persistent, a formal structured process can be helpful to disvoering the function of the behavior. This process is called functional assessment (FA). This course explains the purpose and process of FA. It reviews common behavioral terms and principles of positive behavioral supports. It prepared learners to complete tasks related to FA. These tasks include completing structured observation and documentation. They include participating in or conducting interviews. They include reviewing records for critical information and seeking or completing additional assessments. Finally information on the FA is used to created individualized behavior support plans. These plans help improve the person’s life and decrease use of challenging behaviors.
Lesson 1 – Understanding Behavior and Participating in the Functional Assessment Process.
Lesson 2 – Strategies for Gathering and Organizing Functional Assessment Information.
Lesson 3 – Comprehensive Assessment and the Role of the Direct Support Professional.
Lesson 4 – Using Functional Assessments and the Behavior Support Plans.
*This course is being offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Supported Employment” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Employment Supports (.4 CEUs)* - Exploring Individual Preferences and Opportunities for Fob Attainment, Part I – This course provides an overview of employment services and supports for people with disabilities. Learners are taught how to assist people with disabilities in identifying employment skills and preferences, exploring job opportunities, completing job applications and interviews, and determining appropriate work place accommodations. A later course will take employment supports to the next step with customized employment for people with significant developmental disabilities. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Introduction to Employment Services
Lesson 2 – Identifying Individual Employment Preferences, Interests, and StrengthsLesson 3 – Job Opportunities and Job Searches
Lesson 4 – Getting a Job: Applying, Interviewing, and Making Accommodations
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Functional Assessment” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Maltreatment of Vulnerable Adults and Children (.5 CEUs) - This course helps the learner understand what abuse, neglect, and exploitation are; how to identify suspected cases of abuse, neglect or exploitation; how to protect the person who may have been harmed from further exploitation; and how to effectively document these situations. This course teaches learners about specific reasons people with disabilities may be more vulnerable to abuse, neglect, or exploitation and what strategies they can use to reduce peoples’ vulnerabilities. Protection and advocacy, state ombudsman, and other agencies that deal with abuse and neglect situations are described and explained to the learner. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Defining Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
Lesson 2 – Preventing Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
Lesson 3 – Reporting Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
Lesson 4 – Documenting Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation
Lesson 5 – Following up on Reports.
- Teaching People with Developmental Disabilities (.4 CEUs)* - This course is an overview of the important role that DSPs have in teaching people with developmental disabilities. It provides the learner with a basic understanding of teaching and learning, an important part of the direct support role. It helps the learner move beyond a “care-giving” role to one of being a true supporter and professional. This course helps the learner understand why it is important for all people to learn new things, what motivates people to learn, what teaching strategies help people with developmental disabilities learn, and how teaching and learning can be effectively organized. The following lessons are include din this course:
Lesson 1 – Understanding Teaching
Lesson 2 – Preparing to Teach
Lesson 3 – Teaching Strategies
Lesson 4 – Organizing and Applying Teaching Strategies
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Documentation” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Documentation (.4 CEUs)* - This course provides the learner with a thorough understanding of why it is important to record specific activities or events, different types of documentation, ways of effectively completing documentation, and the importance of maintaining confidentiality in documentation. Learners are given general guidelines for documentation and are urged to review the policies and procedures of their employers and states. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Purposes of Documentation
Lesson 2 – Types of Documentation
Lesson 3 – Effective Documentation
Lesson 4 – Confidentiality in Documentation
This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “ Teaching People with Developmental Disabilities” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Introduction to Developmental Disabilities (.5 CEUs) - This course provides the learner with a background in the history, language, and basic concepts of services for persons with developmental disabilities. In this course the learner reviews the ideas and learns the vocabulary that is important to working within the field of developmental disabilities. This information makes the learner more effective in communicating with others and in understanding the system in which developmental disabilities services are provided. The following lessons are included in this course:Lesson 1 – A Brief History of Developmental Disabilities
Lesson 2 – The Language and Ideas of Best Practices
Lesson 3 – Terminology and Classification in Developmental Disabilities
Lesson 4 – The Causes of Developmental Disabilities
Lesson 5 – Services for People with Developmental Disabilities
- Individual Rights and Choice (.4 CEUs)* - In this course, the learner gains knowledge of the rights of individuals with disabilities including a brief overview of relevant laws and their historical roots. It teaches how to balance the right to take risks with the right to be protected from harm, and provides valuable skills in facilitating choice making by the individuals to whom DSPs provide support. It is recommended that the learner complete the course on Maltreatment of Vulnerable Adults and Children along with this course to better understand rights. While this course discusses many federal laws that concern the rights of individuals with disabilities, state and local communities also have laws that pertain to rights. Learners are encouraged to contact their state or local government representatives and their supervisor to find out about local laws. Agencies are encouraged to use the tailoring options of the CDS to identify state and local laws and information that DSPs should know. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – Overview of Rights
Lesson 2 – Identifying Restrictions of Rights
Lesson 3 – A Past of Barriers, a Future of Risks, Choices, and Solutions
Lesson 4 – Your role in Supporting Expression of Rights and Facilitating Choice
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “You’ve Got a Friend: Supporting Family Connections, Friends, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- You’ve Got a Friend: Supporting Family Connections, Friends, Love and Pursuit of Happiness (.4 CEUs)* - This course explores the importance and meaning of human relationships in the lives of all people, including people of all ages with disabilities. In it the learner reflects on the benefits that healthy relationships bring to people’s lives and why they are valuable. The learner identifies the common perceptions and prejudices about people with disabilities that create barriers to social relationships. The learner is taught the common challenges that DSPs face when supporting people in developing and maintaining relationships and specific strategies for overcoming these challenges. In addition, the learner explores family relationships and how to effectively support these special l-term relationships that are so important to people with developmental disabilities. The following lessons are included in this course:
Lesson 1 – The Importance of Relationships
Lesson 2 – Barriers, Challenges, and Opportunities for Friendships
Lesson 3 – Strategies for Building and Maintaining Relationships
Lesson 4 – Supporting Family Networks
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Individual Rights and Choice” which also has four lessons for a total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Fueling High Performance (.5 CEUs) - This course is an overview of interventions that help reduce turnover, but also increase employee satisfaction, productivity, and competence. Management, training, and organizational practices can have a large impact on the quality of an employee’s work. This course is a review of methods and practices that ensure that high potential employees are also high performers.
Lesson 1 – Competency-Based Training
Lesson 2 – Employee Development
Lesson 3 – Teamwork
Lesson 4 – Performance Coaching
Lesson 5 – Employee Participation, Motivation, and Recognition
- Recruitment and Selection (.3 CEUs)* - Selection and hiring practices can have a big impact on turnover and vacancy rates. Finding high quality direct support professionals (DSPs) who want to stick around s tarts the minute you start looking to fill a position. This course gives a comprehensive overview into considerations for revising selection and hiring practices. Starting with recruitment and marking strategies, the lessons help you know how to ensure potential employees are actually interested in work, and that they have the attitudes and abilities to do the work.Lesson 1- Recruitment and Marketing
Lesson 2 – Realistic Job Previews
Lesson 3 – Selection and Hiring
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Developing an Intervention Plan” which contains four lessons for a combined total of .7 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Developing an Intervention Plan (.4 CEUs)* - This course summarized the steps of developing an effective plan for reducing turnover and vacancy. Learners will be given an overview of the planning process. Learners will be taken through the steps of gathering, organizing and summarizing their retention trends. Based on these initial numbers, learners will be taught how to obtain additional information to track down the root causes of these numbers. Finally they will be taken step by step through developing their own plan.
Lesson 1 – Understanding the Intervention Plan
Lesson 2 – Assessing the Problem-Part 1
Lesson 3 – Assessing the Problem-Part 2
Lesson 4 – Developing Your Intervention Plan
*This course will be offered in conjunction with the course entitled “Recruitment and Selection” which also has four lessons for a combined total of .8 CEU hours. Both courses must be taken to recieve credit.
- Training and Orientation (.5 CEUs) - This course gives a comprehensive overview into considerations for revising training and orientation practices. There is an emphasis on improving the retention of high potential staff through improving these areas. Information includes: how to select appropriate training topics; the best methods for helping people learn; and how and why to assess employee skills. A special lesson on orientation as a separate aspect to retention that is often confused with training is included.
Lesson 1 – Understanding Training
Lesson 2 – Choosing Training Topics
Lessons 3 – Choosing Training Methods
Lesson 4 – Understanding Employee Assessment
Lesson 5 – Orientation Practices
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