Short Course

Exploring Learning Disabilities: Supporting Belonging

Develop practical knowledge of learning disabilities and inclusion, while building confidence in supporting belonging through engaging, real-life learning experiences and discussions.

Online / Self-paced Start Date - Anytime

 

 

24 hours Duration
Level 1 Introductory
English Language
Open University Provider

 

 

 

Programme overview

Do you have experience of learning disabilities? Perhaps you have been assessed as having a learning disability yourself, or have a friend or relative who has this label? Maybe you work with people with learning disabilities. Or perhaps it’s something you know little about, and want to know more.

In this free course, Exploring learning disabilities: supporting belonging, you will hear from many different people about what it is like to have the label ‘learning disability’, and how it feels to support someone with a learning disability, as a family member, a friend, an advocate or a paid worker. These human stories will lead you into some of the complex moral, ethical and practical debates learning disability gives rise to.

This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.

Curriculum

In this first session of the course you will consider the question: what is a learning disability? You will meet several people who have been labelled as having a learning disability, and you will be introduced to some definitions on the topic. You will then find out how many people are in the UK.

In this second session, you will learn how ideas about learning disabilities have changed over time. It’s a little-known history, but an important one if you are to understand the lives of people with learning disabilities today.

You will learn about the recent past through watching an animated timeline, Present in My Past, made by Purple Patch Arts, and through studying the lives of two women – Mabel and Bernie. Both Mabel and Bernie were born in the mid-twentieth century and lived through momentous changes in the way learning disabilities are thought about.

In this session, you will be thinking about the families of people with learning disabilities.

In this session of the course, you will explore why education for everyone, including people with learning disabilities — is considered a fundamental human right, and how access to education has developed over time in the UK and around the world.

In this session, you will explore the challenges people with learning disabilities face in gaining employment, the gap in employment rates across the UK, and the barriers to accessing and maintaining paid work.

In this session you will consider the health and wellbeing of people with learning disabilities.

In this session, you will explore the importance of relationships and social connection for people with learning disabilities, including the barriers they may face in developing and maintaining meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging.

In this session, you will explore the closure of institutions for people with learning disabilities in the UK, the move towards community living, and the growing focus on disability rights and the social model of disability.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • explain the term 'learning disability'
  • describe the different ways learning disabilities have been viewed over time
  • reflect upon the impact that being labelled as having learning disabilities has on people and their families
  • explain why it can be difficult for people with learning disabilities and their families to feel like they belong in society
  • understand some of the barriers to people with learning disabilities and their families enjoying good lives and equal rights.

Key features

Flexible Online Learning

Study at your own pace with online course materials that can be accessed anytime, making learning easy to fit around work and personal commitments.

Interactive Learning Activities

Access quizzes, activities, and course exercises designed to support understanding and help reinforce key concepts throughout the course.

What our learners say

This course gave me a deeper understanding of learning disabilities and the importance of supporting inclusion and belonging. The real-life experiences and flexible format made it easy to build my knowledge alongside my other commitments.

Free online course

No Additional Costs

There are no mandatory additional costs to complete the course, although access to Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet software is recommended.

Free Statement of Participation

Learners who successfully complete the course can receive a free digital Statement of Participation as recognition of their learning

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