Down Syndrome Education USA has announced plans for the first Down Syndrome Education and Research Center based in the USA. Building on successful, evidence-based programs, the new center will offer education programs and resources to children with Down syndrome, their families and education professionals across the USA. The center will also conduct and sponsor scientific research focused on practical ways to support cognitive development, language, literacy and math teaching for young people who have Down syndrome.
The new center will be a joint venture with the Down Syndrome Foundation of Orange County and will accommodate expansion of the Foundation’s highly successful Learning Program. The center will be based in Orange County, California and is expected to open in early 2009.
Details at: http://blogs.downsed.org/downsedusa/
Down Syndrome Education International has been awarded a grant to test an adapted reading and language teaching programme for children who have Down syndrome. The funding from the UK Big Lottery Fund will enable the charity, working with researchers at the Centre for Reading and Language at the University of York, to assess the impact of targeted teaching approaches in practice.
The UK Big Lottery Fund has awarded Down Syndrome Education International a £481,000 ($US900,000; $A1.23M) grant to conduct a multicentre, randomised controlled trial of an adapted reading and language teaching programme and (assuming the intervention is found to be effective) to develop a teachers' manual and training programme to encourage widespread adoption in schools. Including the dissemination phase, the project will last four years.
Prof Sue Buckley,m the Director of Science and Research at Down Syndrome Education International, is quoted as saying:
"This is a vitally important piece of research that promises to help many thousands of young people with Down syndrome. ....... we will trial approaches to reading and language instruction that are tailored to meet the specific needs of children who have Down syndrome. By carefully evaluating these approaches, we hope to clearly show that they are both highly effective and easy to implement. Language and literacy skills are so important for living and learning. We know that young people who have Down syndrome can achieve many things that were once thought not possible when given the right opportunities."
Details at: http://blogs.downsed.org/downsed/
2008 UK Down Syndrome Research Forum: Down Syndrome Education International has hosted the annual meeting of the UK Down Syndrome Research Forum at The Sarah Duffen Centre in Portsmouth. Researchers from around the UK and elsewhere in Europe met over two days to discuss ongoing research projects and future directions. More information here.
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