Early development groups
The Trust's innovative early intervention groups in Portsmouth for
children with Down syndrome provide structured activities to promote
development during their preschool years.
The Trust's early intervention groups for babies
and preschool children with Down syndrome provide
structured activities to promote development.
The groups have a particular focus on speech,
language, communication, literacy, numeracy,
cognitive development, social skills and behaviour.
Through the groups the Trust works with parents to
promote their children's development by:
- giving
information about the special needs of children with
Down syndrome, tailored to each specific child and
family, as the children’s needs vary considerably
- offering group activities relevant for each child's
age and stage of development
- demonstrating
activities to encourage each child’s progress which
parents can include in daily family routines at
home.
These activities are all based on the latest
research into the developmental needs of children
with Down syndrome. These services are run by members of the
Trust’s expert team of practitioners,
including psychologists and speech and language specialists.
The Trust is committed to sharing the
research-based activities that have been proven to
work in these early intervention services to benefit
as many children with Down syndrome as possible. It
provides training courses, publishes articles,
books, videos and teaching resources based on these
techniques, and welcomes professionals working in
statutory services to observe the groups.
The Trust collects data on the developmental progress of the children
attending the groups. This data is used in aggregate and/or anonymised
forms for research purposes.
The project also supports research activities by providing a pool of
possible participants in research studies run by the Trust or by the
Trust's approved research partners.
Feedback from parents and observation of the children attend the group
sessions also informs the Trust's research priorities.
- Provision of evidence-based early interventions to help parents
promote the education and development of their child - both face-to-face
in the group sessions and indirectly through publications and training
- Dissemination of proven strategies to improve services offered by
statutory service in the UK and worldwide
- Analysis of developmental data collected informs future research
priorities.
This project is ongoing. Around 80 children are currently enrolled in
these services, which are provided at The Sarah Duffen Centre on two
days a week during school term time.
Funding
A
small fee is requested from parents attending the groups to cover a
portion of administration costs. However, the provision of the service
is heavily subsidised by grant funding.
We are seeking funds to support this project over the coming three years.
If you would like to support this work, please
make a
donation online or contact giving@downsed.org.
The Trust's Baby Development Groups and Early Development Groups have
been supported in recent years by BBC Children in Need, The Big Lottery
Fund, the Peter Harrison Foundation and HSBC Bank.