News
LETS Go! Commissioned to Provide Online Early Development Group Videos for PADS
Published; 18th September 2020
LETS Go! are delighted to be collaborating with Positive about Down syndrome (PADS) to provide online early development support to parents of preschool children with Down syndrome.
PADS Founder Nicola Enoch advises, ‘for some time we have been concerned there are many preschool children across the UK, who are not accessing specialist early development and so are launching PADS Early Development Groups - PEGS - with the aim to support these families. In an ideal world we would always advocate face to face interaction and therefore recommend families attend local support groups, but if that is not an option, virtual is an exceptionally good alternative with excellent resources and important peer and professional support.'
LETS Go! has been commissioned to provide exclusive video recordings targeted specifically to aid & promote development for preschool children with DS, across a range of skills, including communication, early speech sound production, auditory sound discrimination, early reading, numeracy, fine motor skills, memory and behaviour. Launching in September 2020 almost 100 families will be accessing the regular sessions and will be supported by a team of Early Development Teachers who have extensive experience and knowledge in supporting preschool children with Down syndrome.
New Online Training From LETS Go!
Published; 28th August 2020
LETS Go UK are pleased to be able to offer our NEW Down syndrome specific online training to groups and organisations!
The training can be bought in by an organisation for their members and those schools supporting their members (in line with the previous ‘in person’ training model) which will run at a time and pace decided by you.
Our online training comprises;
*Training videos with handouts to watch at a time suitable for delegates
*Activities designed to develop practical plans and targets for individual children
*Live online discussion sessions to share feedback on the activities & provide an opportunity to ask questions.
Please email training@letsgouk.org for additional information or to book a course.
LETS Go! Deliver Training for 21 Together
Published; 12th February 2020
Thank you to 21 Together for inviting LETS Go UK to deliver a training day last week. We looked at Developing Social Strengths & Managing Behaviour.
Becky covered the importance of developing independence and supporting verbal short term memory as well as the impact of speech & language impairments on behaviour.
The training covered lots of practical strategies and their use in successfully managing behaviour; for example using visual resources such as Lists of Jobs and Communication Supports.
Survey of the Education Experiences of Children with Down Syndrome Currently in UK Schools
Published; 15th November 2019
At the end of October we launched our online survey with the university of Manchester looking at the educational experiences of children with Down syndrome currently in UK schools.
Thank you so much to all the people who have already completed the survey and also, a huge thank you to all the people and groups who have shared the information. They survey is available to complete online and we would really like to get as many parents, teachers, teaching assistants and SENCos to complete the survey as possible all across the UK. Click HERE to take part
Down Syndrome Education International Research Forum 2019
Published; 19th September 2019
Earlier this week we attended another interesting and informative research forum, thanks to Down Syndrome Education International. This 2 day forum is always an excellent event to find out about current research and Becky was delighted to be presenting in the speech and language session. It is also bringing parents, researchers and practitioners together to discuss best practice and goals for the future. There were some excellent talks and discussion.
https://www.down-syndrome.org/en-gb/research/forum/2019/
IASSIDD 2019 Word Congress in Glasgow
Published; 10th August 2019
Becky attended the IASSIDD 2019 Word Congress in Glasgow. This 4 day conference provided a wide range of presentations across specific themes related to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including communication, challenging behaviour, inclusive education, families, ageing and quality of life.
As part of a Down syndrome specific session on Language, literacy and communication, Becky presented an oral presentation ‘Understanding and applying a grammatical rule: a randomised control trial’.
This conference always provides an opportunity for researchers particularly interested in Down syndrome to present and share their work. In addition, it was interesting to be a part of the roundtable discussion on testing and to attend the IASSIDD Down Syndrome Special Interest Research Group AGM. Becky was delighted to be accepted as a member-at-large of this international group.
http://www.iassidd2019.com/about/
52nd Annual Gatlinburg Conference Texas;
Translational Research On Down Syndrome
Published; 6th April 2019
It was great to catch up with everyone at the 52nd Annual Gatlinburg Conference; Translational Research On Down Syndrome hosted by UCLA & UC Davis in Texas.
Thanks to Chris Lemons (Vanderbilt Peabody College) & Sue Buckley (Down Syndrome Education International) for organising the symposium, we were really pleased with the number of people who came to see us and the great feedback and questions at the end.
https://health.ucdavis.edu/…/g…/pdf/2019-program-booklet.pdf
https://www.dseinternational.org/en-gb/
https://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/bio/christopher-lemons
Down Syndrome Research Forum - University College Cork
Published; 4th April 2019
There was a full packed programme last week at the Down Syndrome Research Forum: Exploring best practice in speech, language and communication at University College Cork
Becky was invited to be one of the keynote speakers as well as deliver a workshop on her PhD project evaluating a language intervention working on understanding and the use of regular past tense.
The World Café, enabling parents and speech and language therapists to develop priorities in research, was a huge success.
https://www.ucc.ie/en/speech/dsresearchforumie/