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Film for Thought Course 'Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy' is a First of its Kind in the College of Direct Support Curriculum

Thursday, April 8, 2010 Education News
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ATLANTA, Georgia, April 7, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The College of Direct Support (CDS), an Internet-based college for direct support professionals managed in partnership by MC Strategies/Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced a new genre of courses into the CDS Curriculum - "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy".
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The story and lives of Diana Braun and Kathy Conour in Alice Elliott's film "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy" come alive in the latest course to be introduced by the CDS.
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This new genre of courses within the CDS curriculum is called "Film for Thought" (FFT). Film for Thought is a specialized course that focuses on one film and uses it to help the learner connect the story within the film to the competencies and skills learned in the CDS. Unlike other CDS courses, these consist of one comprehensive lesson.

"The purpose of this new type of course is to take a film and to use it as a reflection tool for learning. The film provides a story or context about the lives of people with disabilities and then the story serves as a mean to reflect and integrate learning from various courses within the CDS," says Dr. Amy Hewitt, Senior Research Associate/Training Director at the Research and Training Center on Community Living, Institute on Community Integration, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hewitt oversees the development of all CDS courses.

Elliott's film "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy" made its nationwide debut on PBS in the fall of 2009. This stirring movie chronicles the lives of two of the country's most remarkable advocates for people with disabilities: Diana, who has Down syndrome, and Kathy, who had cerebral palsy. The release of the film in the fall was especially poignant with the passing away of Kathy Conour on Sept. 19th. But her story lives.

"Body and Soul is a story about Kathy and Diana, who supported one another and who have been engaged in advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities in Illinois," Hewitt added. "This film was an excellent first choice for a FFT course because of the breadth of life successes and challenges experienced by them. In the development of the course we could have the learner reflect on content of every single existing CDS course. I think this is a good indication of how connected the CDS courses are to the real life experiences of people with disabilities, but it is also a reflection on how remarkable and engaged Kathy and Diana's lives are. Their story provides a powerful learning opportunity for CDS learners."

This course divides this wonderfully popular film into chapters. It connects CDS content and learning to the main themes and story line of each of the film's chapters and then asks the learner to reflect and integrate their CDS learning with the film and with their work as a Direct Support Professional (DSP).

Dr. Hewitt said, "This course will help DSPs see, hear and feel how many of the issues such as inclusion, advocacy, self-direction, choice, empowerment and support, which are integrated into the CDS, are also integrated and played out in real lives of people with disabilities. Learners will find helpful resources and references to refresh their thinking and knowledge about the issues identified in the film."

Diana and Kathy met three decades ago and fought to live independent lives. Fearful of being locked away in a nursing home or forced into a state-run institution, Diana and Kathy broke the rules, escaped the system, and modeled a grand experiment in independent living.

As a result of their efforts, Diana and Kathy are well-known as a tireless and dynamic pair of lobbyists and disability rights activists. Although Kathy was non-verbal, with the help of a mouth stick and a Pathfinder assistive communication device, she wrote articles for national magazines and had an active email correspondence with leaders in the disability rights movement. She also served on boards and lobbied effectively for disability rights. She was once even arrested, power chair and all. Diana drives, cooks, shops, takes care of scheduling doctor's appointments and was Kathy's personal assistant and friend for more than 35 years.

The story chronicles a journey from their home in Springfield, IL to Washington, D.C. The trip is physically dangerous and technically illegal for them as Medicare rules required them to be homebound. However, history has shown that the benefits of breaking rules can sometimes outweigh the risks. Although people with disabilities comprise the largest minority in the United States, they are routinely denied equal access and rights. "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy" exemplifies the abilities of people with disabilities and helps us understand an important and complex social issue.

About the College of Direct Support

The College of Direct Support is a learning gateway for contemporary best practices for Direct Support Professionals. By incorporating web-based learning, backed by nationally recognized curricula, the CDS is designed to promote a profession of direct support. The CDS is being used in more than 30

American states and in Canada. It is a partnership between MC Strategies/Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center's Institute on Community Integration, which authors the curriculum.

CDS offers a complete lineup of courses offered on the MC Strategies/Elsevier's Learning Management System.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com) and Cell (http://www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect (http://www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus (http://www.scopus.com), Reaxys (http://www.reaxys.com), MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult (http://www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (http://www.scival.com ) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (http://www.medai.com), which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (http://www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Tom King, +1-877-353-2767, [email protected]

SOURCE Elsevier & CDS

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