Distance Learning
The University of Massachusetts Medical School Shriver Center has capitalized on the strengths and expertise of its faculty and staff, including obtaining grants from the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, to develop a comprehensive set of distance learning courses. These courses have been carefully designed to meet the education and training needs of diverse professionals, paraprofessionals and parents as they seek to better serve the needs of persons with disabilities nationally and abroad.
Courses include:
Online graduate courses currently available in behavioral intervention in autism through UMass Lowell Continuing Studies:
Courses that will be available in the near future through this Shriver Center website offering a certificate of completion upon finishing a mastery assessment:
- Developing Culturally Competent Services
- Children with Special Health Care Needs
- Disability Law
- Family Centered Care
- Aging and Developmental Disabilities
Shriver’s distance learning courses have been designed through a process of:
- Thorough needs analyses, including consumer surveys and focus groups
- Consultation from nationally known content experts
- Application of our Distance Learning Instructional Design Protocol, which asks, “What instructional methods and technologies will best address the learning objectives and consumer needs associated with this course?”
- Careful field evaluation to assess consumer perceptions, satisfaction and learning
- Continuous revision to keep courses current
Current grants support course development in early intervention, community mentorship, parenting in autism, aging and more. Efforts also continue to disseminate our coursework more broadly, to “get the word out” and reach people with educational needs anytime and anywhere. Please refer back to this site on a regular basis to check for additional courses.