Division of Neurodevelopmental and
Behavioral Pediatrics

Program in Aging and Developmental Disabilities (PADD)

Curriculum

The of number people who are aging with developmental disabilities continues to grow, yet education for professionals who provide services for this population is relatively limited. Thus, the Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center (FLGEC), the Institute of Gerontology of Utica College at Syracuse University, and the Program in Aging and Developmental Disabilities (PADD) faculty have developed a series of training modules for use by health professionals who serve this population.

Understanding Aging and Developmental Disabilities: An In-Service Curriculum Part I, 2 nd Edition

Comprised of six separate modules, the sections are:

  1. Biology of Aging
  2. Developmental Disabilities
  3. The Aging and Developmental Disabilities Service Systems
  4. Alzheimer's Disease and Down Syndrome: The Connection
  5. Cerebral Palsy In Adults Who Are Older
  6. Environment and Aging

Available in print or on CD-ROM via Power-Point presentations, the curriculum can be used individually or in a group "train-the-trainer" format. Each session can be presented in 1 - 2 hours and includes a series of printable handouts.

Understanding Aging and Developmental Disabilities: An In-Service Curriculum Part II, 2 nd Edition

Developed as a supplement to the first edition, this manual includes the following chapters: 1) Coalition Building: Survival for the Future, 2) Side Effects of Medication, 3) Learning About Your Own Aging: A Guide to Helping Consumers Understand Their Own Aging Process. Available in print or on CD-ROM via Power-Point presentations, the curriculum can be used individually or in a group "train-the-trainer" format. Each session can be presented in 1 - 2 hours and includes a series of printable handouts.

Intellectual Disabilities: A Caretaker’s Guide to Aging and Dementia

This manual is designed to provide information to families and staff caring for individuals with developmental disabilities who also have dementia and/or age-related personality changes. The methods described are most effective with a 3-part approach: education, counseling, and if necessary, medication. Some of the topics included are stages of Alzheimer’s Dementia, Dementia Risk Factors, Conditions that Resemble Symptoms of Dementia, Dementia Personality Changes, Responding to Difficult Behaviors, Long-Range Planning and Home Safety.

Rochester Clinical Assessment Training

Aging for anyone does not have to mean significant cognitive or functioning decline. There are many factors that can affect each person's aging including lifestyle choices, genetics, health care options, attitude, and the physical environment. A combination of all of these factors likely determines each person's risk factors for disease and age-associated changes. It is essential when an older person with developmental disabilities is experiencing loss that an appropriate assessment is conducted to determine the underlying cause. Too often when an older person experiences decline, it is assumed to be normal aging or dementia (which is also not normal aging). Because it is even more difficult to determine the underlying cause(s) in persons with developmental disabilities due to pre-existing communication difficulties and disease conditions, the loss is even more likely to be blamed on aging.

In our Rochester Geriatric Assessment Clinic for Older Persons with Developmental Disabilities, overseen by Dr. C. Michael Henderson, we have found loss to be caused most often by a complex interaction of disease, side effects of medication, mental health issues, and incompatible physical environments. To discover the underlying causes can be expensive, time consuming, and requires a thorough knowledge of each patient’s medical history and current physical/psychological environments.

The Rochester Clinical Assessment Training Curriculum is intended to help clinicians and caregivers in the field of developmental disabilities understand the medical aspects of aging with pre-existing disabilities or disorders. We hope that this knowledge will assist each of you in advocacy for appropriate geriatric assessments and follow-up.

Written curriculum contents:

CD ROM Contents:

If you wish to order a module, please download this order form (PDF format) and mail it to the address on the form.

COMING SOON...

Rochester Environmental and Sensory Processing Awareness (RESPA) Checklists

Sensory processing and interpretation of the environmental information gleaned in sensory processing can affect each individual’s moods, functioning ability, and activities of daily living. For individuals who are aging with pre-existing disabilities, environments that do not enhance or promote sensory processing can act as barriers to functioning and interaction with others. For individuals who can not communicate verbally or have little experience with self-advocacy, the form of communication can often be inappropriate behaviors that interfere with the individual’s quality of life.

For example, painful information in the environment, as perceived by the individual, such as vibrations from fluorescent lights or glare from lights could result in an individual screaming, crying, refusing to participate in activities in that environment, and/or assaultive behavior. The physical environment and the sensory information from that environment may be the preceptor of the individual's behavior. Yet, too often this behavior is addressed by an elaborate behavioral plan or by assuming it is a problem only internal to the individual when environmental modifications may reduce or eliminate the inappropriate behavior.

The RESPA checklists are intended to be awareness tools for staff and caregivers. They have not been validated as formal tools.  They should be used for clearer understanding of and awareness for each individual’s sensory processing needs and issues, with a goal for modifying the environment when possible to help enhance each individual’s functioning and quality of life across the lifespan.

Take the Train the Trainer class in September in Jamestown, or in December in Albany. Check the conference page for details!

For more information, contact: cathy_imhof@urmc.rochester.edu

 

 

PADD

Developmental Disabilities