The workshop will be an introduction to the principles of sleep assessment and behavioural management and will be especially useful to professionals new to this area of practice.

Interconnections offers this 2-day training programme for people who support children with developmental disabilities and their families.

This training is facilitated by Dr Julie Sutton and caters for 18 trainees.

Here is a recent evaluation.

Dr Sutton is author of A sleep hygiene tool for children with developmental disabilities by Dr Julie Sutton et al

The online training is for any country and will be delivered in English.

Cost of course for 18 people: £2,200

Further information below.

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Tel: 01497 831550

Sleep Practitioner online training for health and social professionals working with families of children with developmental disabilities

The workshop will be an introduction to the principles of sleep assessment and behavioural management and will be especially useful to professionals new to this area of practice. Content will be underpinned by current research evidence and the trainer’s own clinical experience.

Purpose of the training: To provide a sound knowledge of sleep theory and equip professionals with the specialist skills to apply this to families of children with developmental disabilities. The topics to be covered are –

1. Mechanisms of typical sleep e.g. sleep phases and cycles.
2. Sleep problems and sleep disorders commonly seen in children with developmental disabilities.
3. Partnership working with families of children with developmental disabilities.
4. How complex health needs associated with this group of children impact on sleep.
5. Understanding the role of medication in tackling sleep disturbance.
6. Assessing sleep problems using sleep diaries, outcome measures and sleep history questionnaires and interpreting findings.
7. Designing tailor made behavioural interventions for sleep problems assessed to be behavioural in cause.

Suitable for: The training is specifically designed for frontline health and social care professionals who work with families of children with developmental disabilities including Public Health Practitioners , Health Visitors, Learning Disability Nurses, Community Children’s Nurses, School Nurses, Support Workers, Social Workers, Psychologists and Occupational Therapists. This is an opportunity to gain practical skills and develop best practice in sleep work with families of children with developmental disabilities.

Dr Julie Sutton

Course evaluations are exemplary and positive feedback from participants is regularly received post attendance evidencing high training impact. Alongside two day Sleep Practitioner training events, Julie has delivered sleep training on a consultancy basis, at seminars and conferences commissioned by organisations such as Action for Children, NHS and local Authority providers in the United Kingdom and Eire.

As a Learning Disability Nurse with over 25 years’ experience, Julie has a special interest in behavioural sleep interventions designed to meet the needs of children with disabilities. She was awarded a Research Capacity Building Corporation (RCBC) Wales Scholarship in 2012, to undertake doctoral research into sleep hygiene education interventions for children with developmental disabilities, at Bangor University and was awarded a PhD in 2017.

Julie is continuing her research in the field of sleep hygiene education and has published her research findings in academic journals such as Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and British Journal of Learning Disabilities. Julie is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and currently Julie works as a Senior Lecturer in Practice Learning at the University of Chester. This role involves teaching pre-registration nursing students and supporting them in practice placement areas.