AHEAD Start Online Course

DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES IN YOUR COLLEGE?

Are you putting the right accommodations in place to support students and to be legally compliant?

What: AHEAD Start, is AHEAD’s online learning training course on supporting students with disabilities in Further and Higher education.

Available to: Professional staff, such as teachers, careers advisors or dedicated support staff working within Irish Further Education & Training and Higher Education. This course is focused on Irish law and legislation and working in the Irish context. As such, it is open to professional staff working in Ireland only.

When: The course runs once a year from January to March. The next course will run from mid January 2024 to mid March. Register for AHEAD Start.

Course information: The number of students with disabilities in education is increasing year on year and educational institutions are legally responsible under Irish law for ensuring that they are included and accommodated. This interactive online course will provide professional staff, such as teachers, careers advisors or dedicated support staff with a systematic approach to supporting students with disabilities and includes practical templates for carrying out needs assessments. These assessments are required to make an application to the National Access Office for the additional funding to support students with disabilities in third level courses and provide evidence of compliance with equality and disability legislative requirements.

Participation includes attendance at a number of webinars, coupled with an 18-22 hour online course completed over a 6-8 week term. The course can be completed anywhere you have access to a computer, internet connection and headphones (see the full requirements in our FAQ) and can be done at times that suit your work schedule (within the specified term time). The interactive online part is broken into four modules;