Developmental Services Worker

What does it take to help someone living with a developmental disability build a fuller, more independent life? Cambrian College’s Developmental Services Worker programme answers that question over four semesters. It is a two-year Ontario College Diploma delivered at the Barrydowne campus in Sudbury, and it prepares you to support children and adults who live with physical, developmental and intellectual disabilities or a dual diagnosis.

Semester one lays the groundwork with Understanding Disabilities, Disabilities Strategies I, Issues in Developmental Psychology and Health and Wellness for DSW Professional, alongside a first Field Seminar. In semester two the focus turns to practice through Person Centered Planning and Advocacy, Positive Behaviour Supports, Crisis Management and Prevention, Autism Spectrum Disorders and Pharmacology for DSW Professional. Semester three adds Dual Diagnosis Assessment and Treatment, Communication Strategies and Assistive Technologies, Community Employability Skills and Self Care Skills, so you graduate able to plan person-centred supports, use alternate modes of communication and respond calmly when behaviour escalates.

Field placement runs through all four semesters, building from Field Work I to Field Work III, which fills the whole final semester. Cambrian places DSW students in schools, childcare settings, clinical and behavioural support services, residential programmes and day or vocational support programmes, and placement hours can even be completed through paid employment in the sector. Before the end of first semester you complete Standard First Aid and Level C CPR, a vulnerable sector screen and a two-step TB test. Graduates can continue into Cambrian’s Applied Learning Disability Studies or Community and Health Services Navigation graduate certificates, or use articulation agreements toward a degree.

Developmental Services Worker graduates find roles as developmental services professionals, educational assistants, residential support workers, behaviour support workers, supported employment workers and community participation specialists. The programme suits patient, practical people who are comfortable helping with personal care, lifting and transfers, and who want to champion the rights and everyday choices of people with disabilities.