Course structure

This course is designed to offer a unique and engaging opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills in the field of early child development. It will cover the following topics:

Week 1: Introduction to Infant Mental Health

Week 2: Child Development

Week 3: Understanding Attachment

Week 4: Relationships & Development 

Week 5: Infants with Exceptional Health Needs. Reflective Assessment due. 

Week 6: Introducing Neurodiversity 

Week 7: Conceptualising & Parenting Neurodiversity

Week 8: Adverse Childhood Experiences: Risk & Resilience 

Week 9: Infant Mental Health & Development: A Public Health Perspective 

Week 10: The Child’s World 

Week 11: Analysis & Response Assessment due

Assessment

• Written Response (30%) (optional)

Learners will produce a 500-word reflective response on an infant’s key experiences from their personal or professional experience. They will explore 1 factor that could influence the infant's attachment pattern, drawing on scientific literature to support their response. Due in Week 6.

• Analysis and Response Assessment (70%) (optional) 

Learners will produce a 7-minute recorded PowerPoint presentation detailing their analysis and response to a case vignette. They will create a timeline of significant events in an infant’s life and adapt a bio-ecological model to the circumstances presented in the vignette, engaging with scientific literature to support their response. Due in Week 11.

Learners who choose to submit both assessments will be awarded 10 Academic Credits towards a relevant Master’s degree at the University of Glasgow.

Meet The Team

This course is designed and delivered by Dr Fiona Sim, with the help of a team of clinicians and academics including Professor Helen Minnis, Dr Lucy Thompson, Dr Christine Puckering, Dr Nashwa Matta, Dr Fiona Turner and Dr Jason Lang.  

Fiona S is a lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests focus on infancy and early childhood, with a focus on early identification of neurodevelopmental difficulties in the preschool years.

Helen is Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Glasgow and has affiliations with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, the Universities of Aalborg and Aarhus, Denmark and with the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden. She has had a longstanding clinical and research focus on the psychiatric problems of abused and neglected children. 

Christine is a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist with more than forty years of experience working with parents and children. She is particularly interested in early relationships and how these can be supported particularly when families are under stress. Christine is the Programme Founder for Mellow Parenting, a charity which has developed interventions from pregnancy to pre-school based primarily on attachment theory. 

Lucy is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. She is affiliated with the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre at Gothenburg University, Sweden. Her research interests include infant and maternal mental health, parenting support, and early years screening and support for neurodevelopmental problems. 

Nashwa is a neonatologist within the NHSGG&C and an honorary clinical senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow. She is particularly interested in child development and neurodisability and is committed to improving outcomes for infants. Nashwa is a member of the NICE guideline committee member and the Scottish Governments Perinatal Infant Mental Health implementation and advisory group.  

Fiona T is a Research Associate and Health Psychologist in academic CAMHS at the University of Glasgow. She leads on qualitative research and process evaluation in the areas of infant mental health, child maltreatment, foster care and neurodiversity. 

Jason is a Child Consultant and Adolescent Psychiatrist with an interest in neurodevelopmental conditions. His research interests include co-occurrence in neurodevelopmental conditions and environmental adaptations for children with such conditions.

Course alteration or discontinuation
The University of Glasgow endeavours to run all courses as advertised. In exceptional circumstances, however, the University may withdraw or alter a course. For more information, please see: Student contract.