Film for Thought Course 'Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy' is a First of its Kind in the College of Direct Support Curriculum

ATLANTA, Georgia, April 7, 2010 - The College of Direct Support (CDS), an Internet-based college
for direct support professionals managed in partnership by MC
Strategies/Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training
Center, has introduced a new genre of courses into the CDS Curriculum - "Body
& Soul: Diana & Kathy".

The story and lives of Diana Braun and Kathy Conour in Alice
Elliott's film "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy" come alive in the latest course
to be introduced by the CDS.

This new genre of courses within the CDS curriculum is called
"Film for Thought" (FFT). Film for Thought is a specialized course that
focuses on one film and uses it to help the learner connect the story within
the film to the competencies and skills learned in the CDS. Unlike other CDS
courses, these consist of one comprehensive lesson.

"The purpose of this new type of course is to take a film and
to use it as a reflection tool for learning. The film provides a story or
context about the lives of people with disabilities and then the story serves
as a mean to reflect and integrate learning from various courses within the
CDS," says Dr. Amy Hewitt, Senior Research Associate/Training Director at the
Research and Training Center on Community Living, Institute on Community
Integration, at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hewitt oversees the
development of all CDS courses.

Elliott's film "Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy" made its
nationwide debut on PBS in the fall of 2009. This stirring movie chronicles
the lives of two of the country's most remarkable advocates for people with
disabilities: Diana, who has Down syndrome, and Kathy, who had cerebral
palsy. The release of the film in the fall was especially poignant with the
passing away of Kathy Conour on Sept. 19th. But her story lives.

"Body and Soul is a story about Kathy and Diana, who supported
one another and who have been engaged in advocacy on behalf of people with
disabilities in Illinois," Hewitt added. "This film was an excellent first
choice for a FFT course because of the breadth of life successes and
challenges experienced by them. In the development of the course we could
have the learner reflect on content of every single existing CDS course. I
think this is a good indication of how connected the CDS courses are to the
real life experiences of people with disabilities, but it is also a
reflection on how remarkable and engaged Kathy and Diana's lives are. Their
story provides a powerful learning opportunity for CDS learners."

This course divides this wonderfully popular film into
chapters. It connects CDS content and learning to the main themes and story
line of each of the film's chapters and then asks the learner to reflect and
integrate their CDS learning with the film and with their work as a Direct
Support Professional (DSP).

Dr. Hewitt said, "This course will help DSPs see, hear and
feel how many of the issues such as inclusion, advocacy, self-direction,
choice, empowerment and support, which are integrated into the CDS, are also
integrated and played out in real lives of people with disabilities. Learners
will find helpful resources and references to refresh their thinking and
knowledge about the issues identified in the film."

Diana and Kathy met three decades ago and fought to live
independent lives. Fearful of being locked away in a nursing home or forced
into a state-run institution, Diana and Kathy broke the rules, escaped the
system, and modeled a grand experiment in independent living.

As a result of their efforts, Diana and Kathy are well-known
as a tireless and dynamic pair of lobbyists and disability rights activists.
Although Kathy was non-verbal, with the help of a mouth stick and a
Pathfinder assistive communication device, she wrote articles for national
magazines and had an active email correspondence with leaders in the
disability rights movement. She also served on boards and lobbied effectively
for disability rights. She was once even arrested, power chair and all. Diana
drives, cooks, shops, takes care of scheduling doctor's appointments and was
Kathy's personal assistant and friend for more than 35 years.

The story chronicles a journey from their home in Springfield,
IL to Washington, D.C. The trip is physically dangerous and technically
illegal for them as Medicare rules required them to be homebound. However,
history has shown that the benefits of breaking rules can sometimes outweigh
the risks. Although people with disabilities comprise the largest minority in
the United States, they are routinely denied equal access and rights. "Body &
Soul: Diana & Kathy" exemplifies the abilities of people with disabilities
and helps us understand an important and complex social issue.

About the College of Direct Support

The College of Direct Support is a learning gateway for
contemporary best practices for Direct Support Professionals. By
incorporating web-based learning, backed by nationally recognized curricula,
the CDS is designed to promote a profession of direct support. The CDS is
being used in more than 30

American states and in Canada. It is a partnership between MC
Strategies/Elsevier and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training
Center's Institute on Community Integration, which authors the curriculum.

CDS offers a complete lineup of courses offered on the MC
Strategies/Elsevier's Learning Management System.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and
medical information products and services. The company works in partnership
with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000
journals, including The Lancet (www.thelancet.com) and Cell
(www.cell.com), and close to 20,000 book titles, including major
reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include
ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com), Scopus
(www.scopus.com), Reaxys (www.reaxys.com), MD Consult
(www.mdconsult.com) and Nursing Consult
(www.nursingconsult.com), which enhance the productivity of
science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite (www.scival.com
) and MEDai's Pinpoint Review (www.medai.com), which help research and
health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier
(www.elsevier.com) employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part
of Reed Elsevier Group PLC (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading
publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier
PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam),
REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Tom King, +1-877-353-2767, tking@collegeofdirectsupport.com

Tom King, +1-877-353-2767, tking at collegeofdirectsupport.com