About Makaton

An example of a Makaton, Tactile and Moon sign;
the Makaton Symbols are on the top

One of our directors has been on a Makaton Course
to ensure the advice we give you is correct

Can you imagine what it would be like if you couldn't understand speech? How would you cope?

It's a situation which is similar to the one you might experience if you were in a foreign country and couldn't speak or understand the language.

What would you do? You would probably begin to gesture to explain what you wanted, and hope that others would understand your gestures and would gesture back. You might also start to draw pictures and diagrams to help get your messages across.

Makaton combines all these elements in a highly successful teaching approach.

How was Makaton developed?

Firstly a research project identified the words that we all use most frequently and need in everyday conversation. Then signs from British Sign Language, used by the deaf and hard of hearing community in this country, were matched to these words, so that as you speak you sign and speak at the same time. Signs are often pictorial and convey the meaning more easily than words, which are more abstract.

How is Makaton used?

Makaton users are first encouraged to communicate using signs, and then gradually, as a link is made between the word and the sign, the signs are dropped and speech takes over.

This might surprise you, as you would perhaps think that signing would prevent speech developing. But research suggests very strongly that this is not the case. In fact the opposite occurs, as signing seems to positively encourage speech development. Many hundreds of thousands of children and adults have been helped significantly in this manner.

Why does Makaton use symbols too?

Makaton symbols support the written word, in the same way that signs support speech.

Makaton Symbols have been specially designed. Most of them are black and white pictures illustrating the important meaning of the words we use. Children and adults who cannot read or write can now have, for example, stories, instructions to carry out tasks, timetable events, shopping lists, letters and messages, all written in symbols.

Furthermore for some children and adults, combining symbols, signs and speech together is proving to be an effective way of developing literacy skills.

Who uses Makaton?

Makaton is an internationally recognised communication programme, used in more than 40 countries worldwide.

Most Makaton users are children and adults who need it as their main means of communication. But everyone else who shares their lives will also use Makaton. These include the families, carers, friends and professionals such as teachers, speech and language therapists, social workers, playgroup staff, college lecturers, instructors, nurses, and psychiatrists.

However, it doesn't stop there. Makaton is rapidly spreading into the wider community, with requests for training to use signs and symbols from supermarket staff, youth groups, theatre groups, bus drivers, the police, museum staff, and people working in sports and leisure, faith communities.

The recent developments in legislation due to the D.D.A (Disability Discrimination Act) state that public and commercial services must provide access to important information for everyone, including sign and symbol users. This can be achieved by translation into Makaton symbols and signs.

For example, it is important to understand what a visit to the dentist is all about, to understand about the medication you are taking and its effects, to become aware of danger such as fire or danger from electricity, to have confidence to travel on public transport, and to have access to public buildings.

Please contact us if you need to incorporate Makaton Symbols into your buildings…

To find out more about Makaton please look at: http://www.makaton.org/index.htm

About Widgit

Examples of Widgit, tactile and Braille signs

The Widgit Literacy symbols (previously known as Rebus), have developed over the past 20 years and are used in many countries worldwide.

The symbols are clean, concise and suitable for all ages. They have been carefully designed to illustrate a single concept without adding unnecessary information such as gender.

They follow a schematic structure facilitating independent vocabulary development.

There are over 7000 images in both colour and black & white covering a vocabulary of over 20,000 words. This vocabulary is continually being extended and gives you access to a wide range of topics and curricular areas; such as:

Where do I start?

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a speech and language therapist or anyone wanting to know more about symbols, this page will help you to understand why symbols often make a massive difference to communication and understanding. This will explain what symbols are and how they can be used in different environments in different ways, all of which will help you.

Who uses symbols?

You don't have to have a learning difficulty to benefit enormously from symbols.
Symbols are used around us all the time in everyday life, from instructions in how to use a new appliance, to signs in foreign airports, such as:

Here is a list of just some of the other different groups of people who use symbols:

• People learning English as a second language
• People with memory difficulties, senile dementia or other brain damage
• People with dyslexia, dyspraxia or spatial/time/organisational difficulties
• People who are deaf or hearing impaired
• Young children who have not yet started to read
• People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders

What are symbols?

Is it important to understand that symbols are different from pictures? We use the word picture to describe an illustration in a book, or a drawing on the wall. A picture conveys a lot of information at once and its focus may be unclear, while a symbol focuses on a single concept. This means that symbols can be put together to build more precise information.

Symbol based language and communication has been developed over many years and has a visual structure that supports different parts of speech.

We have used symbols for many years, as signage in the environment, and as a means of supporting conversation for people who have communication difficulties.

The use of symbols as a tool for literacy is more recent.

Symbols used for signage and on communication boards often represent a complete idea. Symbols used to support literacy are different. Each symbol represents a single concept or idea:

Contact us now to find out more about incorporating Widgit Symbols with tactile & Braille signs.

Information kindly supplied by Widgit: www.widgit.com