Overview

UPDATED 2024NEW CONTENT: -Practice lectures-Added materials for extra practice-Explanations on how to use signs to communicate with children with Autism / Autistic children who struggle to communicate speakingOn this course you will learn and practice using more than 200 signs from BSL, which have also been 'borrowed' by the sign system Makaton. But don't forget that the immense majority of these signs have been "borrowed" (taken and then trademarked) from BSL, the language of the Deaf community in the UK. In essential its idea is very useful: to sign the key words of the spoken language while you speak, and sometimes with simplified versions of the signs- which is the main contribution that the Makaton system made. On the updated edition of this course I have explained in detail why children with ASD struggle with language, with some of them never acquiring a flexible form of language (a system that can be used flexibly to communicate). Signs in general are used a lot in schools to support children with ASD and I hope that this course will help you to help and develop your child's language, adding richness to their vocabulary and their ability to communicate with others about what they want and what they want to say about the world. Using BSL signs as they are on in a simplified version is similar to using Sing Supported English. The difference between using a sign language like BSL and using signs with learners who have communication difficulties lies in the complexity of what you say and that in a sign language you use a visual grammar, different to the spoken grammar, this is, the word order is different than in the spoken language. When we use signs to communicate with children or adults who have communication difficulties, we can do it alongside English or a visual communication system like the ones copyrighted by THe Makaton Charity or others like Widgit. In those cases, we normally use simple sentences that follow the structure of the spoken language. That is the essential difference between sign systems used with learners with SEN and the Sign Language of the Deaf community. Note on recent course name The the course Learn Makaton/BSL changed its name to 'Learn BSL signs to communicate with children with SEN'. I changed the name because the Makaton Charity (who did a clear act of cultural appropriation, taking the signs from British Sign Language and registering the representation of those signs as theirs) threatened me with legal action. However, I have only changed the name to its rightful name, but I won't take the course down because in more than 10 years working in educational settings (nursery, Reception, lower primary) I have seen how, at least in the UK, people don't have good signing knowledge because they think that they need to learn Makaton and the prices of the training are extraordinary. Teaching Assistants are on the minimum wage, and schools are on their knees in terms of funding. That is why I decided to make a video course so that people can have an effective and systematic training in the basic signs that you need. Because, really, if anyone learns all the signs I show in the course, and teaches them to the children they work with, they will be much better equipped to support the communication of those who struggle.Finally, I invite you all to check a BSL Dictionary and to see with your own eyes that the signs are the same (as far as I know, with the exception of the sign for ' water'). What the Makaton system has added is to fix a single form so that they don't vary (natural sign languages tend to evolve), and to make a selection of useful signs among those that were created and used by the Deaf Community. FInally, I have pasted below a Wikipedia extract plus references about the origins of Makaton. The idea of the researcher was to help people with SEN use signs from British Sign Language. Later on they added the pictures. And at the same time other researchers were already used ' Signed Supported English'(which is the way that Makaton uses signs). I have pasted all the information below.The aim of the course, as that of all my courses, is to train and empower people working in learnig support, or with children with SEN, to be more effective at what they do. I am not a company and I can't issue formal certifications. However, the skills you'll learn with me will be highly valuable at your position or prospective job interviews.From WikipediaOriginal research was conducted by Margaret Walker in 1972/73, and resulted in the design of the Makaton Core Vocabulary based on functional need. This research was conducted with institutionalised deaf cognitively impaired adults resident at Botleys Park Hospital in Surrey (which closed in 2008). The aim was to enable them to communicate using signs from British Sign Language.The original article by Margaret WalkerWalker, M (1977) Teaching Sign Language to Deaf Mentally Handicapped Adults (A Practical Account and an Experimental Evaluation) in IMS Conference Proceedings 3, Language and the Mentally Handicapped (pp3-25) Kiddermister. British Institute of Mental HandicapRecent paper questioning the property of Makaton, stating that it limits the access to those who need to use them Nović, Sara (28 October 2024). "Signed Away". The Baffler. Retrieved 5 December 2024.

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