Hi all, just after some info on Makaton sign language?? I've heard a little about it and i'd like to try it with my 3 year old.. is it too late to try it with him?
If anyone knows any good books or websites that would be great.. i'm not sure where to start looking.
Can anyone share their experience with baby sign language?
I used baby sign with Matilda and Jovie when they were 6months-18 months. I taught them basic basic signs, like "Eat" "drink" "more" "stop" and "finished" so we could get through basic barriers with less tantrums. Matilda loved them, she used them all the time, and even now she'll use our sign for "finished" if she thinks I haven't understood her words. I still use the sign for finished when I'm trying to get the to understand that there isn't anymore of some food item that they are screaming for
I have used Baby sign language with my DD, she doesn't have special needs, we just use it as an added communication tool and as a way to lessen the frustration associated with communication challenges when vocab doesn't match desires
If you are interested in my story, we started at about 12 months and she used her first sign at 15 months. From there she picked up signs really quickly. I started consulting a baby sign book but found it a bit frustrating. I then went to the Auslan webpage and looked up signs that were appropriate for us on their sign bank. (Highly recommended as they show little video snippets of each sign which is much easier to follow than a still picture, you can google Auslan to find it.)
My mother is a Kindergarten teacher and she uses Makaton a lot. If she has a special needs child in her group she will teach all the children in the class some basic Makaton so that they are all able to communicate together. Mum gave me a Makaton book as a reference and I have used a mix of both Makaton and Auslan signs for DD since. I tend to use the ones that work best for us.
The book I have is "The Makaton Vocabulary - Australian (Auslan) Edition by Aileen Ryan, Ella Keesing and Judith Cowley. (ISBN 0-646-41712-6. It has excellent line drawings of each of the signs in it. The book is pubilshed by Makaton Australia with an office in Victoria: Level 1 /830 Whitehorse Road Box Hill (03 9899 8684).
Makaton is specifically designed to encourage language development in children and adults with communication difficulties and as far as I know there are no problems at all beginning at 3 or even later. I think that children who have difficulty communicating (whatever their age or communication challenges) really really love the fact that they are able to get their message across. My DD gets so excited when people understand her hand signals and there is an added bonus in that people are really keen to get involved in the signing and trying to work out what she wants. It is really a lovely interaction. With regards to verbal communication, there is heaps of evidence that suggests that non-verbal signing encourages the use of verbal communication and I am certainly seeing that with my DD (18 months now).
A great example of how much I love the signing was when I over heard from the other end of the house, my DD saying to my DH something that sounded like "ba-ee". It was something I did not recognise as a word she uses and I was wondering what she seemed to want and how on earth my DH would work it out. Very quickly I heard my DH say, "oh bubbly, you want bubbly water!" She had used the Auslan sign for Bubbles that we taught her the day before and was asking for soda water! It was really lovely to know that we could understand what she wanted and lessen her frustration.
I hope this helps a little, as you can see I am really enjoying the Makaton/baby sign experience. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
i just did a basic course in makaton at the start of this week and i swear by it ( ive been using a few signs here and ther my son is non verbal ) but i didnt know all so i went learnt and now i have heaps i can use what i love about it is u are assosiating the word with an action and the action with a sound
A few things that are important when you use it:
1) Always say the word at the same time as you sign it. It forms a good association between word and sign.
2) Speak in full sentences. You might only be signing one or two words in the sentence, but it's still important to model those whole sentences. (This also goes for speaking without Makaton. Nothing annoys me more than people who underestimate their kids' intellect and use baby talk) If you need to repeat a sign, you can repeat just the word and sign.
3) Use whatever signs are appropriate to you. If your child doesn't eat toast, then there's not much point using the sign for toast etc
Good luck - I think it's a wonderful system. And no, 3 is not too late. What's the worst that can happen - it doesn't work? You wouldn't be any worse off...
Some info on Makaton sign language please
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when I'm trying to get the to understand that there isn't anymore of some food item that they are screaming for
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