On Tuesday 16th December, the Healthwatch Cumberland team had a great time learning some Makaton with Pamala Odell from The Makaton Charity. We learned some key signs and symbols, and had an introduction to the history and importance of Makaton.
Makaton combines signs and symbols to aid communication, and is used by children and adults. It is often use as a communication aid for some people with learning disabilities or who are autistic, and for people whose first language is not English.
Unlike British Sign Language, Makaton is used in combination with speech, and is also accompanied by symbols.
The Healthwatch Cumberland team wanted to learn some Makaton to help boost our communication skills when meeting members of the public, and to help us to hear from more people.
We were also joined later on in the session by two of the People First learners, who filmed a special Christmas Day message with us!
The team enjoyed having an opportunity to learn more communication styles.
“I loved learning some Makaton signs and symbols and will definitely try and keep learning! I have had a brief introduction to BSL (British Sign Language) before so it was really interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two. We are definitely going to try and incorporate Makaton into our engagement and comms in the future. I would love to learn some more BSL too!”
-Suzannah, Communications and Admin Coordinator
Healthwatch Cumberland are keen to meet as many communities as we can, and communication is a key factor in ensuring we can do this properly.
“I hope to use Makaton whilst out and about on engagement. My hope is that it will improve our current communication methods and just open up a more welcoming, inclusive space.”
-Chloe, Engagement Manager, Cumbria and Lancashire
“The highlight for me was bringing in the learners to practice with in the second half of the session. They were already used to using some of the signs and were able to keep us right! I also really enjoyed learning more about the versatility of Makaton. I love the idea of being able to use it at engagements to improve our communication methods with a whole range of members of the public.”
If you’re interested in some Makaton training, you can get in touch with Pam here: