Have you ever lost your voice?

We caught up with our Makaton Trainer, Samantha who joined Nurseplus a year ago, to find out how Makaton can help break down communication barriers for people who struggle to express themselves.

Have you ever lost your voice and struggled to make yourself understood? Have you tried communicating with others about what you want and need when they cannot understand you? Now, imagine how frustrating it must be to experience this every day.

Communication is vital to our existence. Almost everything we do involves communication; everyday tasks such as learning at school, asking for food and drink, problem-solving, making friends and having fun. These all rely on our ability to communicate with each other.

Makaton uses signs and symbols to help people communicate and is designed to support the development of spoken language. The signs used are based on the gestures used in British Sign Language however, unlike BSL, Makaton signs are used in conjunction with speech at all times and in English grammatical word order. Many people drop the signs naturally at their own pace as they start to develop speech. Over 100,000 children and adults in the UK use Makaton either as their main method of communication or as a way to support speech.

Makaton isn’t just for those with learning disabilities; any person who struggles with spoken language can benefit from it. I have watched as Makaton has opened up new ways for staff and stroke patients to communicate, encouraging independence and reducing stress. Adults, who are losing or have lost the ability to speak, can sometimes find it difficult to use picture cards but are happy to learn signs and symbols to accompany the spoken word which may not be as clear as it once was.

If we are to continue working in a person-centred way, meeting the care needs of each individual, then we must include communication in this.

Nurseplus introduced Makaton training to our further training programme in 2019 and it is offered to all our workers across the business. It is an excellent way to upskill our workers and gives them the confidence to communicate with service users who struggle to express themselves.