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Using MAKATON

1. What is Makaton?

Makaton is a unique language programme which may be used as either of the following.

• A systematic multi-modal approach for the teaching of communication, language and literacy skills.
• A source of highly functional vocabulary for both the person with communication needs and their interactive partners.

The language concepts are presented in two vocabularies.

Core Vocabulary

The Core Vocabulary provides a small nucleus of basic concepts essential to everyday life, presented in stages of increasing complexity (450 concepts). The Core Vocabulary is introduced first and is the foundation of the programme.

Resource Vocabulary

A much larger, open ended, topic-based Resource Vocabulary covering broader life experiences and used in association with the Core Vocabulary as required (over 7000 concepts).

Makaton symbols

The original Makaton symbols for the Core Vocabulary, Symbols for Makaton (Walker et al, 1985), were created by a working party of experienced Makaton tutors, who were also practising professionals working in the field of special needs. The symbol designs were researched, devised and evaluated before they were published.

As far as possible, all Makaton symbols reflect three essential design criteria, namely:

1. They should be as pictographic as possible in order to convey the meaning of the concept that the symbol represents.
2. They should be uncomplicated so that they can be drawn by hand and used in a functional manner similar to writing.
3. They should attempt to reflect language themes to support and encourage the development of language structure.

Signs used with Makaton in the UK

The signs used with the Makaton programme in the UK are from British Sign Language (BSL). As with spoken languages, where there are regional variations of dialect and accent, there are also regional variations in the signs that are used throughout. The signs from BSL matched to Makaton have been standardised to those used in the South-East/ London region. This standardisation is to avoid confusion for Makaton users if they move around the UK.