We are all reading together

Jacob Devine, 5, has Downs' Syndrome. He uses Makaton as his main form of communication.

His mother, Wendy Devine, tells his story:

"Jacob attends a special needs school, but is due to start in a brand new satellite class that the special school will teach, but he will access dance, PE, mealtimes etc with the mainstream school.

"We first heard about Makaton through family members and started to sign with Jacob from a few months old. We picked it up through the Something Special programmes mainly, then attended the Makaton Beginners course.

"We now use Makaton constantly every minute of the day. Currently Jacob is using three to four signs to request things, or communicate his needs, what he likes, or if he needs help, etc.

"We have just started using Makaton to develop his reading skills. School now sends home a list of cue cards with words on them. We sign to Jacob 'what does this say' or 'where is the word bike', for example, he then says or chooses his answer. But because his speech is not great we can't always understand his reply or check he's saying the correct answer. So he now says and signs the answer and we know for sure that he understands.

"His 3-year-old sister sits and asks him where the words are by signing to him. It's fantastic, we are all reading together!

"Jacob also now signs using more than one or two signs together. This only happened because we attended the training and realised we weren't pushing him enough with his sign development. When we insisted, he initially signed a sentence by copying, such as “I want the ball please mummy”. But now, a few months on, he naturally signs sentences. Hooray and yippee! We are thrilled.
Our whole family have now committed to signing Makaton with Jacob.

"Anyone who is not sure if it's worth learning to sign, or is not confident about how to move forwards with it, should contact The Makaton Charity for advice. They are there for our children. Please give your children your time and trust they will respond, with a lot of hard work from you and support from The Makaton Charity."

November 2009