Life's so much easier

Jake and Charley

Jake, 3, has quite severe delayed speech. He is currently attending pre-school two afternoons a week: in September he will go five mornings a week.

Jake’s mother, Charley, tells his story:

"We started using Makaton just before Jake's 1st birthday. He sees a speech therapist every couple of weeks, where he uses Makaton to help him learn to communicate and gain enough confidence to learn to speak. His pre-school leaders also know a few Makaton signs and they use them when he is feeling worried about doing something.

"The speech therapist teaches me the signs relevant to what she is working on with Jake at the time. We also watch Something Special, which Jake loves. He joins in with the program with great eagerness.

"Using Makaton has really improved Jake's confidence and we use it every day, along with speaking. Now Jake can either sign or speak what he would like and doesn't feel frustrated, which he did before when I couldn't always figure what he wanted. Using Makaton has made us both feel more contented and confident.

"It’s mainly just the two of us who use Makaton, but we do teach extended family and friends certain signs, which also helps Jake’s confidence and communication skills. They pick some signs up quickly and others after showing them a couple of times.

"Makaton has made things so much easier. Jake now has a vocabulary of approximately 50 to 100 words. Without Makaton life would have been so frustrating."

May 2009