Watch My Needs

The Watch My Needs workshop is designed for adults who are beginning to experience difficulties with understanding and recall, after having good understanding, recall and use of language. It is for direct use with adults with memory difficulties, who should attend the workshop sessions with a supporter.

This workshop is the first of its kind as it focuses on the Makaton Core User at the centre of the programme, with the aims of promoting independence, gaining confidence in making choices and taking part in daily activities. There is no requirement for anyone attending this workshop to have any prior knowledge of Makaton.

The workshop is designed to take place in 5 weekly sessions of 90 minutes each, including time for refreshments on arrival and at a mid-way point.  The complete workshop should take a total of 7 hours 30 minutes.

For Face to Face delivery we recommend up to 10 participants plus those supporting the participant, making it a maximum of 20 participants on the workshop. For online delivery it is up to 8 participants plus those supporting making a maximum of 16.

The sessions are structured so that:

• The Tutor introduces and models the use of signing and symbols for greetings and
  basic, functional communication for everyday living.
• The supporter attending the sessions with the person experiencing memory
  difficulties is expected to take a role in revising and revisiting the concepts covered
  in class in-between sessions.
• Copies of resources used in the sessions are provided in the Participant’s Manual for the person experiencing memory difficulties to take home and continue using with support.

Find a Watch My Needs workshop