BSL or Makaton?

[doodleschnoodle]

Hello,

I am a Girlguiding leader and one of my aims is to make our units as accessible and inclusive as possible. With that in mind, I want to learn sign language so I can help my units and others locally be a welcoming place for children with additional needs or disabilities.

I do know some BSL already but I don't know what is more widely used for communication with young people (mostly the under 10 age group, but potentially up to late teens).

Does anyone have any insight into which I might be better focusing my efforts into learning? I know there is some crossover between the two.

Any other suggestions for things I could do gratefully received too! We do have a good structures in place for being inclusive and can access funding, have an accessible venue, etc., but I want something to aid communication and that I can use to teach the girls in the unit too.

Thank you!

I’m no expert, but my son is significantly speech delayed, or I should say communication delayed. Makaton has been suggested given it’s simpler to understand, and maybe if you have children under 10 under SALT, they may be using it. My son hasn’t taken to it, so there’s that. Not sure if someone who knows BSL would also know some Makaton anyway?

I trained in makaton for my job.

My understanding is that it is a simplified version of bsl.

Students with special needs who need signing often start with makaton first.

I'm not sure if deaf students learn bsl straight in or makaton first.

As makaton can be taught from nine months (see all the baby signing classes) I'm going to guess makaton first.

BSL is a full complex language full of regional variations.
Makaton is much simpler, but with some crossover for basic signs.
I work with children who have communication difficulties and we use makaton daily, but a few staff are trained at a level 2 and above BSL (I only have level 1) for deaf children.

I'd go with Makaton for ease of learning and use!

I am hard of hearing and have deaf friends and friends either deaf children.

They all say if people ask about it to please steer them towards BSL. Makaton is not the same and doesn't work in the same way.

Makaton is great for non verbal/ limited verbal kids with intellectual disabilities. BSL is neglected because people think learning some makaton from Mr Tumble automatically includes d/Deaf kids.

Another vote for Makaton. You can do online Makaton courses (I used Makaton with my disabled child)

Makaton.

BSL is an actual language for Deaf people. You can do online courses. It might be great to see if there is a BSL user locally who would come and teach some. Not all deaf people use BSL but it is great to be able to have some. I visit a couple of public places where BSL users are employed and it's great to at least greet them properly.
Makaton is more for people with a learning disability.

Thanks, this is all really helpful. Grateful for the thoughtful responses.

I've done some BSL with both of my kids, so I do know a basic amount, letters of alphabet, emotions, food, colours, that sort of thing, but DD2 does Makaton at nursery and while some stuff seems to be similar but other stuff is quite different.

I think maybe I have enough BSL to at least make a child who uses it feel welcome upon joining, so I might try to get to the same level with Makaton and then just work off what the unit's situation is with the girls we have at that time and reevaluate them.

I worked with d/Deaf children from 0-19 and the advice is always to learn BSL. Makaton has its uses for children with learning difficulties or disabilities but is quite limited. BSL users can easily switch to Makaton if necessary but it doesn't work the other way round.

The benefit of Makaton is the hand shapes are simple and easier to do for those with significant learning difficulties.

BSL is a complex language and preferred by those that are hearing impaired and without significant learning needs.

So depending on if your aim is to improve communication with the general public BSL would be better, or whether you want to get a link in with your nearest complex needs school and offer Brownies to the children that attend there in which case Makaton is better but you would need other training or to have parents stay to support if the needs are very complex.

Yes, great points.

We currently have one girl who is non-verbal and in a wheelchair who requires a one to one so a parent stays with her for meetings. There is some funding we can access for support with trips outside the meeting place, etc. but we can't get any grants for paid carers or anything to help out with regular meetings, so when there are complex needs we generally would require a parent to stay, unless we can recruit an individual support helper to volunteer with the unit (which so far we've had no luck with )

BSL is a language in its own right, with its own sentence structure and word order. It's used to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people. Knowing some signs is great, but it takes time to learn how to use them with the correct sentence structure, non manual features, question forms etc.

Makaton is signs, often very similar to the existing BSL signs, and it follows spoken English conventions. Signs can be learned quickly and, as it's used while you speak, can be used straightaway.

If you want to communicate with the Deaf community, learn BSL. If you want to support your spoken words with signs for children with additional needs, learn Makaton.

As others have said, it depends on your aims.

BSL is a full language, that many deaf people use. For some people this is their first language. If you were to learn some more, it'd be akin to using the first language of those people, and would be something you could incorporate into meetings by doing things like the opening/ closing songs, promise etc in BSL as standard.

Makaton is a communication system, largely used by very young children and those with severe learning difficulties. It is NOT a language. It also involves signs and symbols, which are often used in classrooms or on AAC devices.

If you're looking to include them, you could look into the BSL and makaton versions of the promise, some basic signs which you'd be able use every week (eg for brownies you may want 'sixes', 'circle', 'chairs' etc). and see if they're similar or there's crossover. You could incorporate the makaton signs in your meeting place, and use them to create a visual timetable. There may be a place for both in your overall programme, depending on how you want to incorporate them. It's unlikely you'll be able to have a child who's sole means of communication is BSL unless you're totally fluent and others in the unit really make an effort, so if you're aiming for a 'most support for most kids', incorporating makaton into your day to day, and doing occasional activities in or about BSL may be the way to go.

My Brownie and Guide leader growing up was a BSL translator, so we did a few BSL activities, and had a few brownies who used some BSL, or BSL was their first language (deaf parent).
If you're doing activities about 'sign language', I'd stick to BSL, but would also probably mention that some girls may know some signs from Mr Tumble or young siblings doing baby-sign classes, and explain how they're different.