Makaton

[jenk1]

Last night me and DH had a chat about DD.
She,s not talking as much as she used to and we are concerned that she,s showing signs of ASD.
When i say concerned i dont mean that in a bad way as both myself and DS are AS.
But, its getting the medical profession to take our concerns seriously.
She has her first appointment with the CDC on Friday and i want to be prepared with a list of why we think she could be ASD.
I sat in the bathroom crying last night for over an hour (im so soppy at the moment) crying because all yesterday i have been trying to get DD to interact with me and all she wants to do is line toys up and repeat every last word that we say.
DH thinks we should learn Makaton and sign to her as now she,s a little older its difficult trying to comunicate with her.
Will CDC give us info on this or do we have to find out for ourselves?

Thanks

Hi Jenk. You could buy DD this \link{http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005KCEV/qid=1149439183/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-1983683-9861441\Makaton nursery rhyme} video for starters. Don't think they do it on DVD sadly.. and we are on our third as DS has worn it out! He is nearly 6 now.. has had it since he was two when he taught HIMSELF some signs.. one of the first ways he made people sit up and take notice re the fact that he could understand things. (He isn't ASD.. he has a type of cp etc...)

And yes, ask at the CDC. Even if you are not yet under a speech and language therapist, you can ask to have some printouts of Makaaton signs to be going on with. And ask where you can do a course. I have only ever done 1 one hour course (!) but learnt loads in that hour.. brought home lots of hand outs.. and had all the family doing it by tea time (we needed to.. since DS started school he had learned far more signs than we knew!)

Good luck. And don't depspair if DD is indeed on the autistic spectrum. I know you and DH are in the perfect position to know how hard it can be.. but you also know that she can grow up to be a productive adult and loving caring parent like you two clearly are!

SJ x

I think you should start by telling them what you've said here. Write it on a sheet or in a notebook and add to it over the next few days and take it with you. The CDC may well help you with Makaton but don't count on it! Might as well get started yourselves. I suspect the video SJ has suggested is the Dave Benson Phillips one which is very good. You could also get the Something Special ones too from Makaton or the BBC. I think its a great idea to do Makaton with her, no harm done and probably plenty of good.

No experience of this my self, but I know a lady who has a deaf son and learned makaton then taught her next one it from birth really and she said he was a very settled baby and could comunicate from 9 months, so i would give it a go. Do you have a sing and sign group near you?

Ah yes and they have the oh-so-sexy Mr Justin Fletcher in them to make them SO much more appealing!!! :) (I so would not kick that man out of bed... even dressed as Mr. Tumble.)

Agree Dave is somehat more advanced than Something Special.. but DS coped well at a very young age (as Something Special did not exist then) when he could do little else.

[thread crash] Fio tried to text you last week to (sadly had run out of credit!) to say where you going to the Snaap fun session thingy at Kingmead centre.. but you were not there so clearly not.. How are you.. and give me further details about this morbid thing you think we should attend!! At the v.least it would force us to be organised enough to meet up regularly! :))

jenk1 I have a copy of the nursery rhymes video that I don't need if you want it let me know (don't want anything for it btw)

Jenk1-I have a whole list of Makaton signs which I use for my work. I teach music to littlies but also work in a special school and have learnt about 10/12 songs with signs. My business is meant to promote speech development but my last ds ( now 7) wasn't speaking really well so I started to sign to him. Changed my life overnight(ish.).he learnt basic stuff to communicate and it made him a happier child. I am working with 3 children with Downs and they are now signing If you would like a copy of the stuff I have, I'll gladly photocopy it and send it on to you. Keep on at the HV etc and make yourself heard!

You could go the the Makaton website
\link{http://www.makaton.org\makaton} they have a section where you an look for course in your area. I think it is quite common for parents to get free places.
You can also ring makaton and they will put you in touch with a tutor in you area

If there are no official Makaton courses near you then check out all the local charities, CDC etc. We have a couple here that do Makaton courses free for parents.

Don't want to be negative but some kids with asd
don't take to signing but its wortha try and you will soon see if she responds to it.
Is she at school? Check Makaton is the signing that they use as some use signalong which is different signs(could be confusing )

May be worth asking at the local sn schools if tehy are running any courses for parents.
I would recommend to 'Something special ' videos (see if you can borrow some at first as they are expensive to buy)

Thanks for all the replies and sorry for not replying earlier.
Ive been in bed the whole afternoon with a migrane.

Right,
SJ- DD has a form of CP as well as your DS and has trouble understanding things, is this common with CP do you know?

Beep and Jollymum id really like the video and the photocopies-thats really kind of you both, thanks, my email address is [email protected].

Thanks Davros, peachygirl for your messages and anyone else that ive missed-thanks.

I will go to the CDC armed with a long list of things, incidently what happens at the first visit can anyone tell me?

Thanks

Another thought...
Do you have a SALT? They should be able to help? or even just ask at the local speech therapy centre?

HI Jenk

Our ds has cp & waiting for autism assessment.
His speech is delayed we startd by using pictures particularly for choices which he struggles with, & supporting his choice with the word & simple sign(if we knew it).
His words seem to have come quicker than the signs, but makaton can only help. Good luck

wehad no speech therapy when we were in the Uk and so used the small makaton books - from the website. We then decided what would be the most useful and started with one sign at a time. I think our first was more - and then we moved to AUs and got speech therapy and was able to access makaton course which did the basics. Again we got the book and then used words that were relevant - eat, drink, please, thank you etc. Again taking it one or two signs at a time - eat and drink.

The videos are fab as well. We have a different one here ( can't get Dave except through DSAQ library) and she has learnt signs from there as well.

ALways worth a shot - we saw a real change in Dd1 once she was able to communicate. We also did a programme called the Hanen programme - if you can access that - FABULOUS.

\link{http://www.hanen.org/\here} hanen website. It helps to develop children's communication skills - with no real emphasis on getting them to talk - so whatever they use as communication - vocalisation, body language etc.... to in crease that and use everyday situations to facilitate that communcation.

\link{http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=142\not sure if this would be helpful?

\link{http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=142\try again}

beep, thanks very much for the video, it came this morning.

hope your dd enjoys it