makaton advice please

[Phoenix4725]

Ds uses makaton to communicate and is doing well,but nursery insist on that he signd please orthank you for snack and drink ,not rewarding him for the actuall sign he does not get till signs please,so he seems to be thinking its please that gets him reward not the sign

,At home am now trying to add the sign want in to his signs rather than please or thank you how to convince nursery not to push please orthank you its not that i dont want him to be polite just right now rather he concertrated on usefull signs

Get your SALT to speak to them and do a nursey visit. Our SALT give pre-school advice and tips with signing and strategies to work on until the next visit.

You are spot on there Phoenix.
These are high level pragmatic skills which really don't matter at the moment.Getting your child to initiate and be clear about what he wants in far more important.

I'm a salt and it is very disheartening to come across scores of adults who can sign nothing but this because if misguided people like the staff here.

Have a word with yuor salt and get her to back you up.

Thanks moondog ,our salt has same views as you helps that is makaton tutor to but the nursery will not bend say they expect it from all the other children and so they dont want to treat him differnt forgetting the fact he is differnt to the rest of his peers

He is the first non verbal child they had and his 1-1 last did makaton course 14 years ago and forgotten most of it ,hes on action plus and currently going through statement now am aiming send him to sn school from easter 2010 ,if MS would been septwember 09 he be 4 in july

Moondog
would you say want is a good word to try add to his signs since hes picking up one word signs pretty well now.

when is the time to move on to 2 words signing ,when has anyone else done it ,our salt is of sick atm and no replacement for her the other salts in team dont sign

bumping know im not only one wondering

LOL great minds eh phoenix???

Wierd how our little ones seem to be about the same level/point of learning (or so i assume). If you get any answers let me know

DS5's SALT is around, but not seeing DS5 ATM, think shes 're-grouping' as all her strategies arent working with him so shes sending someone else for a while . But i have her mobile [evil grin emoticon] and might ask her a Q or 2 in the next couple of days. If i get anything useful will get back to you.

Phoenix, how narrow minded of your nursery, and such a shame you don't have a salt to help you.
Personally,I would be kicking off about this, ringing dept. and asking for a replacement.
If you are considering a statement you need to get SALT visits quantified and specified (no waffle about 'as and when needed')You also need to specify that the 1:1 has training,the 2 day Makaton course being a minimun (check out website and/or ring Makaton up and ask what they recommend.)

IPSEA,SOSSEN and your local SNAP/Parent Partnership can help you work on a proper meaningful statement 9as most aren't worth paper written on)

The single most important factor is a properly trained 1:1, a fact that has escaped most Education Authorities. untrained, they often do more harm than good, so insist on training.

Do I think 'want' is a good sign? It's ok, althoguh implicit in a 1 sign request (eg 'milk')Use 2 signs together when you feel comfortable, but bear in mind your input limited if nursery don't/won't.

The company Sing & Sign do nice dvds, which, although not aimed specificaly at kids with comm. needs are very good.

Makton website also has a wealth of resources and a parent forum too I think.

We got the sing and Sign DVD's and plan to start the next course at the end of April when we have watched it a few times. Phoenix why dont you see if they have one in your area? DS5 loved the last session he went to he didnt have a clue what was going on, but enjoyed it anyway.

misscutandstick
Does seeem our ds are following similar pathswill be in July and have x of GDD,SLI.Mld hypermolity/hypertonia with asd traits .Nothing at all in my area im in north east essex and sadly is lacking andas for parent partnership the post is vacant.Been trying find the next stage makton course and itsnot available anywhere.Looks like will need to look at going toLondon .

We got the Mr tumble dvds an dave bensons phillips one but will have to look for the sing and sign ones.

Ds is doing real well with the signs and will request using them to he has about 40 or so that he uses comfortabley now,think biggest frustration for himis people not understanding him as his signs are not clear due to motor controll,so am bringing pecs into use as well ,have booked myself on 2 day course

Moonday thanks for replys
have done this and wrote in but the 2 salts that there are busy and one was our former salt before this one and all she did was asses him and sadly neither have really worked with sn children,how would be best way to bring in 2 signs he will sign ducks and bread as he likes feeding them so guess where we go most days, or is aslo copying if sign say sausages and chips

We are curretly going through statement now ,and thanks to mums net I am prepred for battle .Have already decide on the school am lucky we have very good sn one within 5miles and even better they now employ there own f/t salt,though Lea have mentiones ms him this septembera 4.and 6 weeks but afterviewing school meeting teacher/sencan and personal experaince as dd goes there feel for him its not the right option,so am going stand my ground

sorry rather mammoth post

OOOh 40 signs that is FABBY!!! being able to request with them too, im am sincerely impressed fantastic!

We have absolutely no Dx as yet, but DS5 has exactly the same problems - understand the mobility/dextrous problems too, its difficult to tell the difference between doggy and chair, unless the situation is obvious. Aeroplane and train are also very similar.

Good luck with statementing. The system in this county is a bit different and the funding gets allocation without too much difficulty up the age of 11. but you have a real fight for statements when it gets to year7, so not really looking forward to that, and hoping that DS5 doesnt need it then .

Wishing you luck with yours, if you know its not the right school for him, then go for it, and I hope you dont have to fight as much as you're expecting to

yeah the lea kept telling me oh you dont need a statement ,not yet were do the funding np but after reading the horror stories on here im like no were start as i mean to go on ,that means if needs nailing lea to wall

Oh ignore the LEA.A statemnt is the ONLY way to be sure you get support stated to meet your child's needs.Thgeir alternatives are no good so don't be fobbed off.

Good 2 wod/sign sentences:

Give the ducks some bread Look at the ducks Where's the bread? Time to go home Time to finish
The bread is gone
Does he want more bread

The S&S dvd has some nice ideas.

thank you hav just ordered from amazon and willtake advice on board just got to wait to May see what rubbish they send on propesd statement

Yes, remember you can ask for as many amendments as you want.My friend sent his back about 12 times until he was satisfied. Don't be rushed into anything (and good for you for being so pro-active with the signing!)

Misscutandstick

has your ds manged to get any words yet?

spoken words? no not really - he can manage: "go" if ever he hears the word "ready", and "gone" with signing, they do sound amazingly similar - and all his vocalisations (on the rare occasion they happen) are very throaty, no lip movement.

He did used to be able to say about 4words with sign, "burr" (bird) and "do-dlo-dlo" (dummy), "da da da" (daddy), and another one i cant remember. When he was about a year, but then he just 'lost' them, along with pointing and waving. it was at that point he stopped responding at all to anything. If you are wondering i dont think hes the same child as he was before regression, but hes a bundle of fun and very lovable as he is.

Back to the statementing for a mo...

Im still in 2 minds about the whole thing. All the people (well ok about 7/8) who have tried to get a statement at this age have all said they were turned down instantly because their child was already receiving help and support (i admit so far the system has been very helpful - portage and salt fortnightly and it arrived within a month of referral from Paed, who i got to see within 10days of referral from HV), and because of the help they get from the central funding, statements arent generally issued. However that funding stops in yr6, so its at that point that they consider statemtenting - but then they want to see how well they cope in senior school before statementing, NONE of the professionals will back up until they've had a trial in seniors and start to fail .

So if i apply now, it will certainly get turned down, because of the 'guarenteed' central funding. BUT at that point do i have to start again, or does it have to go to appeal and all the other bods? What im saying i think is: if i keep going, and keep fighting will i get the statement i want eventually if i dont give up, or can they just refuse?

When i was chatting with DS4's {nursery) teacher, she said that she had never had a child with a statement because they are (and i quote) "impossible to get, XXXX doesnt even get one, she has full time 1:1 thru the central funding" (XXXX has no motor control at all, hypermobility and hypotonia).

What do you reckon, do i start fighting now, so i have enough time (DS4 starts nursery in Sept, but they are having meetings currently to make sure he has help in place) in time for Reception (and beyond) or wait until yr5 as suggested by the teacher?

ooops its my turn to write a tome now

Ds is funded through govement for a 1-1 atm but was advised that to gurantee the help he willneed as goes to school that the only way is through statement as they can withdraw anything else at whim ie if they overspent.staement is the only legal enforcable one .and if your like here once they goto school poratge they come under school salt team which n my area means one termbvisit and the program done by lsa who may not even be trained

and if you decide that sn school suits him better ,they only accept on statement something work thinking about

Ds went through a 6week assment period for them to deide if he need stament and they agreedproabbly yes even though were already funded 1-1 on school action plus or preschool versionso were on to waiting see what they think he will need and what I think he needs.and yes if you apply you have right to appeal.Im fully aware that i might have to take them to tribunal to get what i want

has ds seen a ep yet,my ds saw one in the april before he started nursery and she saw him then once he started there in the octobber and shes just seen him recently and we discussed schools and shes admitted that he will need a large amount of help if in ms did ask me to consider ms and maybe move him at 7years end of year 2 if he starts to fail.But after much thought I have looked at schools and decided that I want ds at sn school and am ready to fight for it

If you prefer feel free to email me on [email protected]