on 30th May 2015 
Dawn is an Experienced Makaton Tutor and Ambassador for the Makaton Charity. Dawn is running ONLINE Makaton courses for parents, carers and professionals-Level 1,2,3 and 4 as well as Safeguarding Makaton Courses, Using Makaton with singing, Makaton Signing for Babies and Taster sessions within Gloucestershire and beyond. Dawn will also travel to you to provide face to face Makaton Training to parents and staff concentrating on frequently used signs and speech in your environment.
Makaton is now 50 years old!! Originally devised in 1972 by Margaret Walker, Speech and Language Therapist, and then updated and revised in 1996 when additional signing vocabulary was added for children and adults with a variety of speech, language and communication needs.
Makaton uses signs, symbols and speech to help people communicate. Signs are always used with speech, in English language word order. Research shows that signing with all children from an early age is very effective on building language skills and speech- signing does not prevent speech it actually encourages it! It also helps provide extra clues and understanding about what someone is saying- a spoken word is said and gone in an instant, whereas signing key words- a child can hear the word, see the word, do the word and say the word– all four learning styles are covered. Using signs can help people who have no speech or whose speech is very unclear and children who are finding it difficult to understand language. Using symbols can help people who have limited speech and to support early literacy skills it can also help children complete routine everyday tasks like getting dressed in the morning and build on their independence. These are regulated Makaton Courses by the Makaton Charity and are the same throughout the country. Dawn also enhances the courses with many examples of children and adults she has worked with and what worked for them.
If you are a parent or carer for a baby or child with additional needs Makaton is a wonderful way of enhancing your baby or child’s communication skills before they can talk, at the same time building on their understanding of language and speech and reducing their frustration. The next Makaton Level 1 and 2 course is taking place on Wednesdays 1st, 8th, 15th February 2023 and concludes on 1st March 2023. All courses are offered on the Makaton Hub within Gloucestershire but feel free to email Dawn with a request for a Taster, Refresher or Training Levels. No previous experience of signing is necessary. Please email Dawn for more information and to register your interest for a course. The Makaton Level 1 and 2 courses are designed for professionals, carers and parents -you will learn stages 1-4 and additional vocabulary of the Makaton Core Vocabulary. You will receive workbooks with all the slides and theoretical background information about Makaton as well as all the signs and symbols covered in the two days. Each level costs £81 (£162 for both levels) which includes a workbook posted out prior to the course and a Certificate afterwards. Please email Dawn for more information and to book onto a course.
The Makaton Level 3 and 4 Online workshops are for professionals, parents and carers who have completed Level 1 and 2 course previously. This course is run over four sessions and covers stages 5-8 of the Core Vocabulary and builds on signing and symbol skill and knowledge at the sentence, conversational and story level. This course costs £72.50 per level (£145 for both levels) and covers all workbooks and attendance certificate and tuition. The next Level 3 and 4 Online Makaton course will take place on Weds in April/May 2023.
All courses are online. I can provide face to face training again so if you would like to arrange any training please get in touch.
Please feel free to or call me on 01452 740453 if you would like to know more about the next courses within Gloucestershire or if you would like Dawn to provide a Makaton taster session/ a Makaton Level 1,2 or 3 and 4 / Makaton Safeguarding Workshop/ Using Makaton with Singing / Makaton signing for Babies.