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How to learn Makaton
It is vital that you have training to use Makaton effectively. You need to think of signing and symbol use as if you were learning a foreign language - it's very similar. You would be fooling yourself if you thought all there was to it was to just pick up a few standardised gestures from books and refer to simple symbol drawings. It's much more than that. You need some basic training to gain maximum benefit in using Makaton with your child or older family member. So you need this as well as obtaining the resources.
In the UK
Tutors
There is a national network of qualified and licensed Makaton Tutors who provide the full range of workshops for parents and carer and professionals. If you contact The Makaton Charity giving your address we will let you have the names of Tutors near you for you to contact for details of training they are providing.
Tutors are entitled to charge for the training they provide, because they are giving their time and because they have attended a very exacting Tutor Training and have had to meet strict criteria set by The Makaton Charity to qualify for this role. The Makaton Charity has recommended the level of fees that Tutors can charge for the training they offer, but sometimes they have to add on the cost of room hire, travel and other necessary expenses. Generally they train small groups of participants and the costs are divided amongst the group. The average fee for a day's Makaton training is between £25 to £40 per person. After attending a day's course you can start to use Makaton straight away.
Training Parent / carer training packs
These training packs are specially designed for parents and carers to learn how to use Makaton slowly at home. The cost may seem expensive but in comparison to similar packs and resources they are actually excellent value.
Using the packs means that parents and carers can learn in their own time, in the middle of the night if it suits. And we have included DVDs as part of the pack so that you can learn together with other people and help and support each other.
Sometimes groups of parents buy the pack to share, or toy libraries, nurseries, schools and speech therapy clinics have a pack to loan out. And all public libraries throughout the UK have been told about Makaton resources (including the distance training packs for parents and carers), so they may be able to help you.
In cases of financial hardship we do try to offer some discount, but The Makaton Charity has limited resources itself.
(People often ask where they can take part in distance training via the internet or from a DVD. Currently there are no websites or computer disks to enable you to learn online, but if you would prefer to learn in this way, please let us know.)
Professional advice
If Makaton has been recommended for your child or young adult by a professional, for example a Doctor, Speech and Language Therapist, or a Teacher, then go back to them and ask for help and advice in ways to gain the necessary training and resources.
Bursaries and subsidies
The Makaton Charity does not have a bursary scheme as such, but we do take individual situations of hardship into account.
In addition to this, The Makaton Charity subsidises very many projects that we are commissioned to do, including the provision of training, translation of documents into Makaton symbols and signs, the provision of Makaton symbols and signs for specific need etc.
Were we to charge for our services at current commercial rates, many of the specialist projects simply would not happen.
Outside the UK
If you live outside the UK, you cannot use the British version of the Makaton Programme. It has to be adapted to take into account language differences and cultural differences in lifestyle and customs.
For example, some concepts that are not part of the core vocabulary in the UK (such as camel, desert, and earthquake) may be an integral part of life in another country, so need to be included in the core vocabulary in that country.
Also, the sign language used by the deaf community in each country is completely different, even in other English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. Sign languages reflect the cultures of their country, and therefore it is inappropriate for signs from British Sign Language (BSL) to be used outside the UK with Makaton (other than in British Territories).
Some of the UK resource materials can be used by people overseas, but if they include British Signs then they may need adapting. For this reason you need to contact us directly to discuss your needs because we don't want you to waste your money.
We have adapted the Makaton programme for more than 45 countries outside the UK, which means we have considerable experience of helping people to access it and can give advice on how to use it in a different culture. There may already be a version of Makaton adapted for your country and even some trained tutors or some families who have visited us in the UK who can help you and we can give you their names.
If you have been recommended to use Makaton with your child or older family member by a professional, for example Speech and Language Therapist, Teachers, Doctor, then enlist their support to help you gain funding. They may even have some of the resources which you could borrow or have other ways of accessing Makaton through The Makaton Charity.
The adaptation of Makaton to suit a new culture takes time, skill and experience. We have the skills and experience, but, providing the time to do this work is difficult because of all the other commitments we have and we need extra funding to pay our staff to do this it.
In some countries, you have access to charities that we cannot access in the same way as you, such as Save the Children, UNICEF, the Overseas Development Agency (ODA), the British Council, the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). Contact them explaining your needs and refer them to us, explaining that we are a British charity with limited means who are willing do all we can to support you but need some support ourselves. We can write to them explaining the need. They often have partnership schemes that we may all be able to tap into, but the initiative has to come from your side too.
Finally, if a group of interested parents carers and professionals could gain the necessary funding then a British Tutor could visit your country and provide a training course for you.
