Signing
Paget Gorman Signing is used throughout the Unit, by all staff working with the children. Children use the signing in a variety of ways:
to support the understanding of spoken language
to aid the acquisition of new vocabulary and syntax
to aid word retrieval
as an augmentative means of communication
Paget Gorman is used, because of its wide vocabulary, inclusion of syntactic elements (e.g. plural "s", past tense,
marker), and semantic basis for signs (e.g. all colours are based on a "colour" sign). However, children frequently
arrive with some Makaton or Signalong, and Unit staff are also familiar with these systems at a basic level.
For most children the use of signing is a temporary measure, while their speech and language skills develop.
Signing classes for parents are offered at the Unit, and some parents go on to gain a certificate.
A small number of children attending the Unit have severe motor difficulties, which mean that signing is not
an effective means of communication. In these cases, the Unit works with other agencies to identify
and support the use of more appropriate means of communication, for example PECS, communication boards or more
sophisticated speech output aids, such as Dynamyte.
(Reproduced with kind permission of the Nuffield Hearing and Speech Centre, Copyright NHSC)