What is Makaton?

Makaton is the sign and symbol language used in the CBeebies show, Something Special.

Makaton is designed to support spoken language - signs, symbols and speech are used to help children and adults to communicate.

Signs are used, with speech, in spoken word order. Using signs can help children who have no speech or whose speech is unclear.

Symbols can be used to support communication in many different ways. Using symbols can help people who have limited speech and those who cannot, or prefer not to, sign.

Makaton is very flexible and can be used to:

• share thoughts, choice and emotions
• label real objects, pictures, photos and places
• take part in games and songs
• listen to, read and tell stories
• create recipes, menus and shopping lists
• write letters and messages
• help people find their way around public buildings

Who can Makaton help?

Makaton can help children and adults who have difficulty with:

• communicating what they want, think or how they feel
• making themselves understood
• paying attention
• listening to and understanding speech
• remembering sequencing

Makaton is a visual way to develop communication skills which helps stimulate sounds and words. This visual way of communicating in turn helps to encourage language development, i.e. putting words together. Makaton helps understanding, giving the child or adult an extra visual clue.

Makaton signs help convey meaning, because the signs give an extra clue when speaking, for example ‘Hello’ and ‘Drink’. The signs used in Makaton are from British Sign Language (BSL) which is the language of the deaf community in Britain.

Makaton symbols help learning. A Makaton symbol is a simple black and white drawing which shows the meaning of a word. Symbols are lasting and permanent. Symbols give a child or adult more time to take in information.

The Makaton Charity exists to ensure that everyone living with learning or communication difficulties has the tools and resources they need to communicate.

The Makaton charity:

• provides training to parents, carers, and professionals, via our nationwide network of licensed tutors and trainers
• develops and produces printed and electronic resources - from nursery rhyme DVDs to vocabulary books and electronic collections of signs and symbols for computer use
• works with others to make their information accessible - e.g. translating materials using Makaton symbols
• provides advice and support to families and professionals - e.g. the charity has a free family advisory service
• works in partnership to influence society and empower people. The charity has worked with organisations such as The National Portrait Gallery and the BBC to promote communication and use Makaton so that more children can take part.

Makaton on TV 

Something Special is a children's television programme produced and broadcast by the BBC. The producer is Allan Johnston who worked as a teacher of children with special needs before joining the BBC in 1989. It is designed to introduce children to Makaton signing, and is specifically aimed at children with delayed learning and communication difficulties. The name of the programme derives from the idea that all children, irrespective of their position on the learning spectrum, are special.

It is presented by Justin Fletcher and features various other characters (also played by Justin) and clips of disabled children. Justin speaks as well as singing, and a spoken narrative is provided over the clips of children.

Justin plays a clown named Mr Tumble. Mr Tumble often talks about Tinky Dink and potato.

In series 2, Justin meets a friend named Guy H Pickle, they dance around a mulberry bush.

The characters played by Justin (other than himself) are the Tumble Family: Mr Tumble, an adult clown who himself displays delayed learning and communication difficulties, Grandad Tumble and Baby Tumble. Other members of the Tumble family to have made appearances include two Aunts - Polly and Suki (as in the popular nursery rhyme "Polly Put the Kettle On"), Lord Tumble and King Tumble.

Their format of the show has evolved considerably since the original series. In 2012, a new series, "Something Special - We're All Friends" started, introducing some minor changes to the "Out and About" format. This format change has also included a change in location, and introduced the Tumble Tap, a tablet computer showing the "special things" to look for.