Students with Tigger making the sign for cake. (click image to enlarge)
Health and Social Care students at Cornwall College St Austell had a day out of the ordinary recently when they spent it looking at communication skills, part of which was learning a unique skill called Makaton with guest speaker Tigger Pritchard.
Tigger describes Makaton as “a language programme designed to provide a means of communication to individuals with any communication impairment. It has been effectively used with adults and children that have downs syndrome, autism, cognitive impairments, specific language impairment and multisensory impairment.”
The programme uses a mixture of signed vocabulary, assisted speech and graphic symbols simultaneously. There was a positive response from the students who said Makaton was easy to pick up and taught really well. The students are pictured making the sign for cake, one they were all particularly keen to learn.
Sherri Hearn, 18, previously from Fowey Community College, commented; “I found the course really interesting, in the future I am hoping to become a paediatric nurse and I am certain that this will be useful for me to use on specific patients.”
Dave Linnell, Principal of Cornwall College, said: “It sounds like a very interesting lecture and very relevant for the Health and Social Care students. This is one of our key strengths at Cornwall College. Real life experiences and visits really enhance our students’ learning.”
