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In this workshop, speech and language therapist Ashleigh Paddon and mum Jitka Jacubkova took us through a practical guide to creating and sharing personal stories with children who use aided communication – books and apps that are widely available. Certificate and powerpoint can be found below for attendees.

This interactive talk by Charlotte Parkhouse, Gareth Smith and Nicola Grove shared creative ways of using gesture and key word sign (eg. Makaton, Signalong) to promote narrative and discussion with young people who have learning disabilities. Our ideas come directly from our students, when we started observing closely what they were actually doing with the vocabulary we had taught them. We saw them holding the floor, innovating, and expressing their ideas directly in ways far beyond what we had thought they were capable of. A recording of the talk will shortly be available. Attendees can access the powerpoint and a certificate of attendance here. The research is described in the chapters we wrote for the book Manual Sign Acquisition by Children with Developmental Disabilities, now available in paperback and with individual chapter purchase. For 20% discount, use code special20 https://novapublishers.com/shop/manual-sign-acquisition-in-children-with-developmental-disabilities/

Two great sessions exploring how The Story Massage Programme can be combined with personal stories. Thanks so much to Mary Atkinson (TSMP) and Gill White (PAMIS) for co-hosting these, and to all of you who joined. We are planning to learn more about the role of movement and touch in forming memories from colleagues working with Deaf blind people – watch this space! And our next workshop, on key word sign and story, will look at movement too. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finding-a-voice-through-sharing-stories-in-sign-tickets-136270309163?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch