Signs are based on gestures – a form of communication that most of us use naturally.

Signing is a visual form of communication and should support speech not replace it.

Signing supports people with communication difficulties in many ways:-

• Signs give extra visual information about the words used in the message making it easier to understand.
• The extra visual cues given in signs supports the learning of new words and helps to model how and when to use them.
• Signs provide people with unclear or limited speech a way to communicate messages that can be clearly and successfully understood.
• Signing as we speak causes us to slow our speech down and use less words which helps people understand the message more easily.
• Using signs can ease frustration and take the pressure off speech when it is hard to do!
• Using signs can help to gain attention and maintain it.

When signing it is important to :-

• Speak and sign at the same time.
• Only sign the most important or key words in the message.
• Use facial expressions and body language to add more information to the message.
• Use your dominant hand to make the main movements of the sign.

There are many types of sign language - click on the links below to find out more information. Our signs are taken from the British Sign Language (BSL)

See some signs here – http://www.totalcommunication.org.uk/cd-collection/