Myself and three other Speech and Language Therapy undergraduates from the University of Manchester recently had the privilege of joining Total Communication CIC in collaborating with interns from Digital Independent Specialist College (‘DISC’) as part of the Speaking Out Being Heard project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Over our four week placement we visited DISC where a group of young adult interns have been co-producing a series of short films showcasing some of the work being done during Total Communication CIC’s Speaking Out Being Heard project.
The interns have filmed and produced a series of short films demonstrating key Signalong signs. These are introduced by Alison and Gareth from Total Communication who explain the ideas behind Signalong and why it is important to support not just service users and their families and staff.
Why exactly is the support of family and staff so important? The Speaking Out Being Heard project aims to give people the confidence to learn and use signing as a supplementary way of communicating within a total communication approach. This approach supports those with communication difficulties to communicate effectively to the best of their ability in an accessible way, for example by using Signalong.
Communication between an individual and their communication partners such as families and staff, for example in the day centres and specialist schools we visited as part of the project, relies on mutual understanding. For an individual’s voice to be heard and understood, conversation partners in regular settings also need to have knowledge of the system, for example recognising signs. Successful communication between the service user and their family or communication partners will help to reduce risks such as frustration and isolation. By reducing these risks, supporting communication therefore also reduces the detrimental impact they can have on someone’s physical and mental health as a result.
The films are not just for staff and families, however. As Hannah, part of the filming crew at DISC says, “Everyone will benefit from watching the films, from people with disabilities to people with no disability, I think it is good for people to know because you never know, there might be a situation where you could use it.” Despite the infamous Mr. Tumble on our TV screens and Ms. Rachel online promoting the use of signing for babies and children, there is a noticeable shortage of signing resources aimed at older individuals. The DISC productions can help to fill the gap by providing an inclusive and accessible format suitable for a wide range of service users and communication partners from parents to day centre staff.
On site at DISC, footage was taken of us students demonstrating Signalong signs for key topics. We had lists of signs collated in training with requests from families and also from self-advocates. We signed a selection of words for feelings, food, personal care and body parts, but it wouldn't have felt right to film in December without also doing some festive signs for Christmas! The final list of Christmas signs to film was chosen with the assistance of Sam, a teacher at New Bridge School, who uses Signalong in her classes. I hadn't expected my first placement to involve a spell in front of a camera, but DISC made me feel much less apprehensive. From day one we were offered a warm welcome by the college, which provides opportunities for young people aged 16 to 24 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and who have an interest in working in a creative digital industry.
I was unaware that places like DISC existed for young adults prior to the placement. I had the chance to see first-hand how facilities like this support and nurture young people who hold a shared passion. By offering a variety of opportunities and adapting to individual needs, the college offers a safe environment, supporting the young people in achieving their potential and developing key skills for the workplace.
The set up and shooting had the interns taking responsibility for storyboarding, planning and setting up the shoots at the in-house recording studio and out on location. Meanwhile, we students got to experience being actors, signing the key vocabulary surrounded by lighting, green screens, microphones and cameras.
The DISC interns also joined us at New Bridge School, where the children enjoyed an interactive lesson with their amazing teacher Sam, choosing and signing colours and foods. Who wouldn't like to try to sign the word ‘cake’ when presented with a slice of chocolate fudge cake for their efforts? In keeping with the shared passion for inclusive communication, the DISC interns had prepared a short film introducing themselves, which they sent to the school children ahead of their visit. When the interns arrived at the school the children had therefore already seen them on the TV and were excited to meet them in person.
With the help of Studio Manager Nicola, the interns collated and edited the footage from the various settings, overlayed graphics and music, and produced the final films for putting online. The final films look amazing and are a testament to all of their hard work.
Collaborating with young adults with SEND meant not just an opportunity for them to gain more practical experience but also added a special dimension to this aspect of the Speaking Out Being Heard project. In their own words, “you could think that because a lot of us have special needs as well it gives more meaning to the film.” For a project focused on giving voices to those who need to be heard, filming with DISC is perfectly placed.
What have I learned?
“We all learn, we all find new things, we all can have fun.” - Charles, DISC
We learned a multitude of new signs for the filming, as did the interns, who all told me that they enjoyed learning them alongside us during the filming. In turn, we students experienced a unique and fun learning environment where effective and adaptive communication is encouraged. In addition to the positive communication ethos of the college itself, they employ effective communication techniques, including the iMA lanyards worn by staff and students which provide a visual display of an individual’s preferred communication approach. To see this focus on flexible and adaptive communication methods extended to the introductory films for the school children was a perfect example of how small modifications can make a big difference to individuals.
So where can you find the finished products? Check us out on YouTube at:
Blog by First year Speech and Language Therapy Student - Grace Emecz
As part of the Speaking Out Being Heard Signalong project, we ran a self-advocacy session with Bury People First, where we were practising some signing together, and they presented the work they have done to create and petition for the communication rights charter.
Self-advocacy is an important aspect of working with people with learning disabilities, and is based on one of the underlying philosophies, ‘nothing about us without us’. Creating resources with self-advocates improves the quality of the resource as people with lived experience are able to make contributions that otherwise might not have been considered.
When talking to the people at Bury People First, who are a self-advocacy group run by people with learning disabilities, we were able to gain insight into the importance of Signalong and who needs to learn it. This will influence the project going forward, as the suggestions from the self-advocates can be carried out in the future, with more funding from the Lottery Community Fund.
We discussed with Bury People First the importance of learning Signalong. They outlined how signing can benefit people with learning disabilities in a multitude of ways:
Signalong can be used alongside speech to help people with both expressive communication and understanding of what their communication partner is saying to them.
They also mentioned how signing is a beneficial communication tool for people with hearing difficulties, which affect a large number of people with learning disabilities.
When asked who should learn Signalong, it was established that it is really important for professionals to know how to communicate effectively, especially those working in emergency services such as firemen, paramedics, police and health staff.
It is also important for employers to be trained in signing, as this could reduce the inequalities in the amount of people with learning disabilities who are employed.
The advocates said that primary school children should all be taught signing so that they can use it in the future, and therefore teachers should be trained in Signalong.
At Total Communication Services CIC, we want to be able to carry out the suggestions made by the self-advocates, which is why running more training sessions to be able to teach signing to all of the people described above is so important.
We also discussed when you could use Signalong, and one key point was the importance of signing in helping people with learning disabilities to make informed choices. Being presented with information alongside signs can make it much clearer to understand. Furthermore, if professionals are trained in signing, then when carrying out capacity assessments, they will be able to accurately identify whether someone has capacity, as they may be communicating this non-verbally through signs.
The people at Bury People First also described how they enjoy learning signing through singing, watching Youtube videos, playing games, relating signs to physical objects and hand on hand signing. These are all methods that we have incorporated within the project and would love to expand on further in future training.
See our YouTube channel for signing films: https://www.youtube.com/@TotalCommunicationServicesCIC
Photos from our session
Our second student blog is by Jake Virgili,
First year Speech and Language Therapy Student at the University of Manchester
Over the course of three weeks, as part of the Speaking Out Being Heard project, we paid three visits to Pathways to Opportunities, a day centre in Chadderton for adults with learning disabilities. We ran sessions where we taught both the adults and staff Signalong signs spanning various topics. The structure of each day was that we would run two sessions, with half of those present attending the first and the other half attending the second. Sessions began with a song which was then followed by an activity centreed around participants picking from a selection of items. For the remainder of sessions participants would be in two groups, which additional activities were done in. During sessions there were also opportunities for the adults to engage with objects on a sensory level, such as smelling toothpaste or feeling the material that an item of clothing is made of.
On the first day, the sessions began with us singing a version of the can-can song with fantastical lyrics about a dancing cat, dog and fish. Everyone was invited to sing along and sign. Next, we passed a laundry basket around and each person picked an item of clothing from the basket that everyone would then learn the sign for and which would then be hung on a washing line. The activity a fellow student and I ran once participants had split into two groups was a bowling game which involved participants taking it in turns to knock down pins that had symbols for food on them. For each pin that was knocked down we would all perform the sign that corresponded to the symbol on it. Between sessions, a fellow student and I played a game of dominoes with some of the adults. The dominoes had food symbols on them instead of numbers and whenever someone matched two symbols, we would all perform the sign for whatever it was that the symbol represented.
For the second day we began sessions with the same song as we had the week before and then did an activity which involved passing a shopping basket containing replica fruits and vegetables around. Each person got to pick one and everybody would learn the sign for the food that had been picked as the replica was matched to a picture of itself. The activity a fellow student and I ran once participants were in two groups was very similar to this one, but instead of food it was personal care items that people got to pick from and learn the signs for. Once again, a fellow student and I played a game of dominoes with some of the adults in the time between the two sessions of the day. The rules of the game were the same as the previous time but the dominoes had personal care symbols and body parts symbols on them and so the individuals playing with us learnt some new signs.
The sessions on our final day began with everyone singing and signing a version of 'If You’re Happy and You Know It' that covered multiple feelings and emotions. After this was an activity in which a tub filled with Christmas symbols was passed around, with participants picking a symbol that they could stick onto a felt Christmas tree and which everyone would learn the sign for. On that day, the activity that a fellow student and I ran once the participants had split into two groups was bingo. It worked like typical bingo does but instead of calling out numbers we performed signs and participants would mark their card if it had a symbol for what we had signed.
Consultation with support staff
When asked what they thought of activities we had run with them, the adults responded positively, with many saying that the activities had been good. Before our time at Pathways to Opportunities came to an end, I collected feedback on our sessions from the staff via a questionnaire featuring open-ended questions. The staff identified the benefits of our sessions to be that:
· They will lead to improvements in communication between the adults and staff as well as between the adults
themselves.
· They thought that the signs we had taught them would particularly be of use for greetings, shopping, cooking time,
mealtimes and checking up on how the adults are feeling.
I know from speaking to one member of staff that there was one adult who already knew a fair amount of Signalong signs but would not really use them whilst at the day centre. Had they used them prior to our sessions taking place, it would not have been of much help as staff would not have been able to recognise the signs. Now that staff do recognise a number of signs, this individual would be able to use them with staff successfully. Staff unanimously agreed that they would want more sessions like the ones we ran to take place at the day centre and two members of staff made the suggestion that the sessions occur twice a week.
Staff clearly see the positive impact that these sessions can have and are extremely keen to have more be held at the day centre. Both adults and staff seemed to be highly engaged when taking part in the activities and would gain a lot from continuing to participate in activities which teach new signs or test their knowledge of signs. These sessions could be the first of many at this day centre and it is my hope that they do end up being the start of what would be a highly beneficial initiative at Pathways to Opportunities. The Speaking Out Being Heard Project was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
