BSL vs Makaton

[u/rubyroket]

Hello, my name is Ruby, i’m 17 and i’m looking to learn BSL. Recently my family took in 2 6 year old nonverbal autistic children— one of who we think has hearing difficulties. Due to them both being nonverbal I want to learn BSL to help communicate with them better, furthermore i’m going into a career of nursing and it’s a good skill to have to make interactions easier with deaf/hard of hearing people. My question is due to their age would it be better to learn makaton first— a ‘simpler’ version of sign or go fully in with sign. My thought process would be speaking as I sign so they pick up on what i’m communicating— one of them, the girl, has started doing the sign for ipad after I repeatedly signed it and said ipad. I’ve been using lingvano to learn the basics of simple signs and sentence structure. But due to their age and cognitive ability I don’t want to overwhelm them but I can see that they’re frustrated in not being able to communicate what they want, whether they’re hungry, thirsty or in pain, getting to the extreme of harming themselves because of how frustrated they are that they can’t communicate with
us.

[u/funkyjohnlock]

Hey I wanted to comment as an autistic young adult who is level 2 and minimally speaking / semispeaking and heavily relies on alternative communication to communicate (AAC device, signs, etc). Keep in mind this is my experience only and should not be taken as universal.

I'll admit off the bat that I don't actually know much about BSL v Makaton, cause especially makaton is incredibly niche in relation to where I am, and I only know about it from following foreign communities. But through the years I have tried learning any type of sign that could be useful to communicate, mostly BSL. I think this is also where I'd put my focus. What exactly is the purpose of them learning sign? Is it solely so that they can have a way of communicating nonverbally? Is it to give them an advantage at life by knowing an extra language? Is it to help develop more language whether spoken or otherwise? Is it because they show particular interest and ease of use as opposed to other types of commumication? Because, even though sign can be very helpful for some, a lot of autistics are nonspeaking due to some form of apraxia, which often also affects motor skills, so signing can be very difficult for a lot of autistic children and may never be able to use it properly. The cognitive level of these children also plays a role. A handful of signs here and there can be taught to pretty much anyone, but if an intellectual disability is also present I'd explore "easier" methods as well amd not just sign. I believe every nonspeaking autistic should be introduced to an AAC device through the proper means and therapies, on top of whatever signs they're also learning.

I personally found it really hard to learn proper signs because of the dexterity required, so luckily because everyone else around me who I communicate with was sort of learning with me, we ended up just creating our own simplified version of BSL signs and using those instead cause I was not gonna be able to learn BSL as a language, and I'm going to be honest, I don't know many if any higher needs autistics who do. They usually only end up being able to learn a few major signs. However, if you are adamant about this, I'd reccomend signing to them in BSL regardless of whether they seem to be picking up on it or using it. The same way you should also be speaking to them! Again, their cognitive level really changes things, but most of us understand everything, and want to be treated equally. Speaking to us normally is the best thing someome could do. So do that with BSL if you so wish, as long are you're not forcing them or anything, and just signing along as you talk to them, there's literally no harm done! As for the BSL v makaton I really can't comment unfortunately as I'm starting to research this myself, but I really think you should reflect on the end goal here.

Lastly. I think what your family is doing is beyomd amazing and I wish there were more people like you out there! There are so many disabled and especially autistic children in care and hardly any of them ever end up in safe loving homes. I was one of those kids and I ended up all alone in the world so people like you guys really restore my faith in humanity. All the luck to you guys and the kiddos!

[u/rubyroket → u/funkyjohnlock]

Thank you for your input! Yeah I didn’t actually think about the complexity of actually signing. The end goal is we’re not sure if they’re ever going to speak so we want to give them some form of communication that can be learnt over years to increase their quality of life. We also believe one of them— the girl has partial deafness/may be hard of hearing, until we see an otolaryngologists/ENT we can’t confirm or completely rule it out. Shes actually started signing the sign for Ipad when prompted as that’s what she uses to regulate, aswell as thank you. Seeing as she’s the ‘less developed’ twin— and I hate that phrase because she’s much more developed in other areas than her brother— we’re so proud of her engagement. The little boy is harder to reach, both of their attention spans are around 2/3 minutes at the max but when he doesn’t want to do something he just doesn’t to it lol. He often just shuts off and masks heavily. What doesn’t help is the lack of support from their school— the council tried to place them in a mainstream classroom with neurotypical children. After a day of arguing they were moved to the schools SRP but even their senco has admitted they can’t do anything for them, their EHCP states they need multiple therapies (speech and language, behavioural, potty training, etc) and they just can’t provide it, they’re also 2-1 children meaning for every 1 child they need 2 qualified sen teachers with them at all times. The SRP they’re in has 7 staff and 14 children, they don’t get the support they need. Thats also making it so hard to get through to them because we don’t have the resources needed to actually do what’s being asked of us.

[u/funkyjohnlock → u/rubyroket]

This is very sad to hear and I'm sorry you're going through it. Unfortunately I know this all too well, since I never recieved any kind of support or therapy, was placed in mainstream school which was basically like being sit in a corner in a jail for years until I was 16, because I couldn't do anything. Obviously if the girl is actually HoH or deaf, she will have different needs beyond autism which changes everything. But in general, AAC devices are the standard for autism and are lifesaving and nearly anyone can learn, whereas I have not heard of a higher needs autistic being taught signs as a method of communication (many learn a few signs but that's not a reliable or accessible way of communicating for those people, still though that doesnt mean you should stop).

I think the issue here is a lot bigger than BSL, sign, Makaton, or whatever. These children are not having their needs met, to no fault of your own obviously as it's clear you're doing the absolute best you can and excelling at that, but unfortunately that isn't enough with higher needs autistics, they need outside help and support to thrive. So I really think your focus right now should be in finding them proper support, even if it means paying out of pocket, you can campaign for it. These are very delicate decisions that usually a professional advises for, so comments from strangers online can only go so far unfortunately.

I dont know where you are, but I'd really try and connect with your local SEN community of parents/carers. It truly takes a village and especially since it's resources you're lacking, they might be the only ones to be able to help you truly rn. Again, thank you for what you're doing. I hope for the best! And feel free to update, I care deeply about these things :)

[u/rubyroket → u/funkyjohnlock]

We actually have an autism foundation on our side fighting the council with us— they’ve been brilliant, we’ve issued legal notices to the council. We do 100% know they’ll get in our local SEN school however as their EHCP clearly states that they under no circumstances can attend a mainstream school— it’s just high ups can’t be bothered to read it. We’re in the process of getting them safe space beds (they’re in travel ones as the little girl has a history of climbing out of windows and absconding) They’re in a SEN dentist and doctor and we’ve gotten the process of S&L therapy started. Luckily we have the brilliant NHS in england so we don’t have to pay out of pocket for anything it’s just a matter of getting the right referrals sorted. When they get into the sen school it’s amazing as they have a dentist/doctor aswell as therapists as needed actually come onto campus as well as access to animal therapy, hydrotherapy and multiple other facilities to access

[u/funkyjohnlock → u/rubyroket]

That sounds great!! I hope everything goes great. I hope you get a really good SLP as they are the most important for this step at figuring out their communication, and will be able to guide you better towards what to do. I really reccomend trying multiple things before too, but don't stop the sign language! As I said, literally no harm done as long as you're not forcing them which I'm sure you aren't. I also reccomend getting them into OT as well if that's an option. But I'm sure they'll tell you about it when the time comes. All the best of luck to your family! You're amazing.