Simone and her partner Ryan have a 2-year-old son called Dantae, who has Down syndrome and sickle cell anaemia.
They鈥檝e been learning Makaton to help with Dantae鈥檚 communication.
Tell us about Dantae
Well, Dantae鈥 he鈥檚 so cheeky, he鈥檚 very active and he loves music. He likes all kinds of music, whether it鈥檚 on TV or on YouTube. He even likes creating his own. We鈥檝e made little instruments for him, like putting pasta and rice in bottles and he shakes them.
He loves nursery rhymes too 鈥 Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Wind the Bobbin Up are his favourites. And once you start singing the nursery rhyme, he wants it over and over again.
He actually likes Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi at the moment. He tries to sing along to their slow songs and gets all emotional in his face.
He just had his second birthday and he loved it, because we decorated the front room in banners and balloons, had bubbles and ate chocolate cake!
Getting started with Makaton
When I was 14 weeks pregnant, we had which gave us the diagnosis that Dantae has Down syndrome. Then when he was born, our doctors did the test again and confirmed it.
Straight away after he was born, the paediatrician referred us to an early intervention support team in the community. They helped us with lots of things including physio, speech and language, feeding and a specialist teacher visited us.
She recommended that we go to a group session at a local school. It was for children with Down Syndrome and Dantae made a few friends there. They also held workshops, where we learned about different ways to help his communication and social skills. This is where we first did Makaton, when Dantae was about 6 months old.
We started by learning the simpler signs, like the more frequently used ones. The first ones we learned were 鈥榟ello鈥, 鈥榤ore鈥, 鈥榝inished鈥, 鈥榯oilet鈥欌 I鈥檓 doing them as I鈥檓 saying it!
Learning a new language
When we came home after that workshop, we were so excited that we taught ourselves more signs online. We watched quite a few YouTube videos and then also joined some Facebook Makaton groups.
Then, when we mentioned it to his speech and language therapist, she gave us a little booklet with some more of the basic signs in. That was really helpful.
We said 'oh wow this is amazing and it鈥檚 so simple'
When you know it, the signs make sense. It was quite difficult at the start though, because my memory鈥檚 so bad! Dantae was still a baby at the time so it took him a while to pick it up.
But it鈥檚 opened up a whole new world for him now. As we鈥檝e learned it, a lot of our family members have also picked up the basics, which is really nice.
Dantae sometimes uses his own gestures too. He鈥檚 made up signs for 鈥榤ore鈥, 鈥榝inish鈥 and even 鈥榯oilet鈥. So, sometimes only me and his dad know what he鈥檚 talking about.
I wouldn鈥檛 say I鈥檓 fluent in Makaton now, we鈥檝e still got a bit more practice to do.
But the words that Dantae uses the most are the ones we know really well. He still gets frustrated sometimes. He鈥檚 great at telling us when he wants something, or when he doesn鈥檛 like something but he gets upset when he can鈥檛 express his feelings.
We鈥檒l definitely keep using Makaton. His speech and language therapist even says that we should try , as that will give him more ways to communicate.
I鈥檇 say the best thing about learning Makaton is finding a new way to communicate with Dantae. It feels really exciting to use it with him.
Makaton has opened up a whole world of communication for us.
It鈥檚 helped us most around mealtimes and toilet training, because he gets more involved now. For example, I can use the signs to ask whether he needs the toilet and then, when he鈥檚 on the toilet, whether he wants more or if he鈥檚 finished.
I think he gets a little bit confused sometimes, because he鈥檒l say 鈥榤ore鈥 when he鈥檚 really finished or vice versa. Then other times, he鈥檒l be sitting there on the toilet, just singing and doing signs for the sake of it.
Advice for other parents
If there are any parents out there who are thinking about learning Makaton, I鈥檇 just say do it.
It鈥檚 exciting and fun, especially when you see your child doing the signs back. You鈥檙e constantly shocked and amazed that they actually understand you.
It takes a bit of time and obviously patience but once you get there and keep going consistently, your child will get the hang of it and so will you!
For more information or advice about Down syndrome visit .
shares online lessons, as well as signs of the day and loads more information and fun stuff on their website.
