{"id":1905,"date":"2019-07-24T10:03:39","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T09:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityawareness.training\/?p=1905"},"modified":"2019-07-24T10:03:39","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T09:03:39","slug":"myth-busting-series-makaton-and-bsl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/?p=1905","title":{"rendered":"Myth Busting Series: Makaton and BSL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At Enhance the UK, we frequently deliver Disability Awareness Training in schools, universities and businesses across the UK and abroad.\u00a0 One of our main focuses is on the teaching of British Sign Language (BSL).\u00a0 We regularly get asked about the difference between Makaton and BSL in these sessions and have realised how important it is that more people are made aware of these differences.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to bust some more myths, here we go<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 1: Makaton and BSL \u2013 the same thing, right?!<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wrong! Whilst British Sign Language is a language (with its own grammar structure and complexities) used by people who are Deaf or hard of hearing to communicate.\u00a0 Makaton is not a language, but an assortment of signs that are used, in spoken word order, alongside speech to help, encourage and support those who have communication or learning impairments. With BSL, however, it is not physically possible to sign and speak at the same time due to the distinct grammatical differences between British Sign Language and spoken English, therefore representing just how complex BSL is.\u00a0 It is often the case that people stop using Makaton to support them once they have developed their speech and confidence.\u00a0 With British Sign Language, however, there is a pride and longevity attached to the language and the Deaf community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 2: BSL is easy.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely not.\u00a0 In fact, it takes approximately seven years to become a fully qualified British Sign Language interpreter.\u00a0 BSL is always evolving, alongside its community.\u00a0 There are dialects in sign language, just as there is in any spoken language in the world, and BSL has its own structure and grammar, supported by hand signs, expressions, body gestures and lip patterns.\u00a0 Makaton, however, has the same signs throughout the country, that are often taken from, or very similar too, those in BSL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 3: The same people use both Makaton and BSL.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is actually very rare indeed.\u00a0 Whilst Makaton is used to aid communication and confidence for those who have communication struggles or a learning disability (mainly young children who are having trouble learning to talk), British Sign Language is taught to Deaf and hard of hearing children and adults, just as we learn English and a child from France would learn French.\u00a0 As Deaf people do not consider themselves to have a disability, and are simply using a different (but equally beautiful and complex) language, linking Makaton and BSL together can be considered quite offensive by the Deaf community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about our BSL classes for organisations on our BSL page<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"black
C.E.O of Enhance the UK Jennie and trainer Claire often communicate using BSL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Enhance the UK, we frequently deliver Disability Awareness Training […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[72,73,74,75,76,77,78,80,81],"class_list":["post-1905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-myth-busters","tag-british-sign-language","tag-bsl","tag-communication-impairment","tag-deaf","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-language","tag-makaton","tag-sign-language","tag-what-is-the-difference-between-bsl-and-makaton"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.krackeddigital.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}