Different symbol systems! Isn’t that confusing?
You may have noticed that we have partnered with The Makaton Charity to support our new 'Exploring Language’ videos with Symbol UK as part of our Teach Me Too project, while partnering with Widgit Symbols for our Learning for Life project. Why then, have we chosen different symbol systems in different projects? Isn’t that confusing for learners?
These partnerships didn’t happen by accident. We purposely chose to partner with Makaton in the early years videos as so many of our children use Makaton signing to access early language skills, and the use of Makaton in pre-school settings is high. As advocates of signing to support language, it made perfect sense for us to team up with Makaton for our new early years ‘Exploring Language’ videos.
We looked at all options when approaching our Learning for Life project planning. We felt that Widgit gave us the most comprehensive scope for visual support options, and it was also more widely used within both primary and secondary schools. It was important that schools, youth groups and families could easily access and identify the symbols for further learning and use.
Isn’t it confusing?
This was the question the Learn and Thrive team asked before we decided on using different systems. So, we asked the experts!
Leela Baksi, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with Symbol UK said:
“The bold, clear Makaton symbols are great for our young children using Teach Me Too, and Makaton resources are widely used with this age group. Widget symbols, often used in schools and learning disability services, offer more sophisticated symbols with colour and detail- but are also a bit more challenging to process. We use many different symbol systems in our day-to-day lives -think of the range of signage on toilet doors!- and with talents in using visual forms of language, many people with Down syndrome excel in using the range of symbol systems they meet in apps, signage and learning resources.
Julie Knight and Lucy Clark, specialist teachers at Inclusively Down said “We chose Widgit because we felt they were the most visually appealing, particularly because they typically include the written word which we feel is hugely important when presenting visuals to our children and young people. Widgit symbols are also easily accessible for others and, from our experience, the symbol system that most schools and setting use more universally”.
In the real world, our young people will come across multiple visual systems every day. From emojis to road signs, visual prompts are everywhere. While using a consistent approach in the early stages of learning aids is important, where possible, we want our young people to be able to dip in and out of the visual supports that best suit the needs of any task. This helps to set them up for independence into the broader community later in life.
Who among us has managed to hold an entire text conversation through GIFs? I know our team certainly can. Emojis, GIFs, pictures, and videos are all part of our everyday life and Learn and Thrive are dedicated to supporting maximising independence in the many shapes that may take.
So, in answer to the question:
“Isn’t that confusing?” the answer is “not always”.
Every learner is different. Every learner deserves an individualised learning plan that identifies their personal needs. For those with additional or dual diagnoses, this may vary somewhat. However, we know that children and young people tend to be strong visual learners and, through our experience, often manage exceptionally well when switching between systems. This not only allows us to choose the right system for the particular project, but empowers teachers and learners to consider accessing different systems to help generalise skills and build real-life communication skills for the future.