Makaton Awareness Day 2026: Supporting communication

Communication is at the heart of everything we do. It helps us express ourselves and make decisions about our everyday lives.

For Makaton Awareness Day, we spoke to one of our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Practitioners from our Specialist Support Team about the important role Makaton can play in supporting people to communicate in ways that are meaningful and accessible to them.

From supporting someone to make everyday choices, to reducing frustration and anxiety, Makaton can create more opportunities for people to have their voices heard and take an active role in decisions about their lives.

Ceci shares what Makaton is, the benefits it can bring, and how accessible communication supports the Specialist Support Team’s wider approach to building independence and providing genuine person-centred support.

Here’s what she had to say…

“Most people think of Makaton as a form of sign language, but it’s a ‘multi-modal’ communication and language programme, which incorporates three types of communication skills – verbal speech, hand signs for keywords and visual symbols – so it’s important for us to remember that it is not ‘just signing’!

The programme was developed in the 1970s by Margaret Walker, Kathy Johnston and Tony Cornforth, whose names combine to create MA-KA-TON. Whilst working as a Speech and Language Therapist at a residential home for people with learning disabilities in Surrey, Margaret identified that support workers were mostly communicating with people they supported using just spoken word, limiting opportunities and space for communicative expression.

Having used British Sign Language (BSL) previously, she adapted basic signs to support keywords and chose signs which would reflect the daily lives of people supported in the service. Makaton vocabulary has since expanded and is taught in stages from everyday basic needs to more abstract concepts such as emotions and time.

As most of us who support people using Makaton are aware, Makaton is flexible and individualised, with many people using different combinations of their speech, symbols and signs depending on their communication needs and abilities.”

“Makaton can be useful to anyone who benefits from additional support with their communication. This could include people who have little to no verbal speech, speech which is difficult for others to understand, difficulties with development of speech, and difficulties in understanding or expressing themselves. Even young children can use Makaton as they are developing their communication and language skills!”

“For the people we support, Makaton can help to communicate wants, needs, thoughts, feelings and support them to make choices in their everyday life.

When communication is clear and accessible, people can express preferences, understand choices and make decisions about their lives and everyday experiences.

It also helps us to understand the person on a communicative level, giving us greater insight into what is important to them. This gives us opportunity to more effectively ‘hear’ the person, understand their personal values, preferences and wishes, and provide higher quality, genuine, person-centred care.”

“Makaton fits within our Specialist Support approach as effective and accessible communication is a valuable part of supporting a person’s quality of life.

“We all want to understand the person, their support needs, preferences and empower opportunities to support them to build their independence. Makaton can help us to achieve this by providing better opportunities for self-advocacy, building confidence, and develop meaningful relationships.”

“It’s tricky to think of one specific example, because I have met a lot of people who benefit from Makaton and all in different ways!

I have seen someone become more actively involved in decision-making due to Makaton making choices clearer and supporting a shared understanding between people. Rather than assumptions being made on the person’s behalf, they had greater opportunity to communicate what they did and didn’t want.

I’ve also seen how Makaton as a consistent communication can help reduce frustration and anxiety. When we have a clearer way to express ourselves and understand what is happening around us, we can be provided with greater predictability, choice and independence throughout our day-to-day.

Makaton can also open up opportunities for more meaningful conversations and social relationships, rather than communication being limited.

Ultimately for me, one of the biggest benefits I have seen is the positive impact Makaton can have on quality of life and person-centred support. It can be valuable in helping someone to understand what is going to happen, the choices they have, who is supporting them and what is expected by giving a person opportunity to have a voice, express themselves and communicate with people around them in ways that matter to them.”