Dear Editor,
We would like to wish The Makaton Charity a very happy birthday. The Makaton language programme uses symbols, signs and speech to help people with communication and learning difficulties to communicate, and this Sunday 28th August, marks 50 years since the language programme first began.
It has been an honour to work with The Makaton Charity this year to create Makaton resources for NSPCC Talk PANTS. At the NSPCC, we have been supporting parents to Talk PANTS and help keep children safe from sexual abuse for nearly 10 years.
The new resources using Makaton were launched here in Scotland earlier this summer, particularly within our Inter Islands PANTS campaign, and will help keep more young people safe, by supporting children with a range of special educational needs to understand and talk about the PANTS rules.
With the help of Pantosaurus, the NSPCC’s friendly dinosaur, Talk PANTS with Makaton helps children with special educational needs to understand that their body belongs to them, and they can tell someone they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. The resources include a series of six short films fronted by staff and pupils.
Children with disabilities are over three times more likely to suffer abuse than their non-disabled peers and helping children with a range of needs to access our preventative messages is really important to us. We’re really grateful for the all the support from The Makaton Charity to create these resources to keep children safe.
For more information and to download the Talk PANTS with Makaton resources, visit nspcc.org.uk/pantsguides
We would like to wish all our friends at The Makaton Charity and all families who use Makaton a very happy Makaton International Awareness Day!
Mubashar Khaliq
NSPCC Local Campaigns Manager