Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to help people communicate. With Makaton, signs are used to provide extra clues about what someone is saying. Visit the Makaton YouTube Channel for videos and activities including a new “sign of the week” to learn each week.
The free online resource is excellent for helping your child with language skills, especially story telling. A new, mysterious picture and story starter is posted every day, along with some ideas for activities. You can do as many of the suggested activities as you like. Don’t forget to work on spoken language skills – by discussing the story and activities with your child – as well as on their literacy.
A fantastic resource to support primary school children with attention and listening, understanding language and social interaction. Rob Biddulph is a children’s illustrator and he has created some interactive drawing videos for primary school aged children. In the videos he gives instructions to the children to draw along with him which gives them a chance to practice listening to instructions – the pause button means that children can go at their own speed and listen again if they need to.
Tàta Storytime is a new online kids’ show on YouTube where actors read picture books set in different countries and celebrating different cultures, with Authors from African, Caribbean & African American heritage. These stories are entertaining and could be a good talking point. Aimed at Pre-school to 8 year olds.
Visuals2Go is a free app that allows you to create and customise your own visuals to support your child. You can print your visuals off on a range of different templates. You could use this to make your own now and next board, visual timetables, flash cards etc.
Super Core: If your child uses a core board or a pictures board to communicate, have a look at these downloadable and printable boards to help you to talk about Coronavirus. Print off the board and point to the symbols whilst you speak to your child, and support your child to point to the symbols on the board to communicate. There are also a range of other boards you can download for a range of activities (e.g. playing with trains, bubbles, getting dressed, bath time etc.)
This website lists a range of free apps to support with communication. There are good apps for especially for developing cause and effect skills who have not developed verbal language (i.e. learning that if you do something, something else will happen).
The Garden School is a Special School in Hackney. They have created some fantastic videos of sensory activities, attention autism ideas, exercise videos and much more! Check our their YouTube Channel.
The Oak National Academy provides a bank of video lessons to support parents and teachers with home learning. They include a range of subjects, such as English, maths, and science, as well as specialist subjects including Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.
The STAMMA website provides information about stammering and also the views of young people who stammer on what is helpful for them, and how they have experienced stammering.
