Signalong

Also called Signalong key word signing

A sign-supported system built on BSL signs, spoken English order and a large published vocabulary, used across many special schools.

What it is

Signalong is a key word signing system. You speak in ordinary English and sign the words that carry the meaning, using signs taken from British Sign Language. It was founded in Kent in 1992 by a group that included parents and a speech and language therapist, and it is run by the charity Signalong.

Like Makaton, it is a support for spoken English rather than a language in its own right. The two systems draw on the same source, so a good many signs are identical and many more are close. The differences are in organisation and licensing rather than in principle: Signalong publishes its vocabulary as a set of topic manuals with a written description of how each sign is made, and it has always been less restrictive about who may teach it and reproduce it.

Signalong describes each sign in a fixed way: the handshape, where it goes, how it moves, and the direction the palm faces, with a drawing. That written description is the reason many special schools chose it, because a class teacher can check a sign from the manual without a tutor in the room.

Who it can help

The same people Makaton helps: children and adults with a learning disability, autistic people who find visual words steadier than spoken ones, and children whose speech is late or unclear and who need a way to be understood while it develops. Special schools in some regions standardised on Signalong years ago, so if a child moves into one it is likely what the staff already use.

It is not for a Deaf child who needs a first language, and a person who uses Signalong at school and Makaton at home is usually fine, because the signs largely overlap and the person tends to settle on one version. The system matters less than everyone around the person signing the same thing consistently.

How it works

Sign as you speak. Choose the one, two or three words in each sentence without which the meaning is lost, and sign those. Keep the speech natural and keep eye contact. The mechanism is the same as every sign-supported system: a second, visual channel for the word, held in the air a fraction longer than the spoken word lasts.

The vocabulary is organised by topic manuals rather than fixed stages: a foundation set of everyday signs, then manuals for school subjects, healthcare, employment and so on. There is no requirement to learn them in order.

Training is a Foundation course, typically over two days or spread across evenings, run by tutors accredited by the charity, and there are further courses for tutors. Manuals are bought from Signalong and a licence covers reproducing the drawings.

Getting started

Ask the school or service which system it uses before you learn anything, because you want to match. If it is Signalong, ask whether staff will run a short session for families; many do, because the point of the system is that everyone uses it.

Start with the signs for the person's day: their name sign, drink, eat, toilet, more, finished, help, home, school, and the names of the people they see. Use them at the same moment every time. Then take the Foundation course, which Signalong lists by region.

If the person already points to pictures, keep both going. Sign and symbol are not in competition, and a child who signs "drink" and points to a picture of juice has said a two-word sentence.

Where to get help

Signalong for courses, manuals and tutors. Your speech and language therapist decides, with you, which system suits the person, and the NHS route is referring to speech and language therapy. Mencap and the National Autistic Society both explain sign-supported communication for families.