Over 100,000 people use Makaton in the UK, and every one of them will need healthcare at some point. Being able to communicate with their doctors can make a huge difference - even learning just a few signs can have a significant impact.
A chance encounter on clinical placement, coupled with a background in SEND education, inspired Year Three Student Doctor Aria Walters to create Medi-Sign, a new student society helping Liverpool healthcare students embrace Makaton as a great tool to build trust and improve patient care.
What motivated you to set up the society?
Before medical school, I worked as a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Teaching Assistant, where I first learned Makaton and saw the challenges faced by children with little or no speech. Despite learning Makaton at school, they were often misunderstood by others, and limited resources meant many missed out on essential support.
During a medical placement, I met a patient with Down’s syndrome who was non-verbal. While his family praised his care, they noted there weren’t any staff members who could communicate with him. When I asked the staff on the ward if they had received any training in learning disability communication, they all said no.
This experience, combined with my background as a SEND TA, inspired me to found Medi-Sign - a society dedicated to raising awareness of learning disability communication in healthcare and promoting Makaton.
Med-Sign committee Sandra Djoumessi Tonle, Aria Walters and Jairus Fukiau (L-R)
Who is your Makaton hero? Mr Tumble?
Although Mr Tumble has done an incredible job in raising awareness of Makaton, my personal Makaton hero was a nine-year-old boy I used to teach who was autistic and semi-verbal and he was determined to communicate. He was incredibly patient while learning signs and quickly became proficient with symbols.
Before Makaton, frustration at being misunderstood often led to anxiety and irritation. But once he could sign, his confidence soared. He was proud of his skills and loved interacting with friends through a mix of speech, signs, and symbols. Seeing how communication transformed his social and educational life was truly inspiring.
What is the society’s primary objective, and what kind of activities will support that?
Our primary objective is to improve healthcare for people with learning disabilities in the UK. Our society includes medical, nursing, dentistry, and occupational therapy students, and we are keen to expand to include all healthcare-related courses. We achieve this by:
- Raising awareness of healthcare disparities for those with limited or no speech.
- Sharing our knowledge of Makaton signs with future healthcare professionals.
- Hosting specialists to share insights and best practices.
So far this year, we have welcomed learning disability nurses, advocates, and a trustee from Down Syndrome Liverpool, who all provided invaluable perspectives on making healthcare more inclusive.
What are you most proud of since setting up the society?
There have been so many incredible moments this year! One of the highlights was teaching a learning disability communication workshop at a national conference.
We were invited to teach at the Paediatrics Society’s annual conference at the University of Sheffield, which was a huge achievement for a brand-new society.
Since then, we have also taught at the University of Liverpool’s Paediatrics Society conference and have been invited to teach at Manchester’s. We received fantastic feedback from the students, and some were so inspired that they are now working on setting up their own Medi-Sign societies.
Med-Sign workshops are open to all healthcare students
What are you most looking forward to this academic year?
We’re excited for our final session of the year, where we’ll recap key lessons through interactive activities, games, and prizes. It will be great to see everyone who has attended our sessions throughout the year, as well as welcome new faces.
This year’s final event will be a fantastic opportunity to reflect on what we’ve achieved and map out our plans for next year - we’re really looking forward to it!
What advice would you give to students interested in learning Makaton or applying it to their clinical practice?
The Makaton Charity is the best resource for learning Makaton, and we highly recommend taking their courses to become officially qualified or getting a membership so you can access their full library of signs and symbols. Joining our committee is a great way to do this, as committee members can apply for funding to cover the cost of training. YouTube is also a great place to start! Channels like Singing Hands and Makaton with Lucinda offer fantastic videos for beginners.
My advice would be:
- Be patient with yourself – Don’t worry if your signs aren’t perfect at first or if you mix some up. Makaton is a whole new language programme, and it takes time to learn!
- Practise as much as possible – Try signing with friends, family, or anyone else learning Makaton. The best way to understand how Makaton works is by using it in real-life situations with Makaton users, whether they are patients, children in your family, or people you volunteer with.
- Have fun! – Makaton is a flexible and expressive language. Enjoy the process, joke around with friends, and embrace this new way of communicating.
What is your biggest ambition for the future of the society and Makaton in general?
Going forward, we would love to collaborate with advocacy groups to invite people with learning disabilities to speak to our members and share their experiences. Many people feel nervous about communicating with someone with a learning disability because they are afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. The best way to overcome this is through experience - spending time with and learning from individuals with learning disabilities. We hope to facilitate this by partnering with charities that support children and adults with communication difficulties. Ultimately, we want to expand our reach, raise awareness of communication barriers, and educate future medical professionals on different forms of communication.
Congratulations to Aria and the Medi-Sign committee on such an impressive first few months! We can’t wait to see what you get up to next – follow along on Med-Sign Society – Liverpool Guild of Students.