Justin Fletcher as Mr Tumble. Photo via BBC
Once upon a time, people understood the human mind even less than they do now. People classified as ‘mentally disturbed’ were sometimes institutionalised. Sometimes that happened to people with learning disabilities and deaf people too, if their behaviour was considered particularly ‘odd’.
Then along came the Sixties and the birth of the disabilities rights movement in the US, when people with disabilities began asserting not just their equality and human rights but also their own identities or ‘labels’ as they saw fit. By the Seventies the movement had spread to Britain, mobilizing the Deaf Community into identifying their own deaf rights. BSL was officially recognised by the UK Government in 2003, after which on-going legislation ensued to guarantee the language’s legal protection.
£1 million was invested into the training of sign language interpreters (SLIs), and deaf people of my generation and below went on to excel professionally in the media, among them Mark Nelson – who launched Remark! with then co-director Ramon Woolfe in 2000 - Samuel Dore, Ted Evans and Caroline O’Neill.
In 2008 the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust (BSLBT) was founded with the intention of enabling commercial broadcasters to meet their regulatory requirements to provide sign language on qualifying channels. They commissioned a whole load of shorts, dramas, and TV programmes presented in BSL, increasing the visibility – and hopefully acceptance – of the language.
Then Something Special popped up on Cbeebies, along with a signing clown called Mr Tumble and a magic spotty bag that could be used to transport anything – and once again people started confusing learning-disabled people with deaf people.
Now, I have nothing against Mr Tumble creator Justin Fletcher personally. By all mainstream accounts he seems like a nice man – and popular too, judging by the cult following gained by the many characters and voices he has provided for the Cbeebies channel. (By ‘cult following’ I mean adults, not children: apparently they find Justin’s characters funnier than any off The Fast Show.)
Of course, Justin started Something Special as a way of reaching out to children with learning disabilities. From a pilot in 2003 it has surpassed expectations by becoming a popular daytime TV show that appears most weekdays – and Justin even got a MBE for his good work.
So what’s the problem? The sign ‘language’ Something Special teaches is Makaton, not BSL. Now I’ve expressed my reservations about Makaton before – and I am even more dubious about it now I’ve seen Justin’s demonstrations.
Others may argue that Something Special is aimed at a far larger audience than just deaf children – National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) statistics put the number of deaf children at over 45,000, while in 2006 the Department of Children, Families and Schools (DCFS) suggested that 210,510 children were identified as having a primary special educational need (SEN) associated with learning disabilities (my italics).
This is an important distinction. Learning disabilities can be very difficult to diagnose. I know of one man who was finally identified with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 40. Sometimes doctors can’t tell if a young child has a learning disability or a barrier to learning brought on by other disabilities (such as cerebral palsy, like Isobel, or even deafness). So at that age, they’re all educated as if they have learning disabilities.
Unfortunately, thanks to its high profile, parents think Something Special is a great introduction to sign language – unaware that unlike BSL, Makaton isn’t even a language, but a communication system devised by speech therapists to bridge learning gaps in spoken language in young children. Hell, it’s not even widely used beyond school, illustrating its limitations as a long-term communication tool.
As you can imagine, Makaton infuriates many within the Deaf Community committed to the BSL cause on so many levels. Not only is it patronising, in terms of context and meaning it’s also confusing and risks causing offence.
Indeed, Justin has been reprimanded before for inadvertently using a sign that echoes the BSL for the ‘F’ word. Imagine if we met him in person. How would he sign his pleasure at meeting us? “I’m so f*****, f*****, f***** to see you.”
This is just one example. Nearly every week at least one sign Mr Tumble teaches on Something Special perplexes us, because we can’t see how that sign could be easier to understand than its BSL equivalent. Yet people actually sign enthusiastically to us in Makaton, because they genuinely can’t tell BS from BSL.
It gets worse. Last January, Ofsted released a consultation document that they claimed was aimed at Deaf BSL users. It actually resembled a PCS sheet. Thankyou very much, Mr Tumble. Did you give them the template for that in your spotty bag?
But what can we do? Something Special is the only TV programme on a mainline channel where children with a wide variety of disabilities are regular guests; the only one Isobel watches, transfixed, from beginning to end. The only one that she remembers when it’s on (something she doesn’t do with other children’s programmes). Clearly, she relates to not just the children on the show, but also the pace and simplicity of its format, which in many ways reflects PACE itself.
Meanwhile, the BSLBT’s children’s programmes go out on FilmFour in the early mornings just once a month, sandwiched between glossy American gym-body adverts: hardly the best incentive to get children watching. True, there are mainstream children’s daytime TV programmes with in-vision signing, but these suit only fluent BSL users.
So when we see Mr Tumble stumble clownishly into view once again with his painted nose and spotty bag – and once again, hope and expectation crosses Isobel’s face – the only silent sign of our dissatisfaction we can give him is narrowed eyes and pursed lips, before walking away.
As a mother of a little boy with CP, I find it frustrating that there is more than one type of sign language. We do use makaton and have found it wonderful – however I don’t understand why deaf children in australia are taught auslan and children who can hear but not speak are taught makaton – only to potentially have to learn auslan later. It is like teaching French and then saying you have to change and learn German. BUT how is makaton v auslan (BSL) any different to learning “real” sign language only to find that different Australian states have different signs for the same word, as do different (English speaking) countries. I say good on them for breaking the mould and including anything for special needs kids. Don’t punish them by getting angry for using the wrong language – they have done what no one else has bothered to do and should be applauded. The problem isn’t that the clown uses makaton, the problem is that a uniform sign language is not used across the board. This is a problem that needs to be addressed by the authorities that govern paediatric therapies, not directed at a well meaning kids program.
You are right – I shouldn’t be getting angry with the programme. But my understanding is that a proposal was made to Cbeebies for a children’s programme in BSL, and it was rejected in favour of Something Special.
Trouble is, the show propagates the myth that Makaton is better and easier than BSL. This is absolutely rubbish. Makaton was devised by hearing ‘experts’ who couldn’t get to grips with BSL and so decided it was too complicated. But they failed – and still fail – to realise that they were learning BSL in the context of adults, not children. As we all know, children tend to learn more quickly than adults because, among other things, they don’t have responsibilities to thnk of.
I know children of deaf parents who were picking up BSL from 6 months. I know deaf children aged 3 with a far wider vocabulary than their hearing peers because they are fluent in BSL.
Essentially, BSL is far more fluid than people realise because it has evolved over centuries, and it grew from within the Deaf Community, who would have had little or no access to spoken language and culture so they had to find an alternative means of communication. Those ‘experts’ who devised Makaton would never have had the oppressive experiences of the Deaf Community so they wouldn’t be as driven to learn BSL anyway.
Of course Auslan has regional differences – just like BSL. It’s the sign equivalent of having a regional spoken accent! You mustn’t think of regional differences in Auslan as something you have to learn – that comes later. The basic linguistic context will be the same – and a key point of Makaton is that it has no linguistic context: another reason awhy it’s not widely used beyond school.
What the Makaton inventors should have done was to seek advice from Deaf language expserts on how BSL could be modified for, say, children with motor disabilities, without losing its linguistic essence. The later transition to ‘full’ BSL – if any – would be much smoother.
Instead the therapists tried to learn BSL, thought ‘whoa’ and then meddled with it as they saw fit. Again, it’s pretty useless. I have a fortysomething friend with CP and no speech who taught himself BSL because when he left school, he couldn’t find anyone who used or understood Makaton.
I know of another man, also with CP and no speech, who uses Makaton with his family, but they don’t sign back. He has no friends because no-one outside the family uses or know it. It’s a shame, because if he had learnt BSL at the beginning, he would most likely have a solid circle of friends by then. And all because a bunch of therapists thought Makaton would help people with learning disabilities learn to speak, and dismissed BSL as ‘too complicated’.
I don’t know what attitudes are like towards Makaton in Australia, but if they’re anything like they are in the UK, you might want to start learning Auslan too for your son’s sake.
I am not sure if you have seen my blog, and hope you don’t mind, but I have today posted a story about this, with a link to your blog… if you would prefer me to remove the link to your blog, please let me know. http://cpkidsmountainclimbers.wordpress.com/
By all means! The more discussion the blog generates, the better. Thanks for the linkback. I’ll comment on your blog too.
Hi — I have a son with a rare genetic condition (now 18) and I remember when he was younger having contact with some parents in Britain who talked about Makaton. Was it created to allow kids with poor motor control to sign? I do see how frustrating it would be for someone fluent in BSL to see the language modified in this way. It reminds me of when my son was younger and there was always debate on whether we were doing signed English or ASL. I guess if a child’s first language is spoken (they are hearing), there’s a tendency to want to mirror the English structure. I’m in Canada and have never seen this program. I clicked on the link, but I didn’t see anything that said it was targeted to kids with disabilities. I wasn’t sure why you had a concern that it was somehow linking kids with intellectual disabilities with sign language. Your site is fascinating and I hope you’ll visit BLOOM, a magazine on parenting kids wtih disabilities I produce. Perhaps you can write a guest post for us sometime. I’d love to share your unique perspective with our readers.
Hi Louise
Thanks for your comment.
It is my understanding that Makaton is used regularly by people with learning disabilities because of its simplicity, and the fact that it has very little context. Both my husband and I have worked with people with learning disabilities and most of them prefer Makaton to BSL. I had a look at the Makaton charity website and I actually found research relating to teaching sign language to ‘deaf mentally handicapped children’ (today, the more correct term in the UK would be ‘deaf children with learning disabilities’): http://www.makaton.org/aboutMakaton/research
We do recognise that Makaton was also devised for people with motor disabilities. However, we also understand that very few people use Makaton in adulthood, which restricts opportunities for those with either motor disabilities or learning disabilities, or both, to socialise more widely.
That happened to a friend and ex-colleague of mine who had CP and no speech. In the end, out of frustration, he taught himself BSL – and found himself with far more friends than before. I’ve also seen a documentary where a 25-year-old man with CP, who clearly had a sharp mind, communicated with just his immediate family because they were the only ones who knew Makaton. He wound up with no friends, no job, and stuck at his mum’s house.
It’s just ridiculous. Meanwhile, deaf people are campaigning so hard to get legal protection for a sign language that absolutely drips with historical, linguistic and cultural context. Using Makaton to communicate with them would be an insult to their intelligence, yet because people can’t tell the difference between that and BSL, that’s what they’ll get if Something Special continues to grow in popularity.
How would you feel if you were part of a minority who used spoken English and then someone went and mangled your language without consulting you, in the belief that what they came up with was superior to it, then got everyone to use it to communicate with you? Most of it would either mean nothing, or confuse you entirely!
I, and fellow members of the Deaf Community, believe that what the inventors of Makaton should have done would be to consult Deaf linguistic experts on devising a form of BSL or other national sign language that could be modified from within its linguistic framework. They would then work together to ensure that the new sign language enabled all children with learning and motor disabilities to make the transition to ‘adult’ BSL as smoothly as possible without losing its essence.
Of course, I also recognise that some people will never make that transition. But so long as they have this modified BSL – rather than Makaton itself, which has attached to it weird bits that just doesn’t make any sense – then they at least have a chance to socialise more widely than they could if they’d stuck to Makaton.
I’d love to write a guest post for BLOOM! It looks really interesting. Just let me know if and when you’d like me to contribute.
All the best
Melissa
Hi Melissa — I totally hear you on how creating a separate language that isn’t based on BSL is a dead-end socially for youth who won’t be able to communicate with people who use BSL in adulthood. It’s such a huge missed opportunity. You said that people with learning disabilities find Makaton easier to use — but couldn’t BSL have been modified to make it easier to use?
I would love you to write a guest blog for BLOOM. I’d love to hear about how your experiences as a deaf woman informed your experiences with Isobel and how your values or attitudes since having Isobel may have changed about difference/disabliity and what makes a good life.
Let me know if that sounds of interest (or if you have another idea). You can e-mail me at lkinross@hollandbloorview.ca
Also — please send me your snail-mail address so I could send you some back issues of BLOOM.
Are you going to the Mumsnet BlogFest? I really wanted to but I don’t think I can swing it from Canada this year. Look forward to hearing from you, Louise
Thanks for your kind invitation. I will certainly email you my snail-mail address.
I have my eye on Mumsnet Blogfest but it depends on whether BSL interpreters can be booked for the event. I hope so. I’d love to go. Will probably blog and let you know if I do.
Speak soon, Melissa
Hi Melissa — Hope to hear from you. Also, let me know if you’d be interested in writing a guest blog for BLOOM. I hope you get the interpreter at BlogFest. Mumsnet seems like a large organization with lots of resources so I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t. Keep me posted. Thanks!
Hi Louise
Thanks again – I’ve just emailed you. Looking forward to hearing more from you soon! Melissa
Reblogged this on Melissa Mostyn-Thomas and commented:
A (very strong) personal view of Mr Tumble and the growth in popularity of Makaton.
as a mum of two autistic little boys that had no speech un till starting school at 4yrs old i thank god for makaton. it has helped us all talk to each other and understand the words my children can now say .i find the finger spelling easy and it helps reinforce the understanding of words i know my children would not concentrate long enough to learn BSL and as most makaton is signed around or near the face and mouth it helps children see the words being formed and helps them shape the word correctly .makaton isnt a replacement for speach like BSL it is a tool to aid the development of speech.
Hi Kirsty,
Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s brilliant that there is a tool that can guide children in their speech and language development. And if it’s helped your sons gain speech – even better.
But I have to ask you: have you actually learnt BSL? Or did you get that information from your sons’ SALT?
Regarding BSL being a replacement for speech – I can’t say it’s that straightforward. BSL has been around for centuries but it’s been oppressed since the 1880s, when it was suddenly decreed that it wasn’t good for deaf children’s speech and language development. There was insufficient research to back up this argument – just a few people with too much power who simply wanted to ‘normalise’ deaf people in a very narrow-minded context.
Today many BSL users are bilingual. They use both BSL and English in their communication – and many of them are quite competent in their written English.
In addition it’s already been proven that babies learn BSL much more quickly (irrespective of disability) than they do speech. This is because BSL accommodates far more than just lip movements – it embraces the whole of the upper torso as a communication tool. The way it opens up the body really frees up people’s capacity for self-expression, therefore promoting good emotional and psychological health. Why dismiss it so readily?
The only people that tend to be anti-BSL, ironically, are SALTs, as they tend to focus on speech, rather than language, as the end product. That’s why they favour Makaton. (Thankfully, there are exceptions to the rule, such as Isobel’s current SALT.) Unfortunately, they don’t think about what happens after the child finishes school – they just assume that Makaton will do its job as a bridge to speech.
So again, if it’s worked for your children – brilliant. But I cannot ignore the many others post-school for which Makaton has only reinforced barriers to further education, work and social activities.
Hi. My 5 year old son has Down Syndrome and would be completely lost without Makaton. It is not a language like BSL merely a tool to ultimately aid speech. When working with it you always talk at the same time and Makaton is only used for the main important words. There is no way my son would have been able to learn BSL at a young age. Even if he could – and I fully accept that most young children can pick up BSL much quicker than adults – the adults close to them and working with them also have to learn it and so Makaton is much easier for teachers and learning assistants to pick up the basics for (to be honest many of them still don’t try hard enough in my opinion which is a source of much frustration for my son). He is beginning to talk more and more now but his words are very unclear without Makaton to back it up – then when I repeat the word he gets that positive feedback for his speech. I know that many adults with Down Syndrome do use Makaton to aid their speech – sometimes they use it as a sort of back up when they are tired etc, but for many it is merely used when they are young and taking longer to learn speech and having difficulty with their facial muscles to produce the correct sounds. Anyway it works for us and I for one am extremely grateful for Makaton and for Mr Tumble.