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Pathways to Opportunities Report

Our second student blog is by Jake Virgili,

First year Speech and Language Therapy Student at the University of Manchester

 

Over the course of three weeks, as part of the Speaking Out Being Heard project, we paid three visits to Pathways to Opportunities, a day centre in Chadderton for adults with learning disabilities. We ran sessions where we taught both the adults and staff Signalong signs spanning various topics. The structure of each day was that we would run two sessions, with half of those present attending the first and the other half attending the second. Sessions began with a song which was then followed by an activity centreed around participants picking from a selection of items. For the remainder of sessions participants would be in two groups, which additional activities were done in. During sessions there were also opportunities for the adults to engage with objects on a sensory level, such as smelling toothpaste or feeling the material that an item of clothing is made of.

On the first day, the sessions began with us singing a version of the can-can song with fantastical lyrics about a dancing cat, dog and fish. Everyone was invited to sing along and sign. Next, we passed a laundry basket around and each person picked an item of clothing from the basket that everyone would then learn the sign for and which would then be hung on a washing line. The activity a fellow student and I ran once participants had split into two groups was a bowling game which involved participants taking it in turns to knock down pins that had symbols for food on them. For each pin that was knocked down we would all perform the sign that corresponded to the symbol on it. Between sessions, a fellow student and I played a game of dominoes with some of the adults. The dominoes had food symbols on them instead of numbers and whenever someone matched two symbols, we would all perform the sign for whatever it was that the symbol represented.



For the second day we began sessions with the same song as we had the week before and then did an activity which involved passing a shopping basket containing replica fruits and vegetables around. Each person got to pick one and everybody would learn the sign for the food that had been picked as the replica was matched to a picture of itself. The activity a fellow student and I ran once participants were in two groups was very similar to this one, but instead of food it was personal care items that people got to pick from and learn the signs for. Once again, a fellow student and I played a game of dominoes with some of the adults in the time between the two sessions of the day. The rules of the game were the same as the previous time but the dominoes had personal care symbols and body parts symbols on them and so the individuals playing with us learnt some new signs.

The sessions on our final day began with everyone singing and signing a version of 'If You’re Happy and You Know It' that covered multiple feelings and emotions. After this was an activity in which a tub filled with Christmas symbols was passed around, with participants picking a symbol that they could stick onto a felt Christmas tree and which everyone would learn the sign for. On that day, the activity that a fellow student and I ran once the participants had split into two groups was bingo. It worked like typical bingo does but instead of calling out numbers we performed signs and participants would mark their card if it had a symbol for what we had signed.


Consultation with support staff

When asked what they thought of activities we had run with them, the adults responded positively, with many saying that the activities had been good. Before our time at Pathways to Opportunities came to an end, I collected feedback on our sessions from the staff via a questionnaire featuring open-ended questions. The staff identified the benefits of our sessions to be that:


·       They will lead to improvements in communication between the adults and staff as well as between the adults

themselves.

·       They thought that the signs we had taught them would particularly be of use for greetings, shopping, cooking time,

mealtimes and checking up on how the adults are feeling.

 

I know from speaking to one member of staff that there was one adult who already knew a fair amount of Signalong signs but would not really use them whilst at the day centre. Had they used them prior to our sessions taking place, it would not have been of much help as staff would not have been able to recognise the signs. Now that staff do recognise a number of signs, this individual would be able to use them with staff successfully. Staff unanimously agreed that they would want more sessions like the ones we ran to take place at the day centre and two members of staff made the suggestion that the sessions occur twice a week.


Staff clearly see the positive impact that these sessions can have and are extremely keen to have more be held at the day centre. Both adults and staff seemed to be highly engaged when taking part in the activities and would gain a lot from continuing to participate in activities which teach new signs or test their knowledge of signs. These sessions could be the first of many at this day centre and it is my hope that they do end up being the start of what would be a highly beneficial initiative at Pathways to Opportunities. The Speaking Out Being Heard Project was funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

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