Makaton - I Need Help From a User Please :-)

nikiyoung

Hi to all needing hep from a Makaton user.
I work at a Pre-school and we have been signing a diamond shape out of our hands (holding thums and next finger together to make a diamond shape), someone has said that this is a "rude" gesture in makaton but as we do not use Makaton at our Pre-school we don't know if this is correct or not. Please can you put our minds at rest that we are not being rude or if we are we will stop doing it immediately!
sory to ramble on
Niki

~evanesco~

As far as I can remember there aren't any rude signs in makaton, though I could be wrong. It is extremely difficult to find any information on makaton symbols on the web.

nikiyoung

thanks ~evanesco~

SEK_2

I work with children that use makaton and know the basics myself. As far as i know a diamond shape isn't offensive.

nikiyoung

Thanks SEK

Strapped

Hee hee, I don't know about Makaton but it means "vagina" in BSL *snigger*

nikiyoung

oops _pale_ thanks Strapped
OK I don't think we are going to use it then :eek:
Ta for the replies
Niki

Bun

I seem to remember some kerfuffle about Mr Tumble from Something Special signing something rude when it was translated into BSL. Most people seemed to think that the users of Makaton won't know BSL, and they aren't directly comparable, so may not be a problem.

nikiyoung

I hope its not a direct translation then! :-~

Strapped

Yes, Mr Tumble was inadvertently telling kids he was rude-word-ing them rather than happy to see them - the sign for s.h.a.g in bsl is similar to happy in Makaton.

Makaton tends to get used with younger children or people with learning/mental disabilities.

verysillyguy06

nothing rude...little finger pointing up means 'naughty'...thats about it...