It all began with my children
My daughter who was born with Down Syndrome, nystagmus (a sight condition) and severe cardiac issues, my eldest son who is showing signs of ADHD and found it difficult to sit and concentrate at groups I could take them both to, and more recently my youngest son.
As my daughter grew, it became clear she was not going to be able to communicate the conventional way, I was told she would be nonverbal and her disabilities would not end there. I decided to focus on one thing at a time, and communication became the front runner.
After many nights of feeling like the worst mother in the world, I decided to do something about it. I needed somewhere we could all enjoy nature and all its benefits together, and most importantly, we needed to be able to communicate as a family.
I learnt about Makaton (a form of signing, symbols and speech to enable communication) and it’s benefits, so I thought I’d try it to support my own family, and it changed our communication abilities.
I wanted to spread the word, so I undertook training with the Makaton Charity and after years of working through the levels and exams I became a licensed Makaton Tutor.
There is nothing more beautiful and amazing, than seeing your children communicate for the first time!
As a family who loves the outdoors, I wanted Seedlings of SEN to reflect this and base sessions around nature, wildlife and the environment, we grow our own vegetables and encourage empathy, team work, and equality.
I achieved Speech and Language Support qualification’s including Gestalt Language Processor, which has given me more techniques to support non speaking and limited vocabulary children, including my daughter, who now has a wider range of signs and verbal skills, meaning our families communication has improved dramatically over the past year!
I wanted to help other families to have the same joy we do, so I decided to form a group called Seedlings of SEN.
Fundraising and where to find us
Two of our Seedlings recently successfully completing a mini marathon in 29 minutes and 39 seconds, these two were last but by no means least, proud is an understatement! All to raise money to make Makaton more accessible to more families.
If you would like to help us raise funds, donations are always welcome, you can find Seedlings of SEN on Easyfundraising, or you scan the QR code to donate on our Just Giving page or visit us at one of the school and community fairs we attend.
Want to learn Makaton?
Seedlings of SEN offer bespoke specialist Makaton workshops for Early Years practitioners, schools, healthcare professionals, SENCO’s and anyone wanting to create a more inclusive and supportive environment through communication, as well as Makaton level workshops. Makaton and Elklan training
All proceeds go directly to Seedlings of SEN to help support children and their families in communication, including private personalised Makaton sessions in the home.
Seedling’s of SEN is a small charitable organisation located in Rufforth, York, on the 3rd Sunday morning of each month, 10-12am. For more information please feel free to contact me on 07936554167 or email seedlingsofsen@gmail.com.
We help support SEN children, their siblings, families and connected people to learn, play and communicate together.
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Seedlings of SEN 