Very young children in Barry are being taught a basic version of sign language known as ‘Makaton’ in a new coffee shop on High Street, Barry called EarlyVersity.
Vale MP Alun Cairns visited the Makaton session and learned to communicate basic ideas to children who were too young to talk. He also learned how to ‘sing’ The Wheels on the Bus and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the sign language.
Makaton was developed to allow those with cognitive impairments such as downs syndrome and autism to communicate through a very simple sign-language, but early years experts at EarlyVersity have found that it can also be used to allow very young children to communicate before they can speak.
Vale MP Alun Cairns said, “I am very impressed by the Makaton sessions at EarlyVersity, and can see the benefits of teaching pre-speech children how to communicate their ideas in a clear way.
“With EarlyVersity, Barry is at the forefront of a new wave of child development theory being put into practice. Their idea is simple, a coffee shop where parents can relax combined with pre-school learning sessions developed to aid the development of babies and toddlers.
“They are new to Barry’s High Street, replete with independent stores and good ideas such as this, and I wish them the very best for the future.”