Can Makaton help children and adults with autism to communicate?
The Makaton programme can be used with autistic children and adults and is recognised as a useful method of developing communication. It can also be successfully integrated into the TEACCH and PECS programmes. Quite often children prefer to use the symbols first and later develop signs, but there is a considerable amount of evidence that many children on the autistic spectrum can also learn signs and use those effectively, so there is quite a variation amongst this population.