In 2025, Total Communication Services came to introduce Signalong to us as a different way to connect people through communication. Some speech and language therapy university students came too, and they got to practise their own Signalong skills and get ideas to develop resources for us to use.
We found Signalong so helpful that the next month, staff from across our Learning Disability Day Service did a workshop with Total Communication Services where we learnt 248 signs to take back and practise exploring communication across the Bury borough.
When we asked to learn some specific new signs, Total Communication Services made a film to share these, with the help of speech and language therapy students and interns from Digital Independent Specialist College (DISC) in Manchester. Scroll down to watch the film and learn some signs!
Carmen, Learning Disability Day Services manager, said "I worried that it wouldn't have an impact if we couldn't teach enough staff the signs but it's been such a success and the positive effect it has on people is obvious: even people who can't sign still feel involved in our Signalong sessions because we use props to stimulate people's senses like sight, sound and touch as well as the signs."
We're using the training every day now and Coral, support worker at Ramsbottom, said "this training makes me confident that I can communicate with anyone about their basic needs and wants. It's improved the relationships I already had with people because they know I can really understand and explain things about their safety and wellbeing. Signalong is such an inclusive way to communicate that it helps people feel a part of the group and of their own community. "
Click on the links to watch short films of a couple of our Signalong sessions:
