TV's Mr Tumble in sex fumble

[snopes]

TV favourite Mr Tumble is greeting toddlers by saying “I’m f****** you” in sign language.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007130148,00.html

[Richard W]

That does sound rather an unfortunate confusion, since it appears he's "saying" both, depending on the sign scheme you're using - "I'm ****ing you" in BSL and "I'm happy to see you" in Makaton...

There was some background about Makaton in The Guardian yesterday, but without this context:

Let your fingers do the talking

If you don't understand Makaton, you could soon be in the minority. Although created in the 1970s as a communications system for people with learning disabilities and speech disorders, Makaton's combination of signs, gestures and printed symbols is now taught in many primary schools to spur the development of language in children.

...

Margaret Walker, who devised Makaton with Kathy Johnston and Tony Cornforth (the name comes from the first syllables of their first names) is keen to stress that the system should not be described as a sign language. "People in the deaf world would be very distressed," she says. Although Makaton's signs are derived from British Sign Language (or the local sign language of the nation in question - it's used in more than 40 countries), they are primarily intended to reinforce the spoken and written word.

Hmm, we all managed to learn language OK in my day without it. Kids today, what's the world coming to? Political correctness gone mad, and all that.

And isn't primary school a bit late "to spur the development of language" in any case? I wouldn't expect everybody to be able to read before primary school, but I'd have thought most people could speak.

The latest guidelines (the rather bizarre and controversial ones that apparently make people in charge of nurseries assess babies on how they gurgle and whether they play with their toes properly) say that from 30 - 50 months children should "Be able to use simple statements and questions often linked to gestures" (Makaton gestures?) and from 40 - 60+ months they should "Begin to use talk to pretend imaginary situations". I guess some people might start primary school at 48 months, when they might still be using these gestures, but that's pretty young.

I watch a bit of CBeebies. "Something Special" is definitely focussed on global communication and is aimed at young people with learning difficulties, rather than the deaf or hearing impaired, so Makaton is more appropriate than BSL. Many CBeebies programmes have BSL signers on Sunday.

However profoundly deaf or hearing impaired children also particularly enjoy Something Special because there are large sections of the programme (Higgledy Piggledy House anyone... no, just me then!) that tell an entirely visual story without any use of language or sign system at all (similar to Mr Bean or Pingu).

Because of this overlap it's a surprise to me that the BBC didn't consider how the Makaton signs might be understood by BSL signing kids, but I think they'll get over it and might even enjoy the joke. It's funny when it sounds (or looks) like someone has said a dirty word. The Teletubbies do it all the time.

MaKaTon (to give it it's correct title) is a communication system for people withthings like learning difficulties/ language delay.

When I was nursing people with learning difficulties back in the day, we used MaKaTon, in order that the patients without speech could make their needs known, eg "drink" "hungry" "Cold" "hurt" etc. It isn't as

My sister's youngest lad has severe LD, and speech delay, due to brain damage. He's 14, but functions at about the level of a 20 -month old/ 24 month old child. He uses MaKaTon at school and at home.

Some of the signs used are simplified BSL signs. Most are pretty much the same signs as in BSL. Because some folk with LD have conditions like Cerebral Palsy, they havent got the finer motor-control to make the signs as in BSL. MaKaTon signs are easier to make, and require less control.

I take a BSL night class and sometimes (if it's on) I watch Something Special because it gives me a chance to practice at home (plus, I want to give Mr Tumble a big hug).

When we are learning new signs that could be easily confused with a swear sign, the teacher shows us both so we don't make a mistake. I must admit, the few times I've watched 'Something Special' I have thought that the sign he uses could be easily confused...