Singapore Signs On

Karen Bloomberg from Scope’s Communication Resource Centre recently took a trip to Singapore where she hosted Triple C (Checklist of Communication Competencies) workshops. While there she also supervised Eva Loh, a committee member on the Common Signing System working party in her quest to become Singapore’s first qualified Key Word Sign Presenter. Karen is also national training coordinator for Key Word Sign Australia (formerly Makaton).

“Key Word Sign is used with people who can hear. Many children and adults who are slow to develop speech or have speech that is difficult to understand benefit from the use of Key Word Sign. They combine the use of manual sign with speech or use manual sign alone to get their message across,” said Karen.

Eva attended presenter training in Melbourne last year. To complete her qualifications she had to present a workshop to her organisation.

“Eva and the Common Signing System working party’s aim is to establish a common signing system for use with people who have communication difficulties.

Up until now they have been using manual signs from different systems. Now that Eva is a Key Word Sign presenter, this is a great step forward for the Singapore community.”Sponsored by the University of Newcastle and Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), Karen also hosted two workshops for health professionals and support staff in using the new revised  Triple C – a screening assessment designed for use by families and support staff of people who have high support needs.

“The highlight of the trip for me was meeting new people. The commitment and enthusiasm of the first 15 teachers and teacher’s aides who were trained was exciting and rewarding,” said Karen.

More information about workshops that are offered by the Communication Resource Centre.