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Read about the impact of our work on the people we support.
Read about the impact of our work on the people we support.
Read about the impact of our work on the people we support.
Originally from North Ayrshire, Alison lives in Coatbridge, and has been supported by Sense Scotland for over 30 years.
Registered blind and profoundly deaf, she is inspirational to staff and people we support alike as a bubbly, social and outgoing individual.
Having been supported by us for so long, Alison has a rich history with Sense Scotland. In 1997, Princess Anne (who is Sense Scotland’s Patron), officially opened the Coatbridge service, at which Alison was supported.
But that wasn’t the only time Alison met Princess Anne. Nearly twenty years later, in 2016, Her Royal Highness paid a royal visit to Leys Park in Hamilton, where she officially opened what is now called TouchBase Lanarkshire. And guess who got to meet her old royal friend? Alison was present at the opening, where she got to reminisce with Her Royal Highness about the opening of Coatbridge, and showed her the photo taken of the two of them twenty years previous.
Alison has also enjoyed volunteer shifts at TouchBase Glasgow, where she has helped out with admin work on the front desks, whilst being supported by members of staff. This suits her to a tee, as she loves interacting with and meeting new people. The people around her love hanging out with Alison, who has a great sense of humour and is very funny.
Alison also has a history teaching BSL. Around the 30th anniversary of Sense Scotland, she was involved in a BSL School Project. This involved going to local primary schools around Coatbridge to teach children some basic British Sign Language. The kids absolutely loved it – as did Alison, who thrives around people.
Like many of us, Alison also absolutely loves holidays! For the 10th anniversary of the Coatbridge service, she went to Florida with friends for two weeks.
Speaking of friends, Alison has many. For a while, she lived in a shared home with four other friends. After ten years, she wanted a little more independence, and we were more than happy to help her find her own place – but not too far from her friends, who now live on the same street!
Amy is non-verbal and uses Makaton as her main means of communication. Learning Makaton allowed Amy to communicate from a young age, and undoubtedly reduced the frustration she may otherwise have felt at not being understood verbally.
Amy lives in East Kilbride with her parents and 12-year-old sister. She has a rare genetic condition (AUTS2) which causes multiple complex needs. This was only diagnosed recently, thanks to advances in genetic research.
Amy accessed Speech & Language Therapy from the age of two, where they encouraged the use of alternative means of communication to speech, such as BSL and Makaton.
Since then, Amy’s signing has gone from strength to strength. She grew up watching “Something Special” with Mr Tumble, which was a good way to learn some simple signs at an easy pace. “Singing Hands” was another great resource – Amy has always loved music and these videos allowed her to learn signs for some of her favourite songs, which made learning fun.
Amy went to nursery and primary school in Glasgow where she was well supported and further encouraged to develop alternative means of communication. She has a talker, which she knows how to use, but she prefers to sign, to communicate “face-to-face”.
Amy moved to East Kilbride in 2013 and joined a local high school. The support she received there was wonderful – she had super teachers who really helped her fulfil her potential. They were great at recognising and rewarding achievements, and Amy was constantly showered with certificates, trophies and medals – including “Communication Champion” in the school awards in 2020.
After school, Amy went on to attend a local college where she proudly graduated in Life Skills in June 2022.
Amy started attending TouchBase Lanarkshire in July 2022. This offers her the opportunity to continue to be part of the local community and participate in all her favourite activities – arts & crafts, music, cooking, socialising, drama, games, and gardening in a safe environment, specifically for young adults with communication difficulties.
Amy knows hundreds of Makaton signs now, and is always keen to share her knowledge. Her favourite signs are probably “more”, “ice-cream”, “cake”, “xbox” and “ipad”.
Billy is very much part of the family at TouchBase East Dunbartonshire (formerly RNIB VILD Springfield) in Bishopbriggs, having attended regularly for the past 14 years.
When he first arrived, his learning disability, visual impairment and limited verbal communication skills meant he struggled to adapt to new situations. When it got too much, he would withdraw into quiet areas to be on his own, sometimes crying in frustration.
Springfield staff were determined that Billy would not only feel at home, but would thrive and enjoy every minute of his time at the centre. Investing time to understand his needs and his communication methods, whilst giving him choice and control, has helped him develop into the confident man he is today.
Billy now communicates through gesture, expressions and vocalisations and shows talent and skill in utilising Makaton signs along with signs of his own which he shares with staff. Billy has signs for individual staff, different foods and activities. He will use a bowling action for boccia or will put his hand to his ear to indicate a telephone call. He can now engage in conversation with staff and they feel confident that they are supporting him to be in control of his choices. This has helped Billy be more confident in previously highly stressful situations such as having his eyes examined by the optometrist.
Billy now has a large number of friends in the service with whom he engages in activities such as baking, music, interactive storytelling as well as his current favourite – competitive boccia. In moments of debate, a tape measure comes in handy to settle who the winner is!
Christopher, who uses our TouchBase Fife service, is a very sociable young man. He loves interacting with others, and uses Makaton signing, along with some verbal communication, to communicate.
However, Christopher’s conversations often revolved around limited topics as he wasn’t confident staff would understand him. Motivated to give Christopher greater communication opportunities, the team decided to expand their basic skills in Makaton, and undertook further training during lockdown.
What a great surprise for Christopher when he returned to the service! Staff are now able to converse with him about many subjects in a more reciprocal way. He has a new-found confidence in his conversations with staff – they are much richer and more interactive, and about a huge range of subjects now!
The increase in communication has led to Christopher starting some new projects. One of these is “Signs of the Month”. He demonstrates five new words to sign to and he uses them daily with everyone in the service. Christopher’s taxi drivers have got involved too, allowing them to understand and communicate with him on his daily commute, which is great for his confidence and gives him a real sense of achievement.
This is such a brilliant win-win because not only has Christopher’s experience at TouchBase Fife been enriched, but staff are more confident using Makaton and see the benefits their self action during lockdown has created for Christopher, and of course any other people we support who use Makaton signing.