At first...
The family might hear about Lámh from a speech therapist, another family, a family support group, service provider, a pre-school or by themselves.
Is Lámh suitable for all those with communication needs?
No. Lámh is one type of communication support. An individual may respond better to another type of support. A decision as to whether Lámh might be useful will be based on a Lámh Assessment, involving the family, carers, the speech therapist/support team/ nurse. Lámh might not be the communication system that is best for your child/brother/sister, and the assessment will help to determine this.
For example, the assessment would look at:
- How the person is communicating now (words, sounds, gestures, etc.)
- How easy or difficult they might find making the shapes of the signs with their hands
- Concentration levels for learning, and so on.
Where can families find out more?
Families should ask their service provider about Lámh - talk to the speech therapist, nurse or other staff member. You might take a look at the rest of the website or leaflets 'Information for Parents and Carers' or 'What is Lámh?'.
If Lámh is suitable, where will we start?
A programme of starting to use Lámh begins with a small number of signs.
You will be supported by the speech therapist or service provider and plan together how and when the signs might be used. Learning to use Lámh is quite different to learning to speak. The emphasis is on using some signs as often as possible in different situations at home, outside, in school. So, for example, you might start with 'more', 'eat' and 'stop' and use them at home, at dinner, playtime, school, etc.
Where will we learn the first signs?
At first, it may be the speech therapist or staff team showing the signs to the family and discussing where there will be opportunities to use them. The emphasis is on repetition, letting your child get used to seeing those around him/her signing and eventually encouraging your child to use the signs.
Following on from this, the family may decide to attend a Lámh Family Course more