Talking Mat would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas

2106 has certainly been a busy year for us at Talking Mats. We have seen some staff changes saying goodbye to Jill hall and welcoming Morag Crawford. We were delighted when we brought Kirsty  onto our staff . Kirsty originally volunteered with us as part of a school transition programme for people with autism. Laura Holmes joined us as a Talking Mats external associate for the North West of England.

If you are interested in what we do and want to see our activity in numbers then have a look at the Talking Mats Year in numbers . Click on image to see the enlarge ! 

At the moment we are busy preparing for 2017 and we are looking forward to

1. The evaluation of our following projects in The New Year

• The National Involvement Network on our partnership with ARC Scotland
• Our programme of service wide training with Central London Community health

2 Continuing to work with

• Patient Opinion
• The Alliance Self-management digital project
• Colleagues in Germany

3 Launching more resources

• Keeping Safe- so far this resource has only been available to people working with people with learning disability in Scotland. We will be holding a specialist seminar about this resource in London on the 17th March so its use can extend south of the border .
• Launching our conversation sets: gardens, holidays, trips out, sports indoor, sports outdoor and football.  These were developed as part of the family training for people with dementia but they have much wider use and will be available  as additional  Talking mats sets

Plus Talking Mat is planning to go to Australia in May!

Nicki and Lois have their flights booked. Agosci here we come ! Then we are over to New Zealand to run foundation training in Christchurch and Auckland before we head back to Melbourne to run the first ever accredited training course in Australia. We will also be running a specialist seminar on Keeping Safe in Melbourne. If you want any details about the trip please get in touch.

We really appreciate all the support we get from everyone involved in Talking Mats and wish you all a happy and peaceful festive season

This blog describes the foundation Talking Mats course we ran for members of the National Involvement Network. Following the seminars and the work to design a Charter for Involvement ‘Taking Part Talking Mat’ described in a previous blog , 16 people attended our  course run over three days with about a month between each session. The participants were 8 NIN members who all had a worker to support them as a learning partner. Their role was to assist with embedding the knowledge gained, and the implementation of the pilot ‘Taking Part Talking Mat’.  The learning partners were equal course participants, and expected to complete all course activities e.g. make a video of themselves carrying out a Talking Mat

In adapting the foundation Talking Mats course we learnt lots!  Here is a summary of key learning.

1. That we had a great group of people who were keen to learn and develop their communication practice to become Talking Mats interviewers, or as we call them in Talking Mats ‘the listener’ ( as they are listening to someone’s views). They appeared to really enjoy the learning experience and were enthusiastic, embracing all tasks including making a  video of themselves using Talking Mats with someone in their organisation.  In Talking Mats we call the person doing the mat ‘the thinker’.
2. That it was really important for us as trainers to focus on key information, not all information so as not to overload
3. That movement helped learning. It was good to design activities with some potential for movement so that people were not sitting too long and that they could get up and stretch. For example, on the Talking Mats foundation course there is an activity that thinks about abstract and concrete language. We adapted this by using cut out coloured circles and got participants to think about the language load of a particular concept and place the symbol concept in the relevant circle.
4. Teaching the principles of Talking Mats and getting the participants to follow the rules e.g asking open questions, introducing blanks, the check and change stage was relatively easy. What was more problematic was supporting a listener to be flexible and person centred in the way they introduced an concept . Often it is important to give a relevant example to support a thinker’s understanding and our listeners struggled with that.  To overcome this, we wrote specific examples on the back of the cards and designed some activities to give time to practice. Repetition of learning was important
5. A detailed script helped, including what to say to introduce the Talking Mat
6. That you needed to pay particular attention to the quieter members of the group –coffee breaks proved to be a useful time to catch up on their thoughts and feelings
7. The role of the learning partner is critical. We were very fortunate in our partners. They were natural enablers and it showed. We relied on partners sharing a set of values, and believing that people with learning disabilities could learn and be a key member of the pilot project..  One person did not complete the project maybe because she felt uncomfortable. It made us realise if we were to do this again we should be explicit about values  and the  roles of the learning partner  from the outset
8. That the recording of interviews needs support, and it was key that there were was both a NIN member and a learning partner to enable that to happen
9. That our partnership with ARC Scotland was key as they provided individual follow up advice to each of the organisations involved and provided a source of learning reinforcement , observation and support to each of the NIN members and their learning partner. They were also able to feedback to the course organisers about any areas of difficulty that needed further attention and input
10. That Talking Mats empowers both the thinker and the listener. It gives a structure to make a conversation flow. The training itself not only gave the NIN members who attended a tool to communicate with others about how they feel, but also seems to have had a positive knock on effect on their confidence and we hope that continues.

We are incredibly proud of our cohort of trained Talking Mats listeners.  As part of the project they have been interviewing other service users in their organisations about 2 aspects of the Charter for Involvement –‘independence’ and ‘being involved in their community’ – ( 2 abstract concepts, as the NIN listeners will tell you).    Not only has this included more people in service evaluation but has led to making changes that are improving lives.

For example

One woman was no longer being taken to church and she is now going and starting to be part of a local church community

One man who everyone thought was doing really well living on his own expressed a view that he was feeling  lonely, He is now being supported to identify if there are enough people interested to start a local group.

Two videos were made by the group the first shows  what they found out using their Talking Mats tool 

This blog summarises a project we have completed providing Talking Mats training for families living with dementia. A key aspect of the work done by Talking Mats is to find ways to improve communication for families living with long term conditions. In particular dementia is a long term condition where deterioration in communication will eventually affect everyone. This makes it increasingly difficult to ensure that the person with dementia continues to be involved in decisions about their life.
We have completed a project funded by Health and Social Care ALLIANCE Scotland. Training in the use of Talking Mats was given to families living with dementia and staff who worked with these families. The Alliance Family Training final report highlights how this training helped people with dementia to communicate their views and be more involved in making decisions about their lives.

Families identified issues relating to self-management that they had not previously been aware of and new insights emerged as the following comments illustrate.(click on box to enlarge)

For some family members an important outcome was that Talking Mats helped them see that their spouse was satisfied with many aspects of his/her life. They found this very reassuring as many assumed that the person with dementia was frustrated and discontented.

The following is an example of how using Talking Mats helped with self-management.

When using Talking Mats on the topic of Where you live, G explained that he found it difficult to find his way to the toilet in the night. As a result his wife bought special senior night lights to help him which solved their problem. As a result, night times improved for both of them.

For further examples and information read the full report here Alliance Family Training final report  and for further information about Talking Mats Family training please contact info@talkingmats.com

The Scottish Government has granted further funding for the Keeping Safe Talking Mats training and resources.

This extension coincides with the launch of the  Keeping Safe report 2013-2016   at a seminar on Thursday 19^th May at the Raploch Community Centre Stirling.  It’s great to hold our event during Learning Disability week where the theme is Celebrating Success.  This project has undoubtedly been a success.  234 Keeping Safe communication resources are in use across Scotland. Staff who have used the Keeping Safe resource report that it supports Safeguarding and  helps  people think how their life is going,  enabling them to express concerns they might  have,  either big or small.    The impact that the resource has on the lives of people with learning disability is powerful.  You can read more about this in our previous blog or in the  Keeping Safe report 2013-2016

The seminar on the 19^th of May is an opportunity to share experiences and explore further some of the issues that exist for people with learning disabilities.

The next tranche of funding provides more training courses for:

1. People who work with adults with learning disabilities in Scotland to learn the skills and use the resource to support listening to their service users and
2. The staff who use the resource regularly to become Keeping Safe trainers and support the aim of ensuring adults with a learning disability in Scotland have access to this communication tool.  We particularly want to target geographical areas that do not yet have Keeping Safe trainers, e.g. Dumfries and Galloway and Aberdeenshire.

If you work with adults with learning disabilities in Scotland and would like to apply for Keeping Safe training please contact the office info@talkingmats.com  Application for

Striling course  19th August and 16th September is here;  20160610 training flier

Aberdeen Course 9th September and 7th of October is here 20160909 Aberdeen flier

Dumfries and Galloway course 20th October and 25th November is here 20161027 training flier

Further courses are being planned in the Autumn in Dumfries and Central Belt .Please contact  Info@talkingmats.com if you wish to be sent the relevant  flyer

Following the success of previous seminars we are holding further specialist seminars in Stirling and London for anyone who has done the Talking Mats training. The topics will be:

• Talking Mats and the Eating and Drinking resource (morning)
• Talking Mats and Capacity (afternoon)

During the Eating and Drinking seminar, we provide background on how and why the resource was developed and showed some DVD examples of people using the resource. This really brings things to life and shows how important it is to give people (with and without speech) the opportunity to consider and talk about different aspects of eating and drinking. We also give people hands-on practice in using the symbols from each topic. Each participant will receive a copy of the full Eating and Drinking resource, including symbols, a mat, and explanatory booklet.

During the Capacity seminar we will discuss the fundamental principles of the Capacity Act and participants will have a chance to consider how Talking Mats can help people to:

• understand
• retain/remember
• weigh up information
• communicate their views/wishes and feelings.

They will also be given the opportunity to work through some practical examples and think about options to help people understand issues and make decisions.

If you have completed a Talking Mats training course and would like to attend either of specialist seminars, please click on the relevant course and fill in the registration form.

Stirling on Friday 29th April Stirling Seminars flier Apr 2016
London on Friday 10th June London Seminars flier June 2016
Registration form Seminar registration form 2016

At the end of a recent training session, we asked the trainees to tell us how they planned to use Talking Mats as part of their work. Their comments were as follows:

• This tool will be useful in helping some residents make decisions, informed choices and express their needs. It will take time for some residents to feel confident in using this tool.
• I’d like to use it with some residents to be able to adapt Talking Mats more to their understanding.
• I’d like to use this tool for resident’s reviews to find out what the residents likes/dislikes are.
• Talking Mats will be great for service evaluation.
• Talking Mats will be great for asking residents about things they want to do.
• Updating Care Plans regularly from outcomes of Talking Mats.
• It can be used to get to know people’s needs and wishes more.
• Share the findings with colleagues and joint services.
• Hopefully through its use I’ll learn to pass it onto others.
• A gardening set. Service evaluation and well-being assessing stress levels/anxiety/emotional state?
• I’d use it to promote choices of activities.
• Care Inspectorate forms. Finding out how people enjoy time at the service and how to improve on it.

Can you let us know how you use Talking Mats as part of your work?

We are very grateful to David Brennan, a Dementia Support Worker from Ayrshire for this powerful blog.

Over the years our service has supported many people with a diagnosis of Dementia, now and then we encounter individuals whose cognitive difficulties have greatly affected their ability to communicate. This can (in some cases) result in distress for the services user and their families, distress that could be reduced or even avoided if the individual had a way of being understood by those around them.
As a service we welcomed the opportunity to engage in the Talking Mats Training and as a Dementia Support Worker I was eager to have a tool that could help me overcome communication obstacles, having experienced situations where those I support become so frustrated because they desperately want to relay a piece of information, but simply cannot find the words to express themselves.
I saw talking Mats as a communication system for those who struggle with speech. However, after using the practice in a practical environment I realise that I have had underestimated its potential, for it has much wider applications in our role.
My first experience of using Talking Mats was when producing the video for the second training session. I enlisted the help of a gentleman from the neighbouring Day Care centre.
We had never met prior to the session. The Gentleman had no communication difficulties that I was aware of.
Using the Talking Mats acted as an instant ice breaker, giving two complete strangers a reason to sit down and interact together, quickly striking up a rapport. The Gentleman appeared at ease and was happy to talk in detail about the tiles for the chosen subject of ‘Leisure Activities’
The activity revealed more than expected though. Through the course of the conversation he voiced feelings on things he was perhaps not happy with. I discovered he was unhappy that he did not get out in the open air enough due to poor mobility and that he would have preferred to see musicians coming into his Day Care Centre. This was crucial feedback
It occurred that Talking Mats also had an effective use in the assessment and quality assurance process that exist within services, providing crucial feedback for continued person-centred planning.
Taking this on board I considered examples of service users within my current caseload where the activity could prove beneficial.
I have been working with one gentleman for many months. He could be described as a Man’s man, someone who often replies to attempts at conversation with short responses, even when speaking with his wife. He may struggle to remember the names of people and places but he typically has little other difficulty in communicating.
I attempted the same topic with this man. Much of the answers were as expected. He spoke about football and his favourite team, but the structure of the Talking Mats encouraged him to open up about some of the smaller details that until now he hadn’t felt the need to disclose.
In the most recent example I was asked to take part in a colleague’s Talking Mat video for her training. She is one of our newest members of staff and although we have already developed a good working relationship the activity allowed her more insight to the nature and history of her co-worker.
For my experience, as someone who can struggle with sensory stimulation, it allowed me to express some of my needs and obscure preferences (around the office and in general) in a safe environment where I felt able to communicate what would normally be very personal information. And to have someone listen and thoughtfully consider this was a rewarding experience too.
As a service, new to the Talking Mats system, we are just scratching the surface of how we can best implement this into our roles, but the possibilities are already multiplying at a rapid pace, almost as much as the benefits we are seeing.

David Brennan
Dementia Support Worker

This post is about the importance of the Talking Mats blog and how it can be used as a rich resource of information for anyone interested in communication. One of the first ‘tasks’ that I was asked to do after starting my new job at Talking Mats was to create and give a presentation to an international audience of trainees at our most recent course for Accredited Trainers. I had only been in post for 2 weeks and I was also a trainee on the course, so the pressure was on!

The main aims of the presentation was to promote the Talking Mats Blog as a source of rich information which is accessible to anyone, that Accredited Trainers can use it in their own training courses, and also to encourage Accredited Trainers to write their own blog posts to describe how they use Talking Mats in their working and personal lives.

I wanted to try and make the presentation look a bit more dynamic than the usual ‘death by PowerPoint’ that can sometimes occur after a whole day of looking at slides! I decided to use Prezi, “a cloud-based  presentation software and storytelling tool for presenting ideas on a virtual canvas”, as I’d had good feedback about it when I had used it in the past and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to roll it out again. You can see the completed presentation here.

When the day came to give the presentation, I wasn’t feeling on top form after having flu for a few days previously. Because of this my memories of it are rather hazy (which isn’t good for the purposes of writing a blog about the presentation!) but from what I’ve heard, apart from looking ill, I managed to get my points across without confusing (or frightening) the audience!

It was a fantastic opportunity to take part in the Accredited Training course and to hear the stories of all the trainees who are dedicated to using Talking Mats to improve the lives of the people they help on a daily basis.

I’ve also just found out that the team at Talking Mats have been blogging for 4 years, so get reading!

Many thanks to Sara Toyn, Head of Adult Speech and Language Therapy, who has given us her thoughts on an organisational Talking Mats training course recently held in Powys, Wales. Together with Katie Earing, Sara organised the training course which included participants from a variety of NHS backgrounds and who worked with a range of adults with communication difficulties.

‘I attended a Talking Mats training organised by our team and offered to trained and untrained members of staff working in hospital and community. As an SLT I found it good revision and review of my own practice and also helped refocus some of my ideas and approaches.

The evaluations from all participants were extremely positive. We were overcrammed into too small a room as is the case with many training rooms and usually this is the first comment made on feedback.  I think it is positive that no one mentioned this at all on the evaluations as everyone was very engrossed in the activities and videos.  I have had several individuals point out how much they learnt and they report an increase in confidence in communicating with clients.’

Here are some of the comments from course participants

• This has opened up a whole new world of communication. Thank you.
• Very worthwhile course, have learned a lot and will surely use the mats at work.
• Feel I could integrate this into everyday practice with stroke patients – goal setting, D/C planning etc.
• Good interactive session.
• Completely unique! Thank you.
• Thank you. Excellent training, very transferable skills and will benefit patients.
• Really good. Being specific in the topic and phrasing questions openly, not only using Talking Mats.
• Have a patient in mind for tomorrow morning.
• Thank you. Really useful WHO ICF framework and framework for thinking about people’s cognitive level.

For further information about the training we offer, please click here

As part of the Right to Speak initiative Talking Mats was funded to develop ‘Promoting Inclusion and Participation’: an online learning resource for staff working with children and young people who use Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC).  We have been delighted to work with NHS Education Scotland on developing this free resource and also have really enjoyed working in partnership with the learning and development consultancy: Forum Interactive.

The complexity of care for children and young people who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) is multifaceted. Ensuring that goals are centred on the young person and family’s needs is a constant challenge to practitioners. There are several resources that focus on developing the technical skills of developing AAC but there is a scarcity of resources that focus on the impact of AAC on the child’s day to day life.

Promoting Inclusion and Participation is based on an earlier project which determined the key indicators of a quality AAC service from the perspective of AAC users and their families.

Promoting Inclusion and Participation uses the following frameworks to help practitioners structure their decision making:

1. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – Children and Young People (ICF-CY)
2. Janice Light’s Communicative Competencies (2014)
3. GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child) wellbeing indicators

These are brought to life in a series of DVD vignettes which tell the stories from the perspective of the child, their families and schools. It poses the practitioners’ questions that allow them to reflect on the impact of AAC on the child’s day to day life. The resource is designed to be used for group discussion. The feedback from the expert practitioners that reviewed the material suggest that the DVD and resulting questions can enable AAC practitioners to have  a rich discussion about best practice and how to time educational and therapeutic input to achieve holistic outcomes.

This on-line resource will help practitioners:

1. Understand the role that collaboration and involvement play in delivering wellbeing outcomes for children who use AAC.
2. Apply a holistic approach and outcomes focused approach to assessment, implementation and review which places the child at the centre.
3. Recognise that as the child develops and changes, so the level of different team member’s involvement will ebb and flow.

Download the resource here. It takes a little time to download so be patient !

We would be delighted to receive feedback of how it is being used.

Ref

Light J , Mcnaughton D, Communicative Competence for Individuals who require Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A New Definition for a New Era of Communication? Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 2014; 30(1): 1–18