Talking Mats

Talking Mats Ltd. is a social enterprise whose vision is to improve the lives of people with communication difficulties. Talking Mats ground-breaking platform uses the best that digital can offer to support people with communication difficulties by increasing their capacity to communicate effectively about things that matter to them. Through the use of innovative technology Talking Mats reaches out to people who may not have interacted much with the digital world before. Talking Mats is a communication framework based on extensive research and designed by Speech and Language Therapists. It uses unique, specially designed picture communication symbols that are relevant to people of all ages and communication abilities. Originally developed as a low-tech tool using a mat and symbols, Talking Mats is now also available as a digital platform working on iPads and android tablets. Talking Mats is used in a wide range of health, social work, residential, education and voluntary settings. The following two quotes are from people who use Talking Mats: “You don’t really think about stuff but then when you see it on your Mat you think about it and understand yourself a bit more – I realised my life is good. If my Mum told me that I would not really believe it but because I did it and thought about it, I believe it.” Secondary School pupil using the Digital Talking Mat “It helps me turn thoughts into actions.” Young man with head injury Here are just a few ways that Talking Mats can be used:

• To help children and adults to express their preferences or feelings
• To provide a 'thinking tool' to enable people to explore issues and help them to structure and verbalise their thoughts
• To help people with a learning disability to both understand what is involved in a decision and to then give their opinion
• People who have had a stroke may have problems both understanding others and expressing themselves. The visual presentation of Talking Mats helps comprehension as well as providing an effective way for people to express their views
• For people with dementia, the structured and consistent format of Talking Mats makes it easier both to keep to topic and for the listener to follow the track of the conversation.

If you would like to find out more about how Talking Mats works and what resources and training courses are available please have look at the website www.talkingmats.com, email us at info@talkingmats.com or call us on 01786 479511.