Talking Mats Australia

Talking Mats is a research-based tool to help people think about a topic or issue, and communicate their opinions, ideas and preferences more effectively. This visual framework helps in two main ways:

• Talking Mats makes communication easier for people with communication difficulties, and
• Talking Mats helps to make difficult communication situations easier.

Talking Mats is a tool to facilitate expression of opinion, choices, ideas and preferences. If you believe that every individual has the right to communicate, then this is an invaluable tool towards achieving this. It works within a partnership structure where the “thinker” creates a “Talking Mat” around a topic, issue or question. The “listener” utilises specific strategies to provide a safe, non-judgemental context for the interaction. The “thinker” may be a person who verbalises and manipulates the symbol cards or the “thinker” may have limited speech or a Complex Communication Need (CNN) and may indicate where to place the symbols cards. Talking Mats is an innovative and award-winning communication symbol-based tool under-pinned by extensive research and designed by Speech and Language Therapists in Scotland. It uses unique, specially designed picture communication symbols that are attractive to all ages and communication abilities and is used by clinical practitioners, carers and support workers in a wide range of health, social work, residential and education settings.

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