Key Word Sign Australia

Key Word Sign (KWS) is the use of signs and natural gestures to support the communication and language development of children and adults with communication difficulties. KWS is one of the most widely used strategies utilised by people of all ages who cannot communicate by speech alone. KWS incorporates signs from the local deaf sign language (Auslan in Australia), but unlike Auslan users, we use speech with sign, and the signing used is more simplified. KWS can help people understand what is being said to them, and can be a way of sending a message for someone who’s speech is unclear or still developing.