Deafblind individuals use tactile sign language, a combination of deaf sign language and blind interaction, to communicate. This involves placing the hands of the receiver on the hands of the signer to perceive the signs. Tactile signs have subtle differences from standard sign language to make communication easier. Different methods, such as coactive signature and palm printing, are used to teach and communicate. Tactile sign language has enabled individuals with varying degrees of disability to communicate more effectively.
Deaf people often communicate through sign language, while blind people use their hands to get a clearer understanding of sizes, shapes, and feelings. But the deafblind, those with vision and hearing impairments, use tactile signs to communicate.
Tactile signage is a combination of deaf sign language and blind interaction and involves many forms of communication between the deaf and the blind. The most common and most illustrative method of tactile signing is hand signing, which is based on the standard hand signing system. In this method, the hands of the receiver (the deafblind) are placed on the hands of the signer to perceive the sign performed. In this way, the receiver hears and reads the signs and communicates through the signer’s hands.
Tactile signs have many subtle differences from standard sign language to make communication easier for the person with a disability. Signs normally made in the air, for example, are made on the body to allow the recipient to feel them. Signs made with small finger movements are sometimes exaggerated or extended to the whole hand to allow for easier reading.
Coactive signature is an offspring of this manual tactile signature method. It is practiced by a sender moving the hands of a recipient, often a child, to teach him the signs. Another common method is palm printing, which allows the recipient to read the signed letters on their hand.
The tactile signature has many forms and different levels of difficulty and practice, depending on the situation of the person with a disability. It is often used to make hand sign language accessible to deaf and visually impaired children. A person born deaf only, who lost their vision later in life, would probably know the signs and therefore could communicate their thoughts externally, but would still rely on touch when communicating with other people.
Tactile sign language, which can be traced back as far as 1648 in Britain, has enabled the deaf or blind and many with varying degrees of disability to communicate in an atmosphere that relies more on communication. Whether teaching children or the cognitively impaired, tactile markings are an exercise in the patience and memory of both the singer and the receiver, and with methods such as body markings, make communication a whole-body experience for those who are unable to do it through traditional methods.
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