Tactile Communication
with the Deaf-Blind
From Guidelines Chapters 8 and 9
Tactile Communication
For people who are “totally” deaf and blind:
Meeting for the first time: give yourself
plenty of time to get used to each other
Use a gentle touch on the hand or back of
upper arm
Identify yourself every time: Don’t play the
“Who am I?” game
Do not feel stuck because there is a hand
on yours
“Do’s and Don’ts”
Accept more than half the responsibility for
good communication:
 You have more information about the
immediate environment through sight and
hearing and
 You have less drain of your energy
Don’t feel stuck because you are being super
responsible (unless you are the SSP)
Don’t hesitate to engage in short “Hello” type
conversations.
Adjusting to the Modality
Sign with smaller, slightly slower motions
Sign with distinct motions; Be crisp with
your signing
For your own comfort and that of DB
person, sign slightly lower than usual
Don’t hold the DB person’s fingers
Feeling the DB’s hands on top of yours
may make you feel restricted and may
tempt you to sign very small
Adjusting to the Modality 2
Don’t duck your head or shoulders for signs on
the head to meet your hands
 FATHER, SICK, TASTE etc.
Don’t switch back and forth with your signing
hands, use your dominant hand
Fingerspell slower but keep a consistent rhythm
Make sure the DB person knows whether or not
other people might hear or see your
conversation
Adjusting to the Modality 3
Practice signing and reading signs
tactually with other peers in class.
Communicating tactually for a long period
of time is both physically and mentally
fatiguing for the DB person.
If the DB person’s hands are especially
heavy, ask them to lighten up
Pacing is important
Facial Expression
The tension, speed and other characteristics of
your hands and their movement often reflect
your overall mood

Use squeezes, pats and strokes
Beyond the natural changes in tension and
speed that come with changes in mood, make
an effort to be clear about how you are feeling:

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Respond with “I’m thinking” (rubbing your chin)
If you are laughing, sign “HAHA” or THAT’S FUNNY!”
Setting the Scene
Let the DB person know where you are,
who is present in the situation and what
they are doing.
Let the DB person know about changes in
the environment
Tell the DB person about other people’s
responses
Tell the DB person what is happening
during any pauses
Setting the Scene 2
Think about a sense of place:

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Share information about where you are if it is
interesting
Use touch if explanation is not enough
Notice and report details which give
character of the environment
Keep your friend up to date
Pass on the news
Overall Clarity
Indicate your purpose and the function of
your communication:

i.e., QUESTION, INFORM-YOU, WARN-YOU
Give the DB person feedback:

YES, WHAT?, WOW, REALLY, INCREDIBLE.
(Use signed responses to replace your head
nods, grins and shrugged shoulders)
Be sure you understand her, ask for
repetition or clarification
Overall Clarity 2
Be sure you are clear, and that the DB
person is receiving the correct message
Do not ramble
Before you talk, think about where you
want to “begin”
Be succinct and to the point:

Start with the topic then make your point,
elaboration follows. Allow the DB to check in,
verifying and making connections.
Overall Clarity 3
Watch out for misunderstandings, clarify if
necessary
Notice for example, which of your signs
tends to be misunderstood or not clearly
understood
Offer feedback to the DB person, Use
back channeling
Overall Clarity 4
If what you said is not clear, try to think why it might not
have been clear:
Common Reasons something is not understood:
 The topic is not yet established ( what are we talking
about?)
 The background, context or connection is not clear
(why are we talking about this, what’s the
implication?)
 An unfamiliar Sign or term has been used,
 Listener has conflicting information or idea that
prevents “accepting/believing” that is what you
actually said,
 Listener misunderstands the implications or
connotations and these do not make sense, and
 The topic, comment or process is emotional and
strong feelings interfere with focus.
The Role of Context
Context consists of various aspects of the
situation

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Where you are and what you are there for,
Who is there and what they are doing, and
What type of furniture, equipment and
material is present.
Think about the context of the people, this
group. Sometimes a little history is necessary
to have the comment make sense.
The Role of Context 2
Context includes the past:

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People’s relationships with each other,
Conversations that have gone before,
Decisions that have been made, rules that
have been passed,
Customs and traditions, and
Problems needing to be solved.
The Role of Context 3
Context includes possible implications

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Predicted responses, and
Predicted consequences
Think about reasons as context

Ex: having pairs to partner as SSP: my reason is:
safety factors and liability issues, to a DB person, as
another form of oppression by the Deaf to the DeafBlind as it is difficult to schedule SSP services.
It helps us predict the potential for negotiation,
and the relative flexibility of the decision.
The Role of Context 4
Specifically think about:

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Previous decisions or existent policies,
Customs and traditions,
History, what others have done, and
People’s relationships with each other
Think about what is happening nonverbally as having meaning.

i.e., moving chairs around
The Role of Context 5
Think about the stationary environment as
meaningful context.

Ex: steps, include what kind, how many, what the
steps are attached to…
Observe “contextual clues” consciously and
pass them on.

Ex: meeting someone carrying balloons, share this
information.
Convey the social context:

who is there, how are they dressed, what is the sense
of the group’s age, generation, race, class, and/or
politics. Be specific, don’t say, “ She is really old.”
Say, “she looks about 70 years old “
The Role of Context 6
Context is indirect.

What are the others doing? If they are ready to leave,
inform the DB person too etc.
Think carefully about how much background is
appropriate. It also depends on the DB person.
Non-verbal responses are a part of the social
context. Inform about others’ expressions. i.e., a
smile, a frown etc.
If you are at a loss for something to say, let him
know what you see.
Tactile Language
Number One rule: We must look at DeafBlind people at who they are rather than
who they are not.
Number Two rule: Deaf-blind people come
from a variety of educational, life
experiences, and vision and hearing loss
therefore their communication preferences
vary. We must be open and
accommodating of their communication
preferences.
Tactile Language
Communication Modes: we should be
flexible which means each of us will:

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Accept the need for change and growth
(learning),
Inform ourselves,
Be patient with ourselves and with each other,
and
Make some progress towards more efficient
and effective ways of communicating with the
other.
Making the Visual Tactile
Numbers are sometimes difficult to read tactually
so sometimes write the numbers on their palms
Use the person’s palm to show relative spatial
relationships
Point the directions as well
Give some concrete indication of the distance
and landmarks

i.e., ½ block on right etc.
Use palm and arm for several points or
landmarks.
Special Tactile Signs and Signals
Gentle pat to knee if sitting down, to
shoulder if you’re standing up..
Short cuts to yes and no answers: two or
more taps for YES, one tap for NO or DB
person will put hand out to confirm, usually
NO requires more clarification than YES.
Draw a large “X” for emergencies
Draw a large “T” to leave the situation for a
short time.
Special Tactile Signs and Signals 2
When interrupting (politely) rule of thumb
is more urgent your interruption, the closer
to the DB person’s hand you touch.
Use judgment and discretion in
interrupting a Deaf-Blind person

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Communication always require full attention,
physical and mental
If person is busy, what do you do?
Very Slow Communication
Think carefully before you start and
organize what you are going to say in a
clear, logical order
Make your message short and to the point
Be careful what shortcuts you take
Think of what background information is
necessary to understand the present point
Think of other ways the Deaf-Blind person
can also get the same information
Very Slow Communication 2
Use “check-ins”
Don’t let yourself become a target for
anger.
Try to pick a time to communicate when
you are not rushed, tired or otherwise
stressed out
Recruit a partner with whom you can do
things.
Watch to see what your level of tolerance
is.
Very Slow Communication 3
Try to balance the Deaf-Blind person’s need for
immediate communication with her need to learn
a better (more efficient) form of communication
in the long term
If the DB person is open to the idea, help him
find and use resources for learning sign
It is not important that your signing be “the right
way”
Encourage the DB person to meet new people
and use this new means of communicating.
Limited Language
Cognitively impaired Deaf Blind
Limited exposure to language
Limited experiences
Need for exposure and education
Modifying Tactile Language
ASL Parameters:
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Handshape
Orientation
Location and
Movement
If in doubt with a sign, repeat or fingerspell it
afterwards
Indexing: be sure DB person can feel the
numbers you signed
Signs that are hard to perceive are:
LATE, WALKING, BOWLING etc. Revise by
using classifiers or changing orientation
Modifying Tactile Language 2
Signs made on the face is difficult to distinguish
tactually i.e., mother, father
For minimal pairs, give more context i.e.,

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Key, lock
Ugly, dry, summer
Cute, funny
Apple, onion
Context built in signs

i.e., “sour, sour-candy, boring”
Choose sign that is easily discernable
Signs near the waist is difficult to read tactually

i.e., pants, Russia etc.
Modifying Tactile Language 3
Palm orientation for classifiers:

i.e., door, table, pictures etc.
Use of classifiers to match environment

i.e., chair facing you or facing away
Be clear with your SASSes

(Size and Shape Specifiers) a big vs. small
box
Be consistent with locatives

Speaker is to your right, food table to your left
etc
Modifying Tactile Language 4
Use movement to match the mood,
emotion, feeling of your signing
Try to absorb the rhythm of experienced
signers signing tactually
Use question marks
Eye gaze is essential in ASL, include that
Add names to indexing pronouns
Indicating distances does not work
tactually, sign: ABOUT 5 MILES
Modifying Tactile Language 5
Modifying ASL grammar for tactual information.
i.e.,
1. You sure like ice cream!
ICE-CREAM YOU LIKE, WOW! IMPRESSED ME.
2. Don’t you like ice cream?
?? ICE-CREAM DON’T LIKE YOU??
SURPRISED/PUZZLED ME. SMILE, NEVER
SAW!
3. Do you like ice cream?
?? ICE-CREAM LIKE YOU??
Modifying Tactile Language 6
Use signs: Mary said, etc instead of role
shifting
Can show person’s personality or affect
through signing
Opposition in space transfers well tactually

i.e, up, down, left, right, forward & backward
Movements with specific meanings are
clear tactually

i.e, repetition (temporal aspect) distributional,
plurality
Modifying Tactile Language 7
Make sure the discourse is clear
For comments made out of context, it is
generally a good idea to establish the
reasons that you are saying what you are
saying.

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i.e., An interesting fact, or a funny story
A question, warning or caution.