Tactile Signing - Kinds of Tactile Signing

Kinds of Tactile Signing

Several methods of Deafblind communication may be referred to as Tactile signing, including:

• Hand-over-hand (also known as 'hands-on signing'): The receiver’s hands are placed lightly upon the back of the hands of the signer to read the signs through touch and movement. The sign language used in hand-over-hand signing is often a slightly modified version of the local Sign Language; this is especially the case when used by people with Usher syndrome who may have first lost their hearing, and later their sight. The sign language used may also be a manually coded version of the local oral language (such as Signed English), or a mid-way point between the two known as contact signing.

• Tracking: The receiver holds the wrists of the signer to keep signs within field of vision and to gain information from the signer's movements. This is sometimes used when the receiver has a limited field of vision.

• Tactile Fingerspelling (Deafblind Alphabet): Every word is spelled out using a manual alphabet. Different manual alphabets may be used, such as the one-handed ASL alphabet (the receiver places their hand over the back of the hand of the signer) or the two-handed manual alphabet, which is often used in a form adapted for deafblind communication, known as the Deafblind alphabet, in which letters are produced onto palm of the receiver's hand. This alphabet is also sometimes used in the USA even though the wider deaf community there use a one-handed alphabet. Other simple signs like a tap for 'yes' or a rubbing motion for 'no' may be included. In Japan, a system developed by a deafblind woman is in use to represent the five vowels and five major consonants of the Japanese language on the fingers, where the signer 'types' onto a table and the receiver places their hands on top to 'listen' (see this page for more info).

• Co-active signing: The sender moves and manipulates the hands and arms of the Deafblind person to form sign shapes, or fingerspelt words. This is often used with deafblind children to teach them signs, and with people with an intellectual disability.

• On-body signing: The body of the person who is deafblind is used to complete the sign formation with another person. E.g.: chin, palm, chest. Often used with people who also have an intellectual disability.

• Lorm: A hand-touch alphabet developed in the 19th century by Deafblind inventor and novelist Hieronymus Lorm and still used in Europe.

• Tracing or 'print-on-palm': Tracing letters (or shapes) onto the palm or body of receiver. Capital letters produced in consistent ways are referred to as the 'block alphabet' or the 'spartan alphabet'.

• Braille signing: Using six spots on the palm to represent the six dots of a braille cell. Alternatively, the signer may 'type' onto a table as if using a braille typewriter (see Perkins Brailler) and the receiver will place their hands on top. This method can have multiple receivers on top of each other, however a receiver sitting opposite will be reading the braille cell backwards.