Hear James' touching story of discovering protactile language and finding his voice.
James recounts his early years of feeling isolated and his transformative journey after being introduced to protactile communication.
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- Introducing Protactile Language with Jelica Nuccio
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Hello, my name is Jelica And with Hayley Broadway
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Hi, my name is Hayley, my ASL name is articulated on the chin and in Protactile language it's articulated on the other person's body like this.
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Are you ready to learn? Let's go. Introducing our program of study.
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Our program of study consists of four units. Unit One: Introduction to Protactile language.
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Unit One offers a brief overview of Protactile language and its underlying principles which provide a foundation
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for reciprocal engagement with DeafBlind children.
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Unit Two: Proper Hand Placement and Use. In this unit we explore the position and use
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of the four hands in Protactile language. Unit Three: Backchanneling.
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Next comes backchanneling, emotional feedback which connects us. Unit Four: Co-Presence.
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And finally, we discuss establishing co-presence through shared experiences.
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This program is designed with purpose. To best use these resources, it is critical that each unit
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and respective lesson be viewed in sequence. This way, foundational knowledge deepens as content builds.
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Jumping around will fragment the material, remove lessons from context and diminish learning.
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We've intentionally designed this program to spiral through cohesive components of Protactile language
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and encourage skill development in four key domains.
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We are here to support your family. It is with much excitement that we bring you
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this online learning program. It is the first of its kind, the culmination of our collaborative endeavor.
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It was created with the intent to share Protactile language with DeafBlind children and parents who stand
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to benefit from our accumulated knowledge.
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This program is DeafBlind developed and led, focused on research, data collection and family support.
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Hayley and I are DeafBlind Protactile language experts and instructors working directly with DeafBlind children
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and their families to collect data on the acquisition of Protactile language by DeafBlind children.
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Additionally, I'm involved in the development and dissemination of the online educational materials found
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on this page that were created in an effort to support families, their communities,
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and the specialists and educators they work with. These resources are meant to be a support for all.
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Hello, my name is Jelica. I am DeafBlind. This is an introduction to Protactile language
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which emerged within the DeafBlind community. First, I wanna emphasize that the way we
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are in physical contact here, through touch, is critical for Protactile language.
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DeafBlind children do not have full access to auditory and visual language,
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interaction and instruction through these language modalities will impede and slow the learning process.
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However, if we begin by connecting with them through touch, they're immersed in what is directly felt and experienced
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and can acquire information that they readily understand. Hearing people generally engage
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through spoken language geared toward the ears and Deaf people generally engage through sign language geared toward the eyes.
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Information conveyed to DeafBlind people through these modalities can come across muddled and incoherent, making learning difficult.
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When others join DeafBlind children and what we call contact space, shared space on the body to make language,
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learning and development is fostered. When communicating in Protactile language, touch happens reciprocally
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through a back and forth exchange. Protactile language isn't directed only toward the DeafBlind individual,
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but it's also directed toward the person they're speaking with. Touch goes both ways and is received and expressed by both parties.
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Protactile is a language for everyone including families, schools, and teachers.
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Anyone can learn it. It's important to note the Protactile is a language not a set of techniques or system to be used
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in conjunction with ASL or spoken English. ASL has its place within the Deaf community
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and spoken English has its place among hearing communities. When it comes to Protactile, how much one sees or hears is irrelevant.
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What's important is that we establish mutual contact space with our bodies, a space for language.
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If the hand of the person listening to me is disconnected from mine when I'm speaking, I do not feel them listening.
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We are disconnected. DeafBlind children will also feel disconnected when sighted people aren't in physical contact while listening.
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Children may behave as if no one is present with them. The social withdrawal leads to feelings
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of isolation and loneliness. Children may be fearful or apprehensive because they don't have strong mutual attachments
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with others and don't know what's happening around them, this impedes growth on learning. However, if others remain in touch and co-present
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with DeafBlind children, they feel more comfortable and receive greater information. This also allows for incidental learning which is important
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for all children, it provides food for their brains and they can soak it up like sponges. It also builds confidence as children get their bearings
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and understand more about the environment and interactions they're immersed in. This establishes the groundwork
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for future language learning. The first step is to situate our bodies
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in a configuration to establish contact space.
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Each hand has a role in Protactile language and I will demonstrate these in this series of videos.
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This hand, the hand of the listener may appear to just be resting here on my leg,
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but it too has a pivotal role. I will demonstrate all these features
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which taken together allow for co-presence and reciprocity in Protactile language.
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Tactile exploration of an object.
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Hello. Today we're gonna talk about how you and your child can connect by exploring objects together.
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This is called co-presence. Begin by getting in touch hand on hand with your child
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as demonstrated in the last lesson. If your child's hands slides up your arm
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when they are in the listening position, they miss out on information. They no longer feel your hand or the object you're touching.
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When this happens, do not grab the child's hand and force it onto your hand or the object,
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this can startle your child causing them to tense up and put up their guard.
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This action also diminishes their autonomy. Here's what to do instead.
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Again, begin at the shoulder running your hand down the child's arm to connect with your hand. While the child's hand wanders up your forearm,
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slowly use your other hand to guide it back down to the hand you'll touch the object with. Once their hand is back on your hand,
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the two of you can begin to explore the object. Let's take a look at that again.
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As their hand moves up your arm, gently guide it back down so that it rests in the listening position.
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Don't grab the child's hand or thrust it onto the toy forcefully controlling their movements.
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Instead, with their hand on your hand, touch the toy first and then offer it to them.
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As they begin to touch the object, your hand will now be in the listening position on their hand as they explore the object.
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To give them an opportunity to feel the toy even more, place the object in their hand.
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Remember to keep touching their hand as they explore the object. This encourages your child to play with the toy with you.
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When engaging together in co-presence, you both explore the toy together. Don't encourage your child to play with a toy
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on their own by simply handing them the toy and then letting go or disconnecting from them,
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encourage your child to play with the toy with you. Let's watch that again.
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If they begin to pull the toy away to explore it on their own, gently guide them back into co-presence,
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encouraging them to stay connected.
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Engaging with objects in co-presence allows you both to establish joint attention.
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Offer encouragement as you and your child explore objects together by tapping your child's leg and shoulder.
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This positive affirmation lets them know that you're with them, sharing in their activity and they're pleased with what they're doing.
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Again, always start by touching the child's shoulder. Do not grab their arm or pull them toward the object.
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Instead, stay present with them so they can feel your excitement about showing them the toy and sharing the experience together.
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Keep your hands on your child's hands as they explore the toy. If your child is timid and pulls their hand away,
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or moves their hand off of yours, gently reposition it back onto your hand.
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Once your hands are connected, you touch the object first so that the child feels you touching it.
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Remember, do not grab their hand to place it on the toy. Just simply touch the object and move your hand
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to a listening or observing position feeling your child as they touch the toy.
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This way your child knows you're present and participating in the activity with them.
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I call this the power of touch. Touch puts information at our fingertips,
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information is learned and communicated through touch and you will learn more about this as you move
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through this program. These first two videos provide an introduction to Protactile language which is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Later, you will learn more about fostering co-presence through backchanneling and reciprocal feedback.
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Notice how we take turns as we pay attention to each other through touch in this activity.
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One person touches the object while the other feels them touching it.
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Then we switch. As we do this, we alternate the position of our hands,
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the hands of the person exploring the object are on the bottom touching the object directly while the hands of the listener are on top.
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Regardless of whether one is sighted or can see the object, we both remain co-present in tactile space
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as we take turns playing with the object. This is called reciprocal engagement.
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Remaining connected allows us to observe one another as we play with the toy.
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After your child feels how you engage with the toy, it's important for you to provide them with the same opportunity by placing your hand
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on top of theirs in a listening position so that they know you're paying attention and experiencing the activity with them.
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Throughout this process, our two hands are always connected, alternating in speaking or listening position.
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Never control the other person's hand by gripping and moving it, simply touch the object while the child's hand is in a listening position
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and then move your hand to the listening position as you feel your child feeling the object. Give them plenty of positive feedback and encouragement.
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Engaging in play without having the listening hand connected is not a reciprocal experience.
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It's important to always keep your hands connected as you explore the toy together in co-presence.
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Today we will cover backchanneling, which I abbreviate as BC.
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Backchanneling is a part of all communication and can be divided into three types based on three different language modalities,
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auditory, visual, and tactile.
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People who are hearing and sighted may exhibit auditory and visual backchanneling cues.
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These cues allow smooth two-way communication to take place, each person providing feedback
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to the other about how communication is being received. Facial expressions,
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body language and verbal responses such as, mm-hmm, oh, I see, yep, uh-huh, support communication as it unfolds.
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Through this constant stream of two-way communication, hearing and sighted people are able to mutually connect.
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Deaf people don't make use of auditory backchanneling cues. Instead, they use visual cues such as eye gaze,
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facial expressions, head nodding, body language,
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physical postures, and signed responses.
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This allows conversation partners to gauge whether they are being understood and to manage turn taking.
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Here again, backchanneling happens naturally and instantaneously between conversation partners.
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Hearing people make use of both auditory and visual backchannel cues, while Deaf people make use of visual ones.
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Backchanneling is second nature as two people enter into lively back and forth conversations,
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converging on meaning and establishing joint attention. As DeafBlind people grow up, however,
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we are excluded from entering into these types of rapidly unfolding back and forth conversations simply due to language barriers.
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When using written English to communicate, all conversations are strictly consecutive. Backchanneling is often entirely absent resulting
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in stilted and disjointed connections. When we attempt to join Deaf people in their visual realm,
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we miss their visual backchanneling cues and we're left guessing, did the other person understand us? Is it even our turn?
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Are they following our backchanneling cues? This too results in disconnection, we're working so hard to visually key into the pieces
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of information they are simultaneously communicating with both their faces and hands, the thrust of the communication
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is lost leaving us relegated to the social periphery. Backchanneling is a vital component of all communication,
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everyone needs to know how they're being received and DeafBlind people are no exception.
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So, of course, as you may have guessed, Protactile language has a means of backchanneling through touch.
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When sighted hearing and Deaf people communicate with us, they provide their backchanneling cues through touch.
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They join us in the tactile realm. Through reciprocal tactile feedback, we mutually feel how we are being received by one another
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through the back and forth flow of communication. When we are all in touch together, we can all similarly feel the energy
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of a response like this one, as it flows down through the arm and hand directly to my leg reverberating
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through my nerve receptors and up to my brain. I receive direct tactile sensory input communicating
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your feedback clearly to me, there is no ambiguity here.
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Visual backchannel cues communicated only on the face would require me to touch your face all the time to get your feedback.
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Auditory backchanneling cues would require that I touch your throat to try to decipher your feedback.
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Neither of these are effective. When you and I always stay in contact with one another reciprocally providing tactile feedback,
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the information we convey through touch equals any feedback given auditorily or visually.
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Eye contact unites Deaf people in their dance of communication, right? The sound of one another's voice unites hearing people
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in their dance of communication whether they are near or far. Touch unites DeafBlind people
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in their dance of tactile communication.
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All three avenues of backchanneling function to provide information to people during communication.
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This allows us to get a sense of how we are understood or how our message was received.
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Are you upset, demanding explanation, inviting elaboration, brushing me off, feeling put off,
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there are endless nuanced responses that can be communicated through all three avenues of backchanneling.
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With that understanding, let's explore tactile feedback in action. We will all practice Protactile backchanneling together.
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Let's begin with a demonstration. I'll initiate the conversation and we will get your hand into backchanneling position as I might do with a child.
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Notice how I slowly move the child's hand to my leg, this is their backchanneling hand.
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Now you try with my hand as the child's hand. You're slowly moving my hand to your leg.
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Now, remember, in the last lesson we covered the dominant and listening hand positions.
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The hand that is not listening is the one providing backchanneling.
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The backchanneling hand is in that green circle. This is the way we always configure our hands,
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your backchanneling hand is never resting on your own leg like in this red circle and our legs are never separated from one another.
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When we are engaged in conversation, we are always connected with one another in this configuration.
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I'll demonstrate that again. Now you try.
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Yes, that's the way. All right.
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Let's do that one more time and let's go slowly, okay?
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First, I will move to get us seated correctly to where our legs are touching.
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And then you know to move your backchanneling hand to my leg. Now it's your turn to try.
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You signal to me that you want to have a conversation and we get seated in a correct position where our legs
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are touching and my hand goes to your leg, now that hand is available for backchanneling.
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Notice that we are taking turns demonstrating and initiating a conversation. This underscores an important principle
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in language called reciprocity. Language goes in both directions and it is no different when it comes to Protactile language.
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This hand tapping you're doing indicates that you understand what I'm saying. It may appear to indicate a sense of urgency,
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but it doesn't, it simply communicates that your understanding.
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Affirmative backchanneling looks like this.
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Through your backchanneling, I can feel you are listening. It tells me whether or not you're paying attention
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and it gives me the sense that you're involved with me in the present moment as it unfolds.
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If you were to keep your hand on your own leg, I would have no idea about how you were feeling
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as you received my message. I would have no idea whether or not I was being understood,
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there would be a disconnect.
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Now, if you slide your hand back and forth across my leg like this, you will be telling me, hey,
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no way, I have no idea what you're talking about. This will convey that you were puzzled or disagreed with something that I said.
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Let's see that one more time. All of your feedback is given
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through this hand here on my leg. A hearing or Deaf sighted person might convey the same information in a different way.
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For example, a hearing person might say no way, hmm, uhhh, nope, or scoff.
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And a Deaf sighted person might convey this information through head shaking, furrowed brows, visual gestures, or a grimace.
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Since I don't have access to the visual information conveyed on the face, we communicate tactilely through this hand here.
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All that is expressed by a nodding or shaking head can be expressed here through your hand on my leg.
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Tactile backchanneling gives me the emotional pulse of our conversation.
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I'm happy to be here today to present a new lesson on co-presence.
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Co- presence means that you and I are working together. When we eat, we eat together.
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When we walk, we walk together. We learn together, make mistakes together,
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and make good things happen together.
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All the myriad examples of co-presence have one thing in common, shared experience through touch lies
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at the heart of all of them. This is extremely important to understand
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when it comes to DeafBlind children who rely on touch to meet and learn about the world around them.
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If they're not in touch, how can they take in this information?
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Our primary learning experiences come from direct interactions and observations.
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Explanation alone is insufficient. Imagine if we only learned what we were explicitly taught.
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Parents would be providing instruction to their children all day every day.
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DeafBlind children can learn incidentally by feeling the actions of others.
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A shift in perspective may be in order as parents come to realize it isn't about doing things for their child because they're DeafBlind.
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As with any relationship, an act comes from a place of love and respect, valuing an individual's skill set
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which is unique from yours and understanding how they take in information and learn.
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Here we have built on the foundational concepts of backchanneling and reciprocity
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to sharing experiences in co-presence. This puts information at a child's fingertips increasing opportunities
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for language learning through childhood into adulthood.
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Let us practice how you as a parent can establish the best physical configurations for co-presence with your child.
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Today we'll practice with the child mannequin model we affectionately refer to as our Elia doll in the role of your daughter
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to demonstrate, okay Halene?
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Let's lift her up together. Get her scooted back here on your leg.
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Now, when communicating with your child, it's important that you're both face-to-face
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sharing contact space between you. If your child is sitting on your lap, faced away from you,
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you won't be able to communicate. This leads to a feeling of disconnection.
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This configuration doesn't work. In this case, Elia is facing outward. Even though your bodies may be close,
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she only feels you at her back and there isn't sufficient contact for language.
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Moving to face one another, we establish contact space for language. This provides the basis for backchanneling,
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co-presence and reciprocal language. First, you must pair the speaking
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and listening hands together. Here the child's hand is in the listening position. An example of how the hands should be connected
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can be seen in the green circle here. Next, the child touches your arm
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to share their backchanneling feedback. An example of how their hand gets situated
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on your arm can be seen in the green circle. This position offers ample amounts of contact space
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on the leg, the arms, shoulders, and chest.
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If you were situated as you were before with Elia facing outward and away from you,
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there's no space for her to receive your message. You're only sharing the space of a single hand.
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This makes language and clear communication difficult.
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Another option might be to have your child sitting sideways on your lap like this.
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In this configuration, you still have access to contact space on her body and she can provide backchanneling
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to you with her right hand on your shoulder as evidenced in this picture.
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Let me get her turned back around here. Face-to-face configurations like this one are the best.
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When your child is talking, put your hand on their hand, just like they do when you're talking.
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This allows them to feel you listening. Elia, this is Halene.
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Right, Halene? Notice how Halene's hand taps on Elia's leg indicating, yep, it sure is me.
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Be sure to use backchanneling so your child knows you're paying attention and how you feel about what they are sharing.
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You can provide that backchanneling on the leg, the shoulder or the chest.
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Here we all agree that we are together in co-presence and ready for more Protactile language.
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*No audio*
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Tactile exploration of two cups. When trying to decide between two cups,
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it's important to engage in tactile exploration together in co-presence.
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You'll notice this first cup has a handle. You could feel the weight and the depth.
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And then when you move on to the next cup, you can search for the same features.
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Noticing that this cup does not have a handle, it's wider and not quite as deep.
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Tactile exploration allows you to compare features between the two items, noting that one cup
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is missing its handle. And then with you both having full access to information,
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you can make an informed choice about who will use which cup. Would you like this mug or should I use
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the one without a handle? You could use that when Jelica.
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Would you like to take the mug that has a handle then? Yes, I'll take that one.
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Learning to play together, a toy shark. Let's demonstrate a roleplay.
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In this scenario, you're a child who wants to know where an object is and I'm an adult who gives you the object.
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In this demonstration, we're not in co-presence and the actions we demonstrate withhold information necessary
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for you to learn where things come from. Engaging in co-presence allows your child to develop an understanding of the world around them.
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In order for a child to learn to do something like eating, for example, they need to feel someone else doing it.
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So when we are drinking in co-presence, we engage reciprocally, each feeling how the other takes a drink in turn.
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As the child feels me, they learn how I drink and as I feel the child, I learn how they drink.
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I can feel how they're holding their cup, how quickly they are tipping it back, how much liquid they ingest by how big they swallow
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and if they're taking little sips or a huge gulp, and they can feel the same when I drink.
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I encourage them to feel my hands and my cheeks and my movements just like I felt there's so we can share the experience.
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I feel them swallow and they feel me swallow. From this reciprocity in co-presence,
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the child understands their own actions in the context of others. As you touch your child to get information
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about them through touch, they learn how to do the same. Through repeated sharing of tactile information
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on daily basis, your child will learn the things people do. Children are extremely curious,
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repeatedly asking what are you doing over and over again.
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And the explanation you can give them pales in comparison to you including them in your activity.
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In co-presence we engage with them and share experience.
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Okay, are you ready for this toy. To add, when I bend down, I touch the child's hand
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to my head so they know where I'm getting the toy from while developing reciprocal body awareness.
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That way they know what my body is doing and that I'm ducking my head down.
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The alternative would be me holding them away from my activity and movement.
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In that case, the child has no idea where the toy came from, or how I got my hands on it, they learned nothing.
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This doesn't mean that I should describe my activity to them after the action has been completed, instead,
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I simply place the child's hand on my head and bring their hand with me as I pick up the object.
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We got the toy together in co-presence, the child can feel where I found the toy
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and knows where my head is so we don't bump into each other as I bend down.
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With that, we can begin to explore this shark toy. I present the toy to the child
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and let the child feel it while staying in touch. I don't just drop the toy in their lap and withdraw my hands
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because this does not offer co-presence, they can't feel that I'm attending to them and we
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aren't sharing a common experience, I need to keep my hands on their's feeling them as they discover
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and play with the toy. This way, we can call certain parts of the toy to one another's attention and feel them reciprocally.
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I point out the button on the shark's fin with a press of my finger and then move our focus to the shark's mouth. I touch the child's hand there and open and close
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the mouth softly with both of our fingers inside. Then I move my hand back to their hand which is resting on the button and press it again.
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Then to the mouth so the child feels the association between the press of the button and the opening of the shark's mouth. When a child makes that connection,
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I feel it and offer encouraging feedback which gives the child my feelings of enthusiasm at their discovery.
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Its laughter which can also be felt by bringing the back of the child's hand in contact with my throat from underneath.
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Now let's demonstrate the child playing with the toy too roughly. Go ahead and bring the toy up to my face as a child might,
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and I'll respond to correct the misbehavior.
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Notice as the child brings the toy to my face, I immediately give them negative feedback on their chest
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while grasping the toy in their hand at my face. I call attention to the location of my face
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by bringing their other hand up to touch it. I then bring the toy to the face of the child
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so they can feel the location on themselves and tell them no. I want ti be sure the child understands the right
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and wrong ways to play with the toy. As we play with the toy again and offer positive reinforcement that they're playing
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in the right way, I then contrast this by reminding them that the toy should not be brought to the face by tapping their chest and then touching
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their face and saying no, then immediately we engage in play the right way and I give additional positive reinforcement.
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I then redirect them back to the button by pressing it with the child's thumb before moving to the mouth to touch it with the child as it opens and closes.
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The child has trappedd my thumb in the shark's mouth and thinks it's funny. I playfully trap the child in my hands sharing my feeling
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of playful excitement and the child laughs. My fingers move back and forth on their leg to show that I'm laughing too.
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Now, notice that as we are seated touching one another in co-presence, we can feel each other's movements
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and responses, making the play even more lively. The child can feel suspense building and our tension rising
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as my finger was stuck and as I move toward them in play. We take turns touching and feeling each other, touch the toy together.
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Never grab your child's hand and force it onto the toy. Instead, take the time to feel how the child
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is initiating play with the object. Feel them as they touch different parts of it and invite them to explore other parts
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by calling attention to it. Here we both have discovered a hatch that opens to a compartment inside.
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I might say to them, do you feel that? You can sit in there and the shark will bite, bite, bite you.
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And then give the child little nibbles that describe the feeling of the shark's mouth closing like it did on our fingers.
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As we play, the child tells me their finger was stuck in the hatch. I can then immediately respond by saying, no,
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I'm so sorry, here, let me feel it and give it kisses. All better now? And we return to exploring the toy together.
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Next, we discover that there are wheels underneath the toy. As we realize this, I roll the toy against a child's legs
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so they can feel the movement then encourage them to do the same on my leg.
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Now I describe the movement we both just felt from the toy first with my hand on the child's hand
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and then on their leg where we had initially rolled the toy, then up their arm. I then offer my arm to the child to perform
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the activity I just described to them. When they do this I offer playful feedback that communicates my emotions as the shark comes toward me.
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This way the child can feel my playful apprehension as I respond to their actions and play. This strong backchanneling conveys my emotional responses
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as I stay connected in co-presence with the child and they're encouraged by feeling my playful responses.
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Co-presence and backchanneling are part of the whole cohesive experience. Co-presence lets the child know that others
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are understanding their actions and allows you and the child to attend to the same actions and details as they unfold.
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Then comes backchanneling as I respond immediately to the action we both just felt and the shark bite on the face.
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Now imagine if we were sitting slightly apart like this and our legs were not touching. As the child explores a toy on their own, I might reach
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in to give tactile feedback but because of this disconnect, the child has no frame of reference for the feedback
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because they don't know which part of play that I'm responding to. Without that context, it feels disjointed
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because we aren't sharing an experience together through touch, right? How did that feel?
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Yeah, it felt like your hands were just coming out of nowhere. It felt odd because we didn't have a solid connection.
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Right, and that kind of fleeting contact is not co-presence. That kind of touch limits a child's learning
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because it lacks in specificity. The child can't feel exactly what it is that they did that's right or wrong in particular.
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By contrast, when you establish yourselves in co-presence, then you can feel things that happen and how others respond
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to them whether by excitement, playful energy, giddiness, a feeling of shark teeth bites, laughter,
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the action of the shark, it's wheels, everything together as it occurs.
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As you play together, you can begin to tell a story like, here it comes, it's gonna bite you, it's gonna get you.
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And then there's that opportunity for laughter and connection between you. This is an example of the power of co-presence.
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Co-presence and redirection.
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Let's play with the toy car. First we need to get it.
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As I reach for the object, I keep my hand under the child's hand so that we are reaching together,
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this way the child knows where I'm getting the object from. The first object we touch is not what we are looking for,
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the next object is. As I get the object, I make it available for the child to feel it too and keep it in touch with both of us.
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I present it to the child and put it on their lap so that they can feel it while I keep my hands on theirs to observe and encourage them.
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I offer plenty of affirmative feedback while staying connected, feeling what they're feeling so we share the experience.
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When they're done, I give more positive feedback in response.
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I don't pull my hands away and observe visually without touching them.
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If I did that, the child would have no idea what I was doing, and I wouldn't be part of their activity. Always stay in touch as you explore and play
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with the objects together, don't just sit back and watch. In co-presence, we feel what the other is feeling,
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and can then converge on objects and parts of objects in joint attention. Then, when we are ready, our hands are still connected,
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and we can reach together for another object. Remember, don't pull or force the child's hand
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to reach for an object. Don't initiate movement when your hand is on top of your child's, being grabbed and pulled is unpleasant.
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Instead, initiate movement from underneath with your child's hand on top.
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The child should not reach for the toy with the hand that is not connected to your hand. Reaching for an object with the hand that is uncoupled
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will cause us to miss out on each other's actions. Instead, encourage your child to reach for objects
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with the hand that is connected to yours so you both feel what's happening, just like that, with encouragement and the same goes for you.
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Don't move the toy with your hand that is not connected with your child. Moving an object with the hand that is not connected
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to your child is a mistake, because then they will miss your action. Reach for the toys and put them back together as a team.
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By doing that I share information with the child about what's happening in our shared environment. Showing the child where you put it afterwards
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is no substitute for us putting the object away and feeling where it went together.
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Let's try that one more time. Let's put the toy back together.
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There we go. Great job. When searching for a specific toy,
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touch each item together to decide if it's the right one.
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By touching the toy together, we affirm that it's the one that we want. Oops, that's not the car!
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Nope, we're not looking for that one.
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Now demonstrate what to do if the child is playing with an object in the wrong way. Watch for the negative and affirmative backchanneling
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which means no and yes, okay? Let's practice.
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Notice how we're seated together in co-presence with our legs touching and me giving the child backchanneling,
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letting them know I'm paying attention as the car goes up my arm and moves toward my face and neck.
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When that happens, I grasp the child's hand and the toy firmly while I tell them no with the other hand.
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If the child is too rough, or if the toy touches the throat her face, stop play and redirect.
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Then I repeat the action reciprocally more gently on their body again telling them no.
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I model a right way to play and give positive reinforcement.
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I follow by showing them a more appropriate way to play with a toy accompanied by affirmative feedback.
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Again, as the car nears their throat, I remind them of the specific action that was not acceptable.
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I touch the car to their throat and then referencing that location further as I touch their throat with my hand while saying no.
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After this, I immediately redirect. I stay in touch with them and continue to participate
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in their play giving positive feedback when they change their behavior. Give praise when the child engages in play the right way.
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Great, now let's put the toy away together. When playtime is over, always put the toy away together as a team.
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Engaging in play with a giant ball. Come on, let's go find the ball together.
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Tactile markers are important for your child to develop a sense of where they are.
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Being able to navigate their environment is critical to building autonomy.
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As you're searching for the ball, always remain in contact with your child.
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The ultimate goal of co-presence is to work together as a team to find the ball.
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As you walk back toward where you started, pay careful attention to touch the tactile markers so your child knows where they are.
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When your child is engaging in play with a new toy for the first time, it's important to start by demonstrating the new skill.
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Gently guide their hands to feel the different aspects of what it is that you're doing, like how your legs
46:39
are positioned, and how your shoulders move when you're bouncing, this will allow them
46:45
to replicate your movements. Next, encourage your child to practice this new skill.
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Remember to remain connected to your child so that they can feel your engagement and attention as they play.
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As your child tries new things, be sure to offer tactile support, encouragement and praise so they know how proud you are.
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The next time you try this activity together, let your child initiate play while you provide guidance,
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support, encouragement and praise.
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When playtime is over, it's important to communicate this clearly to your child.
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Explain what you will do next so they can be prepared to transition to the next activity.
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For example, maybe it's time for a snack.
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Like all children, they might not want playtime to be over and you might need to be more stern in your reaction.
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You can indicate this difference in tone by how much pressure you apply in your touch. In this example, pressing down on their shoulders
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more heavily and swiping across their chest indicates the discussion is over and it's time to go inside.
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Let's view that one more time. Notice the hands on the shoulders that firmly pressed down to stop the bouncing and the swipe that goes slowly
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across the chest to indicate that playtime is over.
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At that point, the invitation for the child to stand up and go inside is made.
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This activity was aimed at introducing a child to a new experience while orienting them to the environment.
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I loved the activity because I knew the surroundings, which doesn't mean I've seen them.
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It's important to note, seeing is not a requisite to knowing and knowing is not contingent upon seen.
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In our recent example, I'm showing a child a new area so I'm in the lead.
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The child's listening hand is still connected to my hand as we walk along the fence together.
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You'll notice the other hand trails the fence closely behind our joint hands. This is intentional,
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so they can get additional information through touch as we walk.
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In our example, even though I was the one to lead, you touch the rail with me the entire time.
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This way you recognize it when you touch it again. Identifying the rail by how it feels makes
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it a familiar friend that supportively leads you to the grass on the other side.
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Without touching this, we would surely be stumbling through the empty space on uneven grass not knowing where we were or what direction
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to go in, this would make things confusing. A better approach is using the rail to venture
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into the yard along a route that can be felt. We can explore the yard from the fence keeping our bearings as we walk together.
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Of course over time this becomes a familiar path and the child will go out by themselves but for the first time we stay together
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as we venture out to find the ball. There are many strategies so that the child doesn't have to rely
50:20
on a guide all the time.
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Kids feel proud when they can do things on their own, and knowing where they're going, they have options.
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Maybe there's a chair in the yard they wanna go out and sit in.
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Once the child has been taught by following my lead, we switch roles.
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Now the child takes the lead, this time their hand is in front with mine touching theirs from behind
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as we walk out to the ball, reversing this as we return in the opposite direction.
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Notice again that we are touching one another and the rail at the same time, they have taken the lead
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and I am following. It's important to give them plenty of affirmative backchanneling and positive reinforcement.
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Again, the key is to stay in co-presence and touch the whole time as they practice what they're learning.
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This way, the child has a chance to feel how you walk, how you touch the fence, and they can do the same.
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They're more confident knowing that it's safe because you showed them while solidly in co-presence. It is important that your tactile connection not be fleeting
51:41
or tentative, but stays firmly grounded in reciprocal tactile co-presence.
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That way they can feel everything and learn to navigate it by themselves if they want to, what's important is that you show them your technique
51:54
for getting information through touch. Hearing sighted parents don't send hearing sighted children out into the world without first explaining what to look
52:01
and listen for, all children need to know how to make sense of the world around them. You're teaching them what touch means in the context
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of physical and social environments.
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The hearing parent teaches hearing children what sounds mean while staying with them in a field of shared sound experiencing it together.
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We do the same from a tactile perspective, we stay together in a shared tactile field, touching the environment and sharing
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what we feel with each other. The child learns to identify the fence, for example,
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locates the rail and learns where it goes just like hearing kids need to learn what sounds are and parents help them to learn
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to recognize them by staying with them as they experience the sound together, we too have to learn what things feel like,
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what they mean and how to interpret them and we do that by touching and feeling them together.
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This way you encourage children to get in touch with what is around them and there's no need to pull, force or rush them along.
52:57
They need time to absorb the information they're feeling and over time, they will come to identify the features of their home, their school, restaurants,
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and other locations they frequent through touch.
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I want to reiterate the value of feeling the hands of your child as they touch things.
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Your hand on theirs encourages them to touch what is around them. They know you're feeling what they're feeling
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and that you are following. Then switch by putting your hands under theirs
53:28
so they can follow you. Explore this as you and your child journey together in co-presence.
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Implications for DeafBlind Education.
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The research findings are absolutely compelling and have so many ramifications that should ripple throughout many areas,
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such as vocational rehabilitation, as you've mentioned, and the education of DeafBlind children.
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But I'm deeply concerned with the fact that of all the thousands of teachers
54:05
and professionals working with DeafBlind children in our country, not one is DeafBlind.
54:14
Those children, they don't have DeafBlind role models.
54:21
All of those hearing and sighted instructors operate under the assumption that they know
54:27
what is best for DeafBlind children. The hearing and sighted professionals rely
54:34
on the great fallacy that you can go to college, study textbooks, and follow instructional guides
54:42
and become meaningful experts. Because of that fundamental error,
54:49
DeafBlind children suffer tremendously in environments hostile to our natural way
54:54
of learning and connecting. So children tend to grow up without social skills,
55:02
because they've had such limited direct interactions. They're often appointed a single intervener who's
55:07
at their side all day propping up a broken system, distantism. Insidiously, the system wraps each DeafBlind child
55:14
in what is effectively isolation. The result is passivity and no sense of agency. This is internalized so deeply that later in life,
55:21
it is difficult to claim any autonomy. The system doesn't work. On all achievement tests and by all measures the education
55:28
of DeafBlind children is an atrocity, a travesty. Profound changes are in order. To affect such an overhaul, yes, of the entire system,
55:36
and to usher in a new era, the biggest thing is simple, DeafBlind teachers hired to teach DeafBlind children.
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That is the only way there will be any real change. However, every time I make this argument to a school, they defend the expertise of their hearing
55:49
and sighted staff. They defend their credentials as if that provides any assurance, but there can be no substitute
55:55
for DeafBlind teachers who are natural language models. Consider Deaf education.
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In the field of Deaf education, it is abundantly documented the critical role the Deaf teachers play.
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They possess and bring to the classroom a command of ASL that no hearing teacher can rival.
56:15
Deaf people have skills that hearing people do not, cannot possess. Some hearing people may be fluent in ASL,
56:22
but the way they present information is not the same as a Deaf person. Deaf teachers are a treasured resource.
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Likewise, when it comes to educating hearing blind children, they too have hearing blind teachers.
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Through personal experience these blind educators intimately know what it means to navigate the world as a blind person.
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They bring an approach and mindset from their lived experience into the classroom and are models for blind children.
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Now tell me, why don't DeafBlind children have the same access to natural models? Clearly, there is something fundamentally wrong here.
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This ingrained error is not going to be easy to correct. But now we have this research. Perhaps it can help make a difference.
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Our findings have identified the particular ways that our intuitions work, how they are so finely tuned
57:06
that we don't even need to think about them. Protactile language and its grammatical structures come naturally
57:13
to us as we relate to each other. We live in contact space, and are adept at communicating
57:20
in and about its intricacies in a way that is unsurpassed by hearing or sighted peers.
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Although you and I can teach sighted hearing or Deaf people to become fluent Protactile speakers, they cannot bring what we can.
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They are not equipped with all that the experience of being DeafBlind affords us. They may have learned on a cognitive level to venture
57:39
in and out of Protactile space and language, but they cannot internalize this at the core of their being.
57:46
Our lived experience is indigenous, deeply rooted in us and we are the only source that can fully nourish DeafBlind children.
57:55
The research details how and why our linguistic intuitions make
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us uniquely qualified. There is no question that to achieve any systemic change
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in the education of DeafBlind children, hiring DeafBlind teachers is required.
American Sign Language
