Protactile is an emerging system of communication in the United States, with users relying on shared principles such as contact space, tactile imagery, and reciprocity.
In 2007, a group of three DeafBlind women working at the Deaf-Blind Service Center in Seattle, aj granda, Jelica Nuccio, and Jackie Engler, communicated with each other using American Sign Language (ASL) through the use of interpreters.
We labeled things, and tried to document what was happening.Protactile has emerged in communities of people who were born deaf, learned ASL as children, then gradually lost their sight over decades, as is common in Usher syndrome.
[4] Protactile is described by Helen Keller Services for the Blind as "much more than a system of touch signals," instead "a philosophy and a movement which focuses on autonomy and equality for people who are deaf-blind.
"[5] In protactile, communication takes place by touch and movement focused primarily on the hands, wrist, elbow, arm, upper back, and when in a seated position, knees and the top of the thigh.
[6] In formal instruction of protactile while sitting and facing a conversation partner, the "listening hand" has the thumb, index finger, and pinky extended, and is rested on the thigh of the other participant.
[1] Sharing experience is a core principle of protactile, with tactile imagery evoking sensations in storytelling in the same way that facial expressions do in a conversation between sighted people.
[1] Serving the same function as body language or verbal acknowledgments (such as "mm-hmm" or "yeah"), tactile backchanneling allows for smoother communication in protactile conversations.