Tactile Signing

Over the course of time, there has been many new advancements for blind-deaf individuals in accordance with new technology. One of the most famous methods of communication for deaf-blind individuals is known as tactile signing. When someone is using this method of communication usually they are placing one hand over the signers hand in order to efficiently feel the gestures and finger spelling of the signer. However, before this new and improved method was invented, people used to use the old Tadoma method. This was most famously used by Helen Keller and was when the individuals thumb is placed vertically on the person of interests chin while the index finger is curled under the bottom of the chin and the three other fingers gently touch the throat, (the adams apple on a man). According to the chapter, Rick Joy who is a blind-deaf individual still uses the Tadoma method and is forthcoming when he states that there is about only ten deaf-blind people left in the country who still use this method.

This all changed quickly once there were devices invented that could take typed out text and translate it into Braille. There are quite a few reasons behind why Braille took over the Tadoma methods spotlight as the key form of communication. In recent times, there have been a drastic decrease in the amount of people born both blind and deaf. Those that are born with these disabilities are usually cognitively impaired which could make concentrating on learning and understanding the Tadoma skills much more difficult as opposed to learning Braille. Nowadays, Braille is the most commonly used form of communication for people with these disabilities!

                                                                    The Braille Alphabet