Communicating with deaf-blind individuals

All human beings enjoy being connected. Since we use our senses to communicate, some individuals face challenges in connecting due to impairments. People who are deaf-blind may have complexities in trying to communicate, but they deserve the right to connect. In fact, communication shows you care for them; they feel loved and part of the society. A total communication approach must be applied which involves use of the right methods to create meaningful information exchanges (How do deaf-blind people communicate, 2009). There are different ways of communicating with the deaf-blind which helps to form connections that enhance successful interactions. They include tactile communication, using screen braille communicator, print on palm, and tadoma; this debunks the myth that the deaf-blind can only communicate with one method.

Tactile Communication

Tactile communication involves exchange of meaningful information through the sense of touch. This mode of communication is the most primal since it is the one used by humans as they communicate to infants. Once a parent tickles an infant, they respond with a smile which improves their bond (Zang, Duan, and Xu, 2017). The same case applies to the sense of touch it can be used convey love, hostility, warmth and anger. This way, deaf-blind people find the method favorable to them in which they put their hands over the fingerspelling hand or on the palm of the signer. The picture below shows communication using tactile fingerspelling.

(How do deaf-blind people communicate, 2009)

Using Screen Braille Communicator

Screen Braille Communicator is a customized device designed specifically for dead blind individuals. The device enables communication between sighted individuals with those who are deaf blind. One side of the device has an alphabetic keyboard for the sighted and the other has braille keyboard for the deaf blind (Zang, Duan, and Xu, 2017). The device is portable and uses rechargeable batteries, therefore, the individuals with the low incidence disability can move with it from one place to the other connecting and interacting with other people comfortably. The picture below presents a screen braille communicator device.

(How do deaf-blind people communicate, 2009)

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Print on Palm Method

Print on palm is a communication technique where the deaf-blind people communicate with the public. For communication to take place, block letters are written on the palm of the deaf-blind person. Additionally, he or she must be able to feel the letters the, otherwise, the sighted person can hold their finger and help them print the letters in their palm. However, this method is only applicable to those individuals who are proficient in English. Otherwise, an interpreter should be used. The following picture shows communication using the print on palm method.

(Zang et al., 2017)

Tadoma

Tadoma is a speech reading technique in which the dead-blind people put their thumb on the chin and the fingers on the jawline of the person communicating so that they can feel the vibrations of the voice as well as the lips movement (How do deaf-blind people communicate, 2009). In this communication process, the deaf-blind person feels the vibration of the vocal cords, warm air produced by the nasal sounds and the puffing of the cheeks.

Conclusion

Since human beings have different senses, the being deaf and blind does not mean does not mean that one cannot communicate. In fact, communicating to deaf-blind people makes them feel important, they feel loved and creates a sense of belonging. This document has proved that there are different methods of communicating to a deaf-blind person such as tactile communication, screen braille device, print on palm method and tadoma. This debunks the myth that you can only communicate to a deaf-blind individual through one method.