Tatum Robotics Foundation
What is deafblindness?
Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful hearing and little to no useful sight. Different degrees of vision loss and auditory loss occur within each individual, making the deafblind community unique with many types of deafblindness involved.
What is tactile signing?
Deafblind signers use a tactile form of sign language, which they understand by placing a hand over the dominant hand of a signing partner while their signing partner signs. They understand the entirety of the language through the top of the dominant hand this way.
What is their primary communication method?
Deafblind signers use a tactile form of sign language, which they understand by placing a hand over the dominant hand of a signing partner while their signing partner signs. They understand the entirety of the language through the top of the dominant hand this way.
Do DeafBlind people live alone?
Absolutely! DeafBlind folks often live alone, with roommates, with family, or in nursing homes later in life. Like hearing and sighted people, DeafBlind people have relationships, jobs, hobbies, and love to have their independence!
What is braille technology?
Innovations in the DeafBlind communication market have relied on braille, such as refreshable braille tablets. Refreshable braille tablets convert digital materials into tactile text. However, most DeafBlind people are not proficient in braille, since braille is a form of English--a language they have often never heard or read.
Are interpreter services easily accessible?
Interpreters are the main communication method for people with deafblindness, but interpreter costs are around 75-150$ per hour. While the help of interpreters are not replaceable, an interpreter is not enough to support DeafBlind people 24/7.
What programs exist to help?
So many! Including social organizations like the DeafBlind Contact Center, schools like the Perkins School for the Blind, training centers like the Helen Keller National Center, and programs on a national level like the National Center on Deafblindness or CNIB.
What age does deafblindness occur?
Deafblindness can occur at any age! While some are born deafblind, others are deaf first before acquiring blindness, or blind first before acquiring deafness. The timeline of an individual’s disability drastically affects their language use and comfortability with different forms of communication.
Does ASL have the same structure as English?
American Sign Language (ASL) is a completely separate and distinct language from English. It has its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order, and is not simply a "signed" version of English.
How does Tatum Robotics help?
Tatum combines the benefits of braille and human interpreters. By creating a product that signs tactile sign language that can be used independently, users do not need to learn a difficult new method of communication (as they would with braille solutions) or wait extensive lead times for their communication goals (as they would with interpreters).