Tatum Robotics Foundation
300+
ASL
2%
.2%
Sign languages worldwide
#1 Most common sign language
Of the world population
that is DeafBlind
World population that has severe DeafBlindness
(W.F.O.D)
What is DeafBlindness?
Deafblindness is the condition of both 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?
What is braille technology?
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.
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.
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.
What is the primary communication method?
Are interpreter services easily accessible?
DeafBlind people often rely on interpreters to translate any information that requires auditory or visual components. This often leaves them with limited access to valuable information. ASL and __ are the most common tactile languages, leaving them with limited options of people who understand their language.
Interpreters are the main communication method for people with DeafBlindness, but interpreter costs can range around $75-150 per hour. While the help of interpreters are not replaceable, an interpreter is not enough to support DeafBlind people 24/7. Source:National Geographic
Does ASL have the same structure as English?
American Sign Language (ASL) is a 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. Our device can rearrange the order of basic word components called morphemes to resemble the grammatical structure used in ASL.
Do DeafBlind people live alone?
What programs exist to help?
How does Tatum Robotics help?
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!
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.
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).
Sources: National Geographic Society. Sign language. Education | National Geographic. 300 sign languages spoken by 72 million people worldwide. Sign language is the primary communication method for the DeafBlind. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sign-language/LinguaLinx. ASL interpreters https://www.lingualinx.com/blog/asl-translation-cost-factorsInterpreters Unlimited. Sign language interpretation. https://www.interpreters.com/pricing/interpretation/sign-language/ASL Deafined. (2019, April 23). Who uses ASL? https://www.asldeafined.com/2019/04/who-uses-american-sign-language/
Additional Resources: Tatum Robotics. About DeafBlind culture. https://tatumrobotics.com/pages/about-deafblind-culture Photo: Canva
Interpreters cost $75-$100+ per hour
(ASL) American Sign Language
The primary and often only method
DeafBlind people communicate.
ASL has its own structure
DeafBlind people come from all backgrounds
embrace difference
Tactile Signing
Marianne's experience -DeafBlindness does not mean that you cannot see or hear completely. As time passed her vision kept getting worse, losing vision is often a gradual process. She was born deaf, and started to lose her sight gradually later in life, she did not have an exact onset time of both impaired vision and hearing simultaneously. DeafBlindness is not always defined by full loss of sight or hearing, Marianne could still read enlarged letters and took her first Braile class at 59 years old.
Winnie's experience-Winnie graduated a school for the Blind and then her hearing loss began, her mother was her primary interpreter. She took time off work to learn the rules of Braile and it was too difficult to learn on her own, so she took a class and that made things much less difficult, she learned to sign and it became her first language. She ended up graduating at the top of her class with the help of the Hellen Keller National Center.
