Touch and Haptic Sensations in Conversations Between Deafblind Signers and in Tactile Interpreting
Abstract
This study explores how individuals with acquired deafblindness perceive touch and haptic sensations. Using authentic conversational data, it examines how deafblind signers experience and exchange tactile signals alongside sign language, including hesitations and incomplete expressions. The research compares peer interactions with tactile interpreting, noting differences in how interpreters use touch on hands, arms, and backs. Findings reveal that deafblind signers employ hands, arms, and knees for tactile communication, highlighting distinct uses of haptic sensations and expanding understanding of semiotic resources in tactile discourse.
open access | peer reviewed
Presentato: 13 Novembre 2024 | Accettato: 10 Settembre 2025 | Pubblicato 02 Febbraio 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Tactile signing • Social-haptic communication • Tactile conversation • Deafblind • Touch and haptic sensation • Corpus analysis
Copyright © 2026 Johanna Mesch. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-007-9/007