Hands-on signing

Also called Tactile BSL, Hands-on BSL, Tactile signing, Tracking

Full BSL received through the hands rather than the eyes, for Deaf signers who have lost their sight.

What it is

Hands-on signing is British Sign Language received by touch. The deafblind person rests their hands lightly on top of the signer's hands and follows the handshapes, movements and positions as they are made. The signer signs BSL more or less as usual, a little smaller and slower, and the language comes through the palms instead of the eyes.

It is a language, because BSL is a language. That sets it apart from the deafblind manual alphabet and the block alphabet, which spell English. For a Deaf person whose first language is BSL and whose sight is going, hands-on signing keeps their own language rather than swapping it for slow English.

A halfway point is visual frame signing, or tracking: the deafblind person still has some central vision, so the signer keeps every sign inside a small frame in front of the face and the watcher holds the signer's wrists to follow the movement. Many people go from BSL to tracking to hands-on as their sight changes.

Who it can help

Deaf BSL users who are losing or have lost their sight. The largest group is people with Usher syndrome, a genetic condition in which a child is born deaf or hard of hearing and develops retinitis pigmentosa, losing peripheral and then central vision from the teens onward. For them, hands-on signing is not a new system but their own language moved to a new channel, and the transition is as much emotional as technical.

It helps the person's family and Deaf friends, who already sign and need only to learn the tactile adjustments. It also helps interpreters, since a deafblind BSL user is entitled to a hands-on interpreter for appointments, and the supply is thin.

It is not the right starting point for a person who never signed. A hearing person who loses sight and hearing in later life has no BSL to move onto the hands, and the alphabet methods suit them better.

How it works

The deafblind person places their hands over the signer's, usually one on each, with a light touch that follows rather than grips. The signer produces BSL with a few adjustments: signs are kept within reach, movement is a little slower and more deliberate, and the signer's facial grammar, which the receiver cannot see, is converted into something the hands can feel. A question is marked with a change of movement or a tap, and the intensity of a sign carries what the eyebrows would.

Fingerspelling in hands-on is the ordinary two-handed alphabet, felt rather than seen, so the tactile alphabet and hands-on signing are compatible.

Turn-taking is managed by hand position. The receiver releases the signer's hands and begins to sign; the former signer moves their hands on top to receive. Fluent pairs move fast, and the conversation can run at close to visual BSL speed.

Getting started

If you sign already and someone you know is losing their sight, start now, before it is needed: sign in a smaller space, in good light, from directly in front, and let the person put their hands on yours for part of the conversation so it becomes familiar. Sense and Deafblind UK both run training in tactile and hands-on communication, and the person's local Deaf centre may know Deaf people who already use it.

If you are the person losing your sight, ask your council for a specialist deafblind assessment and ask specifically for a communicator guide who signs. Ask your Usher or low vision clinic to write down which stage of vision you are at and what that means for the signing frame.

When booking an interpreter for an appointment, state hands-on or visual frame in the booking; a standard BSL interpreter is not the same service.

Where to get help

Sense is the national charity for deafblind people and has specific expertise in Usher syndrome and in hands-on signing. Deafblind UK offers support and training. The British Deaf Association and SignHealth for the Deaf side. The Health A-Z entries on Usher syndrome and deafblindness cover the conditions.