DBI World Conference 2019 Communications stream: Concurrent session 8B Presenter: Dennis Adrian Witcombe Topic: Social-haptic communication in Australia

1. Social-Haptic Communication in Australia
Introduction 2011
What I found out and what already is being used.
Development and documentation
Workshops with Deafblind communities, communication-guides
and interpreters.

2. Finding moments
Being faced with situations and quickly finding a use.
Dentist
I don’t know when the interpreter has left.
I’m here and paying attention with a single touch.

3. Settings so far
Social quick messages in the community or at home
Theatre,
Music, customized symbols, music notation,
Body-name-signs
Public Speaking
Orientation & Mobility

4. Theatre
Mapping
Warm up games
Movement
Environmental changes
Music & mood
Audience feedback

5. Music
Musical Notation
Body-name-signs
Get ready , start, fade-out, silence, be still
Corrections, sometimes what it is not helps clarify what it is.
The music teacher played piano across the shoulders accompanying
and for corrections.

6. Public Speaking
Mapping
Audience feedback (emotions)
Time remaining

7. Orientation & Mobility
Environmental mapping
Understanding the O&M language
Finding out what can be felt and understood
Document and film

8. Sensitivity Test
Two contact points feel like one
Different times of the day
Different parts of the body
Horizontal vs Vertical

9. Confirmation and Negation
Shock
Disbelief
Amused
Excited
Bored
Impatient
Disinterested

10. Describe a person
Male or female
Hair
Pick one feature
Think about touch
Adjust pressure

11. Mapping a room
Use both hands to describe the outline of the room
Place the person in the room
Place rows of seats and aisles on the map
Using a reference point from the map e.g. Corner, wall, aisle
Place the person in the room

12. Pick a person
Quickly refresh the map
Place the person in the map
Use the person as a reference point
Point out another person