2025 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 9-11, 2025 • Pittsburgh, PA
DAVID L. LAWRENCE CONVENTION CENTER
| Fostering Early Language Development in DeafBlind Children Through Protactile: Insights from Real-World Interactions
Fostering Early Language Development in DeafBlind Children Through Protactile: Insights from Real-World Interactions
Protactile (PT) is a tactile language developed by DeafBlind (DB) adults in the U.S. since 2007. Unlike Tactile American Sign Language (TASL), which adapts visual language to touch, PT emerged specifically from DB adults using the tactile modality and includes elements such as vibration and pressure to convey meaning. While PT is currently used by DB adults, little is known about its acquisition in DB children.
Our study investigates whether DB children can acquire PT from an early age. We present two case studies of DB children, "B" (2y11m) and "T" (2y6m), who interacted with PT-fluent DB adults during play sessions over four months. The sessions, held twice weekly and video-recorded, were analyzed to track the children's tactile interactions.
Over 50 minutes of video, 609 touch interactions were observed. We first focused on tactile joint attention, a key feature of early language acquisition. Our results show that the children demonstrated early signs of understanding PT, such as using specific tap cues to direct attention. Both children exhibited tactile co-presence, a fundamental aspect of adult PT, by maintaining physical contact during object exploration. The DB adults supported PT learning by consistently first guiding attention to objects, and then providing PT labels.
These findings suggest that even at a young age, DB children can begin acquiring tactile joint attention cues through PT. This study highlights the potential for PT-fluent DB adults as language models fostering early language development in DB children.
In this session, we will introduce the key elements that distinguish PT from ASL and discuss the early developmental benefits of PT for DeafBlind children using real-world data from our study. We highlight the importance of reframing interventions to directly include DB adults in early learning experiences for DB children, capitalizing on their lived, shared experiences and insights.
- Differentiate protactile language and American Sign Language.
- Explain how tactile co-presence can benefit DeafBlind children.
- Understand the evidence supporting early protactile language for DeafBlind children.
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Presenters/Authors
Hayley Broadway
(Author), Touch Seeds, hayley.broadway@gallaudet.edu;
Hayley Broadway is a Protactile expert and education specialist with experience in curriculum design, teaching, and working with families of DeafBlind children. She received her MA in Sign Language Education from Gallaudet University and is the founder and director of Touch Seeds, a consulting firm specializing in protactile and early language for DeafBlind children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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Deanna Gagne
(Author), Gallaudet University, deanna.gagne@gallaudet.edu;
Deanna Gagne is an associate professor in the Department of Linguistics at Gallaudet University. She received her PhD from the University of Connecticut in Developmental Psychology with concentrations in the Neurobiology of Language and the Cognitive Sciences. Her research focuses on the ways in which children acquire or develop language and how early language experiences relate to cognitive development. As a researcher and a parent of a deaf child, she is actively engaged in understanding and describing the ways that the varied language experiences of deaf children contribute to language use across the lifespan.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Financial relationship with Gallaudet University.
Nature: Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01EY033761).
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Esther Brenowitz
(Primary Presenter,Author,Co-Author), Gallaudet University, esther.brenowitz@gallaudet.edu;
Esther Brenowitz is a PhD student in Education at Gallaudet University. She has been working with the PT Kids project since 2022.
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Phoenix Cook
(Co-Presenter,Author,Co-Author), Gallaudet University, phoenix.cook@gallaudet.edu;
Phoenix Cook received their MA in Linguistics in 2024. They have been working with the PT Kids project since 2023.
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Jessica Ennis
(Author,Co-Author), Gallaudet University, ennis.jessica@gmail.com;
Jessica Ennis received a Master's of Deaf Studies from Gallaudet in 2022. They have been working with the Protactile Kids project since 2021.
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Marjorie Bates
(Author,Co-Author), Gallaudet University, marjorie.bates@gallaudet.edu;
Marjorie Bates is a PhD candidate at Gallaudet University and has worked with the protactile Kids team since 2021.
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