While in Helsinki, Annmaree Watharow, Skye Wallace, Amanda Francis and Tony Yee met with Russ Palmer, Riitta Lahtinen and interpreter Stina Ojala at the Hotel Lilla Roberts to conduct a Social-Haptic Masterclass.
Russ is a deafblind person with Usher syndrome, and he and his wife Riitta began developing social-haptic communication in 1991. For over 30 years, they have been working together to educate others on its theory and practice, and we had the privilege of being taught by them to become better social-haptic communicators.
During the masterclass, Riitta demonstrated the use of social-haptics – communicating and interpreting to Annmaree, while Stina did the same with Russ. We had two laptops set up showing these demonstrations on Zoom, where Suzanne Wilding-Hart, Sophie Hague and Ella Watharow joined the class online.
We discovered how we use haptices (such as ‘yes’ and ‘no’) as a single touch message, along with haptemes, which add to the message of the haptice by varying pressure, speed, duration and direction of movement on the body. For example, a ‘yes’ haptice may become more enthusiastic by using haptemes of added pressure and increased speed.
We learnt how social-haptics can be adapted to communicating about an individual’s hobbies and interests, such as Russ’ interest in outer space. We were taken on a tactile journey through space, identifying different planets on each finger, the universe across the arms, and a black hole that sucks it all into closed hands. Russ is also a songwriter and musician. He played his original song ‘Voyager’ through his speaker, which Annmaree held in her hands to feel the sound vibrations of the music.
The masterclass was a valuable learning experience for all of us. We’re thankful for Russ and Riitta’s expertise and passion in sharing their knowledge, as social-haptic communication is vital in the work and lives of people with deafblindness, their accessibility assistants, carers, friends, family members, professionals and practitioners.
