A Brief Guide to Deafblind SSL

Instructions

Hello there! If you don't know me, I am August. I am a artist, roleplayer, and writer who is fluent in BSL (British Sign Language) and have a basic understanding of ISL (Tactile/deafblind sign language) as well as a decent recent understanding of ASL (American sign language). I very much see myself as qualified to create this guide but if I get anything incorrect, feel free to respectfully correct me. Now, wait a minute... How does this relate to TSS? Well, recently TSS has developed a new form of communication using sign language for mute, deaf, and any other cats, which got me wondering about how a mute cat would communicate with a blind cat. How would two deafblind cats communicate if they weren't ShadowCats? Well, that is what this guide is for! To not only explain deafblind SL but make a guide to communication in TSS. Now, what is deafblind sign language (aka ISL or Tactile sign language)? Well, it is sign language that focuses on physical touch versus visual signs often used by people who are deaf and blind. There are many different versions and methods of communication in which I will briefly go over the most common 3 now: 1. Hand-over-hand signing: A slower version of signing in which one person signs each sign slowly with the other feeling out the what signs the first person is doing. In more complex signing conversations, this can be used alternatively with guiding signing in which the person signs normally with the other person following the movements and signs of the other person. 2. Print on palm signing: This method of communication has a person tracing letters on the others hand, using pauses to indicate spacing. This is simplified and ideal for communication when one person had little knowledge on the preferred known sign language of the other person. 3. ProTactile Sign language: A newer version of sign language that uses direct contact to turn usual sign language into a physical tracking. It is hard to describe, so I heavily recommend looking up videos to see it in use. Alright, so how will this translate into the SSL? Well, due to cats lacking a written language but still holding similar boundaries as humans do, they would use a combination of Hand-over-hand signing and ProTactile signing. It will heavily on the boundaries of the other cat. To start, I would like to suggest a new sign for "blind" (swipe a clenched paw over eyes). This sign would also follow over to sign "mute" or "deaf" by swiping a clenched paw over the mouth or ears respectively. By using these, a deafblind cat could provide reasoning for the physical contact before offering their own paw to be used for signing. Now that this is covered, we can go into signing. How will it change? Well, it won't have any major changes to signing other than the ability for physical contact to be made during signing for easier communication. Here is an example of how an interaction would work using deafblind signing between two cats: Apprenticepaw padded up to Warriorsuffix, flicking their tail in greeting before lowering on their hunches to free their front paws for signing. Warriorsuffix sensed the other cat, also crouching so their front paws were free. Warriorsuffix swiped a clenched paw over their eyes and mouth, before reaching out their paw to Apprenticepaw. Apprenticepaw took note of the signing, allowing Warriorsuffix to hold and track their paw as they continued their signing. As you can note, both cats had to give consent to the physical contact before the conversation could continue. That is one of the only major differences. Q&A: Q1. Does the understanding level change between the two signing types? A1. No, the level of knowledge for SSL is the same for Deafblind SSL! Q2. How would signs like "what" work? They need two paws to understand! A2. They would work the same as one pawed signing, just with both paws being used. Q3. How would a cat know the difference Pads up, Pads down, Pads forward/out/away, Pads back/in/towards self, shaking head versus nodding, and lowered brows? A3. A very good question! Here is a guide to how these would work: Pads up - Signer paws on top of Interpreters paws Pads down - Signer paws under Interpreters paws Pads forward - Signer paws are followed toward interpreter Pads toward - Signer paws are followed away from interpreter Shaking head - Swipe a paw left and right Nodding - Swipe a paw up and down Lowered brows - Tapping a clenched paw 3 times at the end of a sign to indict a question Q4. What if I have another question? A4. Feel free to ask in the comments!