DeafBlind people are creating a new language | American Masters | PBS

Official website: www.pbs.org/americanmasters | #AmericanMastersPBS
Join author and disability rights advocate Rebecca Alexander as she meets the founders and educators of Protactile, a language based solely on touch. Historically, DeafBlind people have been limited to using interpreters to communicate. With Protactile, one-on-one and group conversations are not only possible, but they also allow for deeper and more meaningful connection.
This version of the video does not contain any accessibility features.
For the version of the video with Audio Description (AD) and American Sign Language interpretation (ASL), please click here: • DeafBlind people are c...
For the version of the video with Extended Audio Description (EAD) and Open Captions (OC), please click here: • DeafBlind people are c...
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Now in its 37th season on PBS, American Masters illuminates the lives and creative journeys of those who have left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape-through compelling, unvarnished stories. Setting the standard for documentary film profiles, the series has earned widespread critical acclaim: 28 Emmy Awards-including 10 for Outstanding Non-Fiction Series and five for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special-two News & Documentary Emmys, 14 Peabodys, three Grammys, two Producers Guild Awards, an Oscar, and many other honors. To further explore the lives and works of more than 250 masters past and present, the American Masters website offers full episodes, film outtakes, filmmaker interviews, the podcast “American Masters: Creative Spark,” educational resources, digital original series and more. The series is a production of The WNET Group.

[@jonathanvair]

Nearly cried the whole time. So lucky to be alive in a time where I get to see this coming together.

[@lifesajoke6965]

The human brain is amazing. It so hard to comprehend how someone who has never heard a word or seen any kind of symbol can still have the ability to comprehend and use a language just as descriptive and complex as any.

[@kristoimanuel13]

Great reflection ❤

[@rubikfan1]

Protactile real show that people always find a way to communicate. Its branded in our dna. Millions of year of evolution in a social species does this.

[@sundaysmith5942]

Wow, I learned asl 25 years ago, I have use it off and on. I also taught my boys. Now I'm a certified nursing assistant and just got a new patient that is deaf and blind. I want to learn this technique so I can communicate. This video was very helpful😊

[@GaiaCarney]

American Masters PBS & Rebecca Alexander 🙏🏾 Thank You! Protactile is profound, and could change how *ALL* people relate & communicate! It’s beautiful

[@taylor3950]

I’m really glad that it’s growing and evolving. I watched a few videos about it years ago, but now it seems more fleshed out and distinct from ASL. So cool to see.

[@samalsrei5089]

Protactile sounds like a beautiful language. Thank you for sharing this information with the world!

[@privateprivate1865]

Sounds like a necessity as well.. what a nightmare to live a life of silence and blindness, especially if you were once sighted and hearing abled

[@joycestevens376]

Heard an NPR interview on 12/30/23 using Protactile. Was so entranced by the description of Protactile and the interviewer discussing and sharing what was occurring during the interview using the Protactile method. I have tried to learn a little ASL to be able to communicate with the deaf, but this would be far beyond my 78 year old ability to learn. I am so happy that you have a way a communicating with each other. To me it is quite amazing and beautiful.

[@kremenanikolova2239]

Thank you so much for this informative video! I had no idea that Protactile exists. I knew in my heart that sign language is not enough.

[@Arc618]

Life changing POV. God bless and thank you for sharing this.

[@trevorzealley729]

Tears of joy . Tears often not seen or heard but felt .

[@Matt-Hazel]

It makes me wonder if this could be used to teach people who can't use words or but can see and hear to communicate. My cousin has a daughter who is non verbal autistic, but is very quick to understand if there is touch involved. Like gently moving hands away from objects that should not be touched. Showing that we are not mad, but just are asking her to not touch it. But right now she can't understand why. But that's because the words may not make any sense to her. If I could learn this. This could save her from a institutionlized life.

[@Jaglilpill75]

So interesting and so heartwarming to see ppl meet and have great time on their terms, asl tactile is so cool ❤️❤️❤️

[@Netbase2000]

Now I want to learn this and be involved. This is awesome. I absolutely believe a touch can say thousand words.

[@winros]

Hi, I'm a CODA. Both my parents were born Deaf. I grew up with many Deaf people and Deaf Blind people!!!🤟✌️

[@stefangorodetsky612]

There’s always hope as long as we have humanity! God bless everyone and everything whatever you are! ❤

[@user-lw4en2oi4l]

Excellent!

[@icantthinkofaname987]

3:22 I CANNOT ESCAPE IT

[@toyanaydin8248]

bro ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

[@chriscarroll277]

So very interesting!

[@jetlorider]

Bless your hearts and soul! I Love you all

[@linguisticlily]

Wow!! This is amazing! 💖💖💖

[@Drknprty]

This is amazing!!

[@izzyn9000]

HOW BEAUTIFUL🙌🏾❤️

[@gran-fromg-townhola9429]

Super informative I’m interested in this language

[@resourceress7]

Why do you have so many shots where all we can see is someone's head? That is the opposite of where all of the language is. You need to put the whole signing space and tactile space onscreen. If people were only communicating with their mouths, then okay sure headshot, but this is not that. And this entire documentary is about the communication itself. Put it onscreen!

[@joeblogs5314]

My Farther in heaven please take care of these lovely souls and i thank God for the trainers of this touch language YOU ARE MY HEROES never had a hero in my life before ever and i can see and hear normally ... I Love you with all my heart and soul and with ALL the life in me ...i wish i could help it would give me more pleasure and satisfaction in life than if i was a billionaire !

[@coolsebastian]

This is really interesting

[@MAURICEWILLIAMS-mk3ye]

That's not new when I was young I met Helen Keller we went on a class trip to the United Nations in New York City in the early 60s I was in junior high school there was a lady with her I think her name was ann Silverman she created that type of sign language I met the real Helen Keller wow in New York City they have the Helen Keller institute We're they teach the technique to deaf and blind people.

[@prinzezze]

Hopefully I’ll never become deaf and blind I’d definitely not be comfortable with someone touching me that much.

[@TheWorldIsDumb]

It's just a matter of time.

[@lifesajoke6965]

If you actually went deaf and blind you would get over that real quick.

[@HITthegymwithjkhman]

Wow

[@SCOUT_THE-SERVANT]

Full vid in description.

[@user-dj8gt6ik7c]

Neat

[@tanyamarie987]

💗😍🤗😭😘👏💝

[@user-no4lo8p7val]

မြန်မာလိုစာနဲ့ရေးပြီးအင်းဂလျိပ်englishလိုပြောကြည့်ပါလား။

[@brylefajanilan3204]

ကျွန်တော် ဘာသာပြန်သူ သုံးခဲ့တယ်၊ ဒါ ဖြစ်နိုင်လား။

[@user-no4lo8p7val]

@@brylefajanilan3204 ဒုန့်ဝါရီတူဒေးအစ်ဒေဝါရီဒေး