What is Pro-Tactile American Sign Language?
Pro-Tactile ASL is now considered a distinct language from ASL, which DeafBlind activists started referring to as “Visual ASL” or VASL, in order emphasize the different modalities of the languages. The Pro-Tactile movement is not just a language movement but also a holistic philosophy of DeafBlind autonomy and community-building. The Pro-Tactile movement believes that DeafBlind people are empowered through community with other DeafBind people, and the natural language most easily shared by the community is tactile sign language.