The ProTactile Training Curriculum Project (2025) is a social innovation initiative developed to strengthen ProTactile as a language and to support inclusion, learning, and empowerment within the deafblind community. Implemented in Catalonia, the project was built in close collaboration with deafblind persons, trainers, partner organisations, and key stakeholders.

Throughout the project, ProTactile was explored not merely as a way of interacting, but as a full language rooted in touch, bodily awareness, reciprocity, and mutual respect. This shared approach reflects a strong commitment to recognition, autonomy, and meaningful participation of deafblind persons in society.

The project aimed to strengthen ProTactile language skills among deafblind persons in Catalonia while supporting their social participation and community involvement. A central objective was the development of a ProTactile training curriculum that can be used in future training initiatives. In parallel, the project contributed to strengthening the capacity of partner organisations to collaborate internationally and to develop inclusive Erasmus+ projects for the deafblind community.

The project started with a preparatory meeting in France, bringing together Empoway, AccesVisuel, and Centre de Persones Sordes del Maresme a Mataró. This was followed by an intensive ProTactile training in Mataró, Spain, led by deafblind trainers and adapted to the local context. The project concluded with a public seminar attended by more than eighty participants, including deafblind persons, professionals, organisations, and stakeholders, highlighting the importance of ProTactile as a language and the need for professional development for people working with deafblind persons.

ProTactile is a language and a philosophy developed by and for the deafblind community. It is a tactile-centric form of communication that allows meaning, emotions, and experiences to be shared directly through touch. Unlike tactile sign language, ProTactile does not translate visual language into the hands. Instead, meaning is created directly through touch.

People are physically in contact with one another through their hands and signing on the body of the listener. Stories, descriptions, and emotions are expressed through touch, in a way that makes sense and is easily and intuitive understood. ProTactile has its own grammar, vocabulary, and linguistic structures, and continues to evolve alongside the community that uses it. With ProTactile, there is no longer pointing in the air, no more gesturing sizes and shapes in empty space, and trying to convey shapes visually; instead, meaning is directly understood through touch, making the interaction immediate and embodied.

Deafblind people have a very good intuition and understanding of touch, and that should be cultivated. Reciprocity is foundational in ProTactile philosophy. Every individual carries responsibility for inclusion and information sharing of others. This contributes to the development of a sense of community among deafblind individuals, and countering the isolation of relying on vision and sound.

We are Bert Van de Sompele, Lisa van der Mark, and Steffy Floux, deafblind ProTactile trainers from Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.

In 2019, we completed an intensive ProTactile training at Tactile Communications in Monmouth, Oregon, USA.

Through this experience, we gained in-depth knowledge, skills, and insights that we now bring back to Europe. These learnings are integrated into our training activities, projects, and collaborations, with a strong focus on deafblind leadership and embodied learning.

The ProTactile Training Curriculum Project (2025) created lasting impact at individual, community, and organisational levels. Deafblind participants strengthened their ProTactile language skills and expanded their confidence in social and community engagement. Deafblind trainers further developed their pedagogical expertise and contributed to the transmission of ProTactile knowledge in Europe.

Partner organisations reinforced their collaboration, expanded their experience in Erasmus+ projects, and contributed to the development of a structured ProTactile curriculum that can support future training initiatives. The seminar increased awareness among professionals and stakeholders and strengthened dialogue around deafblind language, inclusion, and professionalism.

In this video, deafblind participants share their experiences of taking part in the ProTactile training. They reflect on discovering ProTactile as a language rooted in touch, bodily awareness, and reciprocity, and on how this learning process supported their confidence, autonomy, and participation.

Through their testimonies, participants highlight what it means to learn and use ProTactile in everyday life, how it strengthens connection with others, and how it contributes to a deeper sense of belonging within the deafblind community.

This video features our local host and partner Pere Cantenys Gomez from Catalonia (Spain), who explains why organising a ProTactile training is valuable for deafblind persons, professionals, and organisations alike. The testimony highlights how hosting a training creates opportunities for learning, collaboration, and long-term impact, while strengthening local networks and expertise.

For organisations and future hosts, this video offers insight into how welcoming a ProTactile training can contribute to inclusion, professional development, and sustainable engagement with the deafblind community.

A member of the local deafblind community reflects on attending the ProTactile seminar. They speak about the value of seeing ProTactile recognised as a language, the importance of professional development for those working with deafblind persons, and the impact of bringing together deafblind people, professionals, and stakeholders. This testimony captures why public seminars play a crucial role in awareness, recognition, and collective responsibility.

Below is an example to show the differences between tactile sign language and ProTactile.

The example is about a cat that climbs in a tree. In visual sign language, the person would sign ‘tree”, in which the elbow represents the bottom of the tree, the arm represents the trunk of the tree, and the fingers represent the branches of the tree. The other hand was used as the ground around the tree. Then the narrator uses this other hand to represent the cat, that walks up to the ‘tree” and ‘climbs” from the elbow to the topiary.

A deafblind person can follow this narrative, and probably understand it too. However, the ProTactile version is much more immersive. In the ProTactile version, the listener’s arm becomes the tree. The listener’s other hand is on top of the narrator’s hand, which first signs ‘cat”, and then walks to the ‘tree” and ‘climbs’ in it. This way, the listener feels the cat moving, and gets the sensation of being a tree that is climbed on.

We offer two short pedagogical videos to demonstrate ProTactile Storytelling in practice:

• The Curious Cat allows viewers to experience how a narrative can be felt through touch, with the listener physically engaging with the story as it unfolds.
• Squeezing an Orange presents another tactile story, showing how everyday actions and objects can be communicated in an immersive, intuitive way.

These resources are open for trainers and learners to explore ProTactile as a language and educational method.

Snapshots from the ProTactile training and seminar show hands-on learning, interaction, and shared experiences. They reflect the atmosphere of trust, engagement, and collaboration that shaped the project, highlighting ProTactile as a lived and embodied language. We thank all participants, deafblind trainers, and partners who contributed to the ProTactile Training Curriculum Project, exploring the language, developing skills, and promoting social inclusion through touch.

Our team has participated in several initiatives and Erasmus+ projects across Europe, including workshops for deafblind youth at the European Deafblind Union Youth Camps, ProTactile theatre performances, lectures, and a documentary film. Individually, we also teach deafblind persons and sighted professionals in our respective countries.

We provide workshops and training for deafblind persons, as well as training for interpreters and assistants. Our primary focus is on deafblind people in Europe. The training can take the form of introductory projects to present ProTactile, as well as “train the trainer” programs. We also aim to develop a pool of ProTactile practitioners who wish to become protactile actors and participate in a protactile theatre project.

We recognise that deafblind individuals often require assistance and interpreters, and that ProTactile significantly enhances the collaboration and communication skills of both the deafblind person and their interpreter or assistant. Therefore, we also offer training for interpreters and assistants, with the requirement that deafblind clients have completed at least an introductory course in ProTactile.

Please contact us for inquiries about new projects and collaborations, or for more information. We are happy to hear from you!