Protactile communication is 'reinventing everything,' says deafblind poet

Deafblind people are leading a language revolution, and John Lee Clark has written its manifesto. Over the last decade, the poet, author and scholar has been on the frontlines of Protactile – a touch-based language developed and used primarily by people with hearing and vision loss. Clark joins Piya Chattopadhyay, along with interpreter Halene Anderson, to talk about his book Touch the Future, trace the evolution of Protactile, and outline the barrier of distantism that he says keeps deafblind people at an arm's length from the rest of society.

A transcript of this conversation is available at https://cbc.ca/1.7060008