Hand-Under-Hand

Why use Hand-Under-Hand? Because, when used consistently, this strategy:

Allows the student access to the ways people use their hands. The student can experience hands in relation to one another, including direction of movement, amount of force, speed or tempo. (We take this for granted!)
Provides a person who is blind or has low vision with spatial awareness through tactile experience.
Encourages authentic involvement of the student in routine tasks that they cannot yet perform independently.
Stimulates curiosity about what’s around them & increases the desire to do things for themselves, reducing passivity and dependence. If the student’s hands are on top of the adult’s hands, the student makes the choice of moving with that person’s hands, thus requiring active learning on their part.
May prepare for tactile signing by teaching the student to learn to reach for communication.

Resources:

Connecting Hand-Under-Hand to Communication

Thinking Pod

When did you see Shawn smile in this interaction?
Notice Shawn’s pace vs. grandpa’s pace. Matching our pace to the student’s is helpful for comprehension and relationship.

Shawn and Grandpa

This video shows Shawn’s grandpa learning to let Shawn engage and sometimes lead the interaction with his hands.

Thinking Pod

Use hand-under-hand for interacting, modeling, and communicating.
Pay close attention to all the things the student can do for himself like lifting the spoon higher once the partner has started the motion and direction of the blender.
Did you catch Daniel when he signed “yes” to blueberries?

Daniel makes a Smoothie

The communication partner and Daniel will make a blender drink. He chose to do that activity by selecting the tactile symbol instead of the tactile symbol that represented getting a massage. Notice the strategies the partner uses with Daniel.

Tactile symbol (blender top) allows student to communicate his want
Partner accepted pushing away the ice cream as “I don’t want that”
She emphasized the vocabulary word (sign) once he selected the yogurt tub
She hesitated (waited) when lifting the spoon of yogurt waiting for Daniel to lift the spoon higher to get it into the blender

Thinking Pod

Look at both of their hands! Don’t let the sound distract you. Joel has learned how to use dad’s hands as a tool.
He also communicates what he wants his dad to do tactiley by taking his hand toward the plastic container.

Joel opens the top

Dad is using hand under-hand to help Joel do something for himself.

Thinking Pod

The pace they are using is a natural one.
Not the first time they have done this together – repetition.
Dad will know when to stop the modeling and coactive movement as he senses Joel’s ability to do the crawling independently a little at a time.

Joel Crawls

Dad models crawling with the Joel by placing his hands under Joel’s hands and also giving Joel the feel of moving by using the crawling position himself.

Thinking Pod

Did you notice Mom’s hand is in contact with David before she starts showing him something.

David

Mom is playing with a toy that makes sounds – David feels it as she places it under his hand.

Thinking Pod

When first learning the skill of using a spoon, the conversation was about using a spoon and focusing on how to use it to get food on it.
Now the teacher is helping Collin move that skill to become automatic.
Did you see how the teacher acknowledged what Collin was doing right in the task?

Collin

The teacher is demonstrating using a spoon by placing her hand under Collin’s. She is also modeling having a conversation with Collin, something people do when they eat.

Thinking Pod

When Kailee does not want to explore what does she do with her hands?
What does the teacher do to entice Kailee to explore the “banging” again?
Notice how the teacher waits for Kailee to be ready.
What did Kailee do to show the teacher that she understood and wanted to participate?

Kailee

A teacher is trying to get Kailee to use her hands to explore by placing her hand under Kailee’s.

Thinking Pod

Why do people always identify themselves? So people with deafblindness can put their energy into the conversation, not into guessing who is talking to them.

Pat

This is the appropriate etiquette when wanting to converse with someone using tactile sign language.