In 2005, two events took place in Tampere, Finland: the Helen Keller World Conference (HKWC) and the General Assembly of the WFDB, the World Federation of the Deafblind. Uwe Zelle attended both events together with other representatives of the German Federal Association of Deafblind People (Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Taubblinden e.V.) and observed a communication method that was unfamiliar to him at the time.
During a workshop for deafblind sign language instructors, he noticed other conference participants using haptic signs. After the workshop, he spoke with Trine Naess from Norway about this method. She explained the principles of haptic signs to him and, after the conference, sent him various materials as well as her concept, which she had published in 2004.
In 2010, an event entitled “Touch You, Touch Me! – Seminar and Workshop on Social-Haptic Communication” was held in Finland and organised by Diak. Uwe Zelle took part as the only representative from Germany. The seminar was led by Riitta Lahtinen and Russ Palmer. During this event, Uwe Zelle once again gained insight into a wide range of concepts related to haptic signs.
At that time, deafblind assistance in Germany had not yet become fully professionalised, and the first qualification programmes for deafblind assistants were only just beginning. A broad implementation of the concept of “haptic signs” therefore seemed premature. For the time being, Uwe Zelle focused on disseminating information about haptic signs through numerous presentations across Germany.
After the qualification of deafblind assistants in Germany had become sufficiently established over the following years, Uwe Zelle discussed the possible implementation of the concepts already known in Scandinavia with Ms Reichstein from the Stiftung Taubblind Leben and Dr Grote from the Sign Language and Gesture Competence Centre SignGes at RWTH Aachen University.
A project proposal for the development of a collection of haptic signs in Germany was submitted and approved by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia (MAGS). As a result, the “BodySigns” project received funding from 2018 onwards.