388 people participated in a Guinness World Record attempt for the ‘Largest Tactile Signing Lesson’, on Tuesday, in an event organised by the national disability charity, Sense, and the international accountancy and advisory firm, Mazars.
Members of the public were joined by staff from Mazars and Sense to participate in the lesson that took place in Tower Gardens, by the Tower of London. The total number of participants exceeded the 250 target set by Guinness World Records.
Tactile signing is a common means of communication used by people who are deafblind (meaning they have both a sight and hearing impairment), which is based on a sign language and involves touch. The event was organised to raise awareness of the different communication methods used by people with complex disabilities.
The 30-minute lesson, led by Emma Boswell, who is deafblind and works for Sense, focused on one form of tactile signing, ‘deafblind manual’, an adapted form of finger spelling taken from British Sign Language (BSL). Each letter is spelt out on the hand, enabling communication by touch alone.
The evidence will now be sent to Guinness World Records to be officially verified.
