While some people might claim individuals with linguistic disabilities cannot communicate with others, that doesn’t mean they don’t have desire and innovative means to communicate with others. In fact, their creative use of body language may add more fun to our already formalized communication that too often relies on concrete vocabulary and grammar. In fact even with this concreteness, aren’t we still often confused by the others’ meaning much of time?
Working as part-time with intellectual disabled people inspires me to read the greeting languages that are unique to them. Unlike able-bodied people, disabled people who have difficulty verbally talking with others tend to use their bodies to communicate. Seeing how effective their self-innovated body language turns out to be, I found out myself recalling the fun memories of Atelier Hiko’s founder, Hiko-kun.
When someone, whether an acquaintance or not, enters his atelier place, Hiko-kun would pause his painting activity, extend his free hand to the newcomer, and cheerfully give a thumbs up. When I first saw this gesture, I didn’t know how to react. Instinctively acting out of imitation, I raised the thumb of one hand towards Hiko-kun and thought imitation could convey sign of peace to someone you just met. To my surprise, Hiko-kun, proactively reached out even more toward me, pressed our thumbs together in a friendly manner.
In Japan, most people greet each other by nodding or bowing at the waist. Furthermore, depending on the angle at which one bends their hips, the degree of respect they show toward others differs. This commonly shared greeting language indicates social status, but also plays a role of an invisible wall, forging social distance among people. Fairly speaking, the physically more egalitarian custom of touching, such as handshakes and hugs in Western countries, seems extremely rare in Japan. In this sense, it was refreshing for me to see Hiko-kun, despite rooted in Japanese culture, actively spreading this unique greeting language that he originally came up with to the ones surrounding him.
Speaking of widely-spread hand language, there are two common types in our daily scenarios that came across into my mind – handshaking and handwaving. In modern business scenarios, handshaking is meant to express an official bond. In scenarios where it is difficult to hear the other person’s voice, raising and waving your hands towards them, like a beckoning FORTUNE cat, is also a distinguished gesture. Because these two body languages are so well established, without any double, they would be read as the meaning of “That’s a deal.” and “Hello or goodbye”. In comparison, Hiko-kun’s thumb greeting, however, is much more flexible in the meaning it indicates.
Here is how I read Hiko-kun’s thumb greeting. By simply putting up your thumb, it conveys a positive sentiment as well as various possible meanings, such as “Nice to meet you,” “It’s a nice day today,” “Have a good time,” “Welcome,” “I’m doing well today, how about you?”, “Let’s all have fun,” or “I like that. How about you?” On top of that, if you receive the same thumb greeting from another person and the two of you then touch thumbs, a mutual understanding has been shared, or a special greeting given.
Admittedly, it is like learning a foreign language and that’s where the fun comes in. In fact when we study a new language, sometimes we learn vocabularies through shared understanding of pantomime and gestures. Communication certainly is enhanced by body language. What if we all tried giving someone a thumbs up? I wonder what fun interactions it might spark.