Talking Hands earns criticism

Talking Hands was featured on Monday on Die Höhle der Löwen. Thereupon, affected people and activists accused the start-up of misrepresenting parts of German sign language.

Whoever competes on Die Höhle der Löwen doesn't always know what will come out of it: Investment, rejection, harsh verdict of the jury or even - shitstorm. This was also the experience of the Frankfurt-based start-up Talking Hands. On Monday they were in the show, they did not receive an investment. But they received a lot of criticism. Why? Talking Hands has developed small books with visualized signs of the German Sign Language (DGS). After their appearance on the show, affected people and activists criticized the founders on social media for using the wrong signs in their little books.

Confronted with the accusations, the founders told FAZ that the whole thing was a misunderstanding: the signs shown were not part of German sign language, but of sign-supportive communication (GUK), which can be used mainly by those affected by a language learning disability or Down syndrome. "Deaf people are not our target group at all," explains founder Maria Möller. However, Talking Hands' website does have a sign language section that is visibly aimed at affected people or anyone who wants to learn to sign.

On Twitter, activist and author Julia Probst singled out individual signs that were wrong, saying, "They don't know #signlanguage. This also explains why there are incorrectly executed signs in the books," she wrote. One example is the word "television", which today can be found neither under the heading GUK nor DGS, but via the search window.

The two founders, Möller and Laura Mohn, also worked together with social pedagogues and specialist staff from an integrated day-care centre for children in order to create the books, writes the FAZ. Therefore, it is to be hoped that among them were also affected or experts in German sign language.