VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Visual communication is one of the most important aspects of Auslan. To connect, understand and convey meaning with an individual, a story needs to be told. Much the same as with vocal communication, a lot of information can be gained just from something such as expression alone. We can see whether an individual is happy, sad, disgusted etc. and from that, know the appropriate way to respond. Both the deaf and hearing community have these types of visual communication however what deaf communication lacks is the addition of tone. Tone helps to develop a sense of character; of personality and can really assist in engagement. As deaf people are unable to convey this with the use of voice, the other aspects of their communication need to be expressed even more. The use of space, gesture, mime, enactment is something that is utilised by users of Auslan in such a way that removes any potential barriers that could be faced without auditory input. When learning Auslan it is important to really exaggerate movements, expressions etc. as it generally feels to be more expressive within oneself than it looks to outside viewers.
(Argiroffi,2013)
There are many aspects to visual communication that incorporate similar actions to that of miming. While Auslan many more aspects to it, mime is a great resource to use due to the exaggerated nature of the mimer's actions and the skill that they have in telling a story,utilising space and creating a sense of realism to the objects that aren't actually there much like depicting signs and enactment.
(AuslanStorybooks, 2013)
This is the Fairytale 'Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Each aspect of visual communication is clearly shown within this video. It is very evident how important each aspect of communicating in Auslan e.g non-manual features, depicting signs etc. are all as important as each other as they are used so often simultaneously. If an aspect was to be omitted, it would change the impact the story has and also the level of understanding that the viewer gains.