WEBVTT

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President Obama, I remember the night you became President.

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I was thrilled. Since you became President, I have watched

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your speeches, and notice you often talk about "Innovation."

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I agree, it's important. History has often revealed

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that innovation comes from those who experience

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the world differently. For example, Thomas Edison.

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Edison was a deaf man who recognized relationship between

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light and communication. He invented something that is

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in nearly every single home: lightbulbs.

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How fitting, that this is the symbol for ideas.

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Innovation happens when people have the ability

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to think, create, imagine, and when there is a

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means to express those ideas.

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That ability is developed through language, and it is less

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important which language and more important that

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one can access information. Whether it is through speaking,

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signing, a variety of languages-- does not matter.

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We've become so focused on teaching a specific way, in

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a specific language, that the learning space has become

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so restrictive as to marginalize many who are denied the

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opportunity to learn freely. And that is a crime.

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President Obama, I implore you to take the lead in

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creating space for American Sign Language in the classroom,

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in offices, even in the White House. Thank you.