Obama & ASL

[Mark Mandel]

On my blog I titled this post:


Sign of the Times <http://distriction.com/2012/03/sign-of-the-times/>

[image: Sign of the Times]Stephon stood just a few feet away from Barack
Obama. The president, busy shaking hands, looked right at him. “It was like
he was waiting for me to say something,” he said later.

So the 26-year-old Prince George’s Community College student took his cue
and spoke to President Obama in his first language: American Sign Language.
“I am proud of you,” Stephon signed. The president, almost involuntary,
instinctively, immediately signed back.

“Thank you,” Obama replied.


*[click on headline -- http://distriction.com/2012/03/sign-of-the-times/ --
for full story, video of Obama's reply, and video with translation of
Stephon describing the experience]*

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org