President Obama welcomed by Deaf Community

President Obama has been welcomed by the Deaf Community with his very own sign name. Typically, a person's name is fingerspelled. However, a Deaf person (not a hearing person) can give a sign name to someone to avoid fingerspelling someone's name over and over. This is more than an act of convenience though. A name sign signifies acceptance into Deaf culture.

For more info on sign names and how they are created

You may wonder after watching this video if President Obama will ever come into contact with the Deaf Community since so many people rarely if ever meet a Deaf person. Interestingly enough, Washington DC has one of the largest, if not largest concentrations of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. It is the home of Gallaudet University (the world's only university in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate Deaf and hard of hearing students) with it's 2007 enrollment of 1,633 and 1,077 employees (44% of whom are Deaf and hard of hearing). Many students graduate and continue to live and work locally.

Having spent my Interpreting internship in Richmond, VA and DC I was overwhelmed with the richness of the Culture and was able to witness it firsthand. I even was fortunate enough to interpret for a Deaf employee inside the Pentagon, so I am sure President Obama will be aware of his new found name!