Petition To Officially Recognize American Sign Language Reaches Threshold For White House Response

(U.S. News & World Report)
December 12, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] Nationalize Twinkies. Construct a Death Star. Name a worldwide appreciation day for Michael Jackson. The petitions flooding the White House’s “We The People” website have become increasingly gag-oriented or unlikely to be taken seriously by the administration.

But a recent petition that has crossed the threshold needed for an official White House response may be different.

A petition to officially recognize American Sign Language as a “community language” and a “language of instruction in schools” has collected more than 27,000 signatures in less than a month. Petitions need to reach 25,000 signatures before the White House will officially issue a response.

ASL, the language used by the deaf community, has recently gained recognition as a foreign language in some states, meaning students can take it as credit for a foreign language. Adrean Clark, a Minnesota-based deaf cartoonist who created the petition, says foreign language recognition is a step forward but that it also perpetuates sign language’s marginalization.

Entire article:
Petition To Officially Recognize American Sign Language Reaches Threshold For White House Response
http://tinyurl.com/ide1212121a
Related:
White House Petition: Officially recognize American Sign Language as a community language and a language of instruction in schools
http://tinyurl.com/ide1212121b
Sign Language Users Read Words and See Signs Simultaneously
http://tinyurl.com/ide1212121c
Sign Language Becomes Official National Language In New Zealand — April 10, 2006 (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/archives/06/04/10/041006nzsignlang.htm