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(calm music)

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- [Interpreter] I 
remember when I was little

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and the Sunday newspaper 
had that comics insert

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and they were called 
the funnies back then.

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I always looked forward to the 
newspaper arriving on Sunday.

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And when it would come

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I would open up that big 
section of the newspaper.

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And even as a small child,

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I would lay on the 
floor and take it all in

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fascinated with the 
colors and the storylines

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that the strips showed.

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Growing up I would observe how 
people interacted around me.

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After becoming a parent,

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I saw those interactions 
play out in my own life

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and some funny 
situations would occur.

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I wanted to take that 
humor and put it on paper

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as part of showing 
what my life is like

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as a deaf individual.

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When I think of art 
and how I use art,

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it's powerful and visual.

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The stimuli comes in 
and we experience it.

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Of all the information we 
get through our eyes visually

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it comes across in 
vibrations in our body.

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So how I think about the world

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and how I view art 
is so much different.

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I think the key theme 
for me is communication.

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I struggled to communicate 
when I was growing up.

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It became then a reoccurring 
theme in my life and in my work

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because of my desire to 
want to connect with others.

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I want to communicate visually.

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I feel the direct impact 
that visuals have on my life.

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My work is intended to 
reflect this impact to others

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so that they can experience 
it for themselves as well.

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When I started out 
drawing comics,

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the dialogue bubbles 
or word balloons

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would be filled with English 
text and this felt jarring.

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I don't walk around in my 
daily life speaking English.

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I speak American Sign Language.

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I tried drawing ASL 
inside the panels,

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but the frozen words 
took up too much space

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and it wasn't enough.

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I wanted the same conversational 
ease that English has

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within those word balloons.

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After some time researching,

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I came across a potential 
method of written ASL

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that fit what I was looking for.

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I spent some time 
learning that method.

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It wasn't fully developed then.

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So I worked with the 
written ASL community

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to develop a stable version

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that would be on equal footing

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with the English in my comic.

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I feel so much better now 
being able to write in ASL.

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It doesn't matter what 
language you're thinking of,

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there's always 
different nuances.

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As an English user, you have 
your own traditions, thoughts,

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worldviews based off the 
language that you use.

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It's the same idea for a person

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that uses American 
Sign Language.

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It doesn't have the same 
structure as English whatsoever.

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(calm music)

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Many people reach 
out to me and ask,

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"How do you work with 
a deaf individual?"

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If you're hearing, don't 
impose your expectations on us.

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If you're reaching 
out to a deaf artist,

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you need to be seeking 
for equal footing,

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seeing us eye to eye,

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try to communicate with us

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and we can grow a 
relationship from there.

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- [Announcer] This program 
was produced in collaboration

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with the Center for 
the Art of Medicine

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at the University of 
Minnesota Medical School.

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And funded by the Minnesota 
Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund

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and the citizens of Minnesota.

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(calm music)