Building a town for sign language users, which would be the first of its kind, has been Miller’s dream since he attended schools where everyone used sign language. It was to be called Laurent, after Laurent Clerc, a French educator of the deaf from the 1800's, and be located in South Dakota. It raised some controversies, especially among those who think that technology like cochlear implants is the future for deaf people.

Marvin graduated with honors from Gallaudet University's Masters in Sign Language Education (MASLED) in May 2019, and he has bachelor's in Deaf Studies from Gallaudet in May 2017. Marvin developed and has been teaching Deafhood 101 and 201 curriculum for the past seven years.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx