“Sesame Street” is famous for its “Word of the Day” and now they’re back with a very special one — in American Sign Language. Troy Kotsur, star of the Academy Award-winning movie “CODA” joins Rosita and the Count to teach the word “diversity” and to talk about friendship, differences and acceptance.
Kotsur, who won an Oscar for his performance in “CODA,” is deaf and shows how he uses ASL to communicate.
“I’m deaf and I use American Sign Language to communicate,” he explains.
Kotsur tells the Count and Rosita that his friend Zavier will sign to him so he can understand what they are saying.
“The word of the day is ‘diversity,'” says Kotsur. He then shows his new friends how to make the sign for the word.
“Diversity is understanding and appreciating our differences,” he explains. “Differences in the way we look, where we are from and how we communicate.”
The clip ends on a sweet note when Kotsur shows them how they may be different, but not so very different.
“But one thing that we all have in common is that we are all friends,” he says.