ASLExplorer
Member for 8 years, 10 months since Jan 21, 2016

My name is Michael Cain and I was born on December 16, 1971 in Birmingham, Alabama. At age 5, I lost my hearing due to a high fever. My parents never ...See Moreknew what caused the fever. My parents, two sisters and brother can all hear. My parents and sisters use Sign Exact English (SEE). My brother uses American Sign Language (ASL) and is an interpreter. I grew up in Locust Fork, Alabama as the only Deaf child in our family. From 1976 to 1990, I was mainstreamed with hearing students in public school. I felt like my deafness was truly accepted during my time at Cleveland High School. From 1987-1990, I was one of only two Deaf students who played high school football and baseball at Cleveland High. I graduated high school in 1990 and was accepted to Floyd College in Rome, Georgia which is now called Georgia Highland College. In the fall of 1992 I transferred to Jacksonville State University (JSU) in Jacksonville, Alabama. While at JSU, I was involved with the Student Organization for Deaf Awareness (SODA) as their Sports Director, President, Vice-President and Deaf Performer. I was involved in the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity, a Deaf Peer Counselor and an ASL Adjunct for the JSU Police Department. In 1998, I graduated from JSU with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems with a minor in English. In 1998, I moved to Lawrenceville, Georgia and worked for two years as a Database Programmer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1999, I married my wife who is also Deaf and we settled in Snellville, Georgia. In 2001 I went to work for the Gwinnett County Police Department as a full time Animal Control Officer. At that time, I started teaching ASL part time at Georgia Perimeter College for the Sign Language Interpreter Program. In 2013, Georgia Perimeter College offered me a full time job as an ASL Instructor for Sign Language Interpreter Program. In 2015, I went back to college at Gallaudet University to work on my Masters Degree in Sign Language Education. In 2016, I graduated from Gallaudet University with a Masters Degree in Sign Language Education. Currently, I am an ASL Instructor for the Sign Language Interpreter Program and Deaf Education at Georgia State University and Perimeter College and at the Atlanta Institutes of Languages. I also work as a Freelance Deaf Interpreter.

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