Photo: Michael Albert, right, works with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in every facet of college life. Here he signs during a meeting between President Michael Adams and students on Inauguration Day. Photo by Rick O'Quinn.
It all started with one elective course for disability specialist Michael Albert. One course in American Sign Language during his senior year at the University of Illinois, and he was hooked.
"I later found myself in a situation that called on me to use my sign language skills, and I ended up becoming totally engrossed in the culture of the deaf community," says Albert. He has been working with those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing ever since.
Albert is an interpreter and disability specialist in UGA's Office of Disability Services, where staff members provide support services for hundreds of UGA students with disabilities.
Albert wears many hats at Disability Services, with titles including counselor and database administrator. But his most important role is that of interpreter. He works with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in every facet of college life, with interpreting assignments ranging from classes, university events, advising appointments and conferences with professors to an occasional trip to the health center.
"The interaction with students is the best part of interpreting," he says. "But it's a high stress job in that I am responsible for making sure that students are getting accurate information. It has a great impact on every aspect of their education."
As a disability specialist, Albert also provides counseling and academic access coordination services for both physically and psychologically disabled students. He counsels students, focusing on the ways in which their disabilities affect their education, and he works with students and faculty to solve the problems that arise throughout the quarter.
Albert's pleased that students in the College of Arts and Sciences now have the option of taking American Sign Language to fulfill foreign-language requirements. He was actively involved this past quarter in convincing the college's Faculty Senate to accept ASL as a foreign language.
Albert sees this acceptance as a hopeful sign. "The deaf and hard-of-hearing community has had to struggle to get respect," he says. "Acceptance of ASL as a language is a validation of the deaf community and its culture."
