Meet David Cowan, the state’s official ASL interpreter

ATLANTA — When an emergency like the one we saw during Hurricane Irma happens in Georgia, it’s critical that everyone gets the latest information from state leaders.

That also includes the nearly 300,000 hearing impaired people living in the state.

For the past five years, you have seen David Cowan, but likely didn’t know his name. Cowan is the expressive official American Sign Language interpreter for the state of Georgia.

“It’s an honor to be here working with the governor’s office,” Cowan told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.

Cowan, who was born deaf, signs the latest emergency information that is relayed to him by another interpreter on the opposite side of the room.

From there, Cowan signs it to the deaf or hard of hearing Georgians -- generally right beside Gov. Brian Kemp.

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“It’s very critical, especially when you realize that my sign language, when I’m signing in American Sign Language, covers the entire deaf population,” Cowan said.

Cowan told Elliot that he is an Indiana native and didn’t learn sign language until college, when he said he suddenly realized just how important it was.

“In general, hearing people tend to take information for granted because they have so much access to it. Whereas, the (deaf’s) access to information is so limited and sometimes they have no access to information,” Cowan said.

He works for a nonprofit interpreting service called All Hands On.

Cowan said he is thankful that now two governors realized the importance of getting critical emergency information to the deaf.

He’s also aware his signing in these news conferences has saved lives -- literally.

“I’ve actually heard comments from other people, some people reaching out on my own personal Facebook page, that will tell me just how grateful they are that they were able to get the message,” Cowan said.

To learn more about All Hands On and their services, click here.

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