Deafx

A former School for the Deaf teacher has won a Federal lawsuit against the State of Mississippi. Melissa Ross filed a racial discrimination lawsuit after she was fired in 2007. Melissa Ross took on the state, claiming she was the victim of racial discrimination at the School for the Deaf in north Jackson. "It was just a clear racial divide," said Ross. Her federal lawsuit cited evidence of troubling racial discrimination within the facility and a hostile environment according to her Jackson attorney, Michael Brown. According to Brown there was also contradictory testimony about Ross' teaching certification. "The reason claimed by the person who terminated her said she was not certified in the area of family and consumer science. However she was at the time she was terminated." Ross was fired in the summer of 2007. After she had completed the required certification. Tuesday a federal verdict in her favor was handed down. The former teacher was awarded over $205,000. "It has been a very ...

The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is once again organizing a competitive high school track team to compete against other local schools. The team consists of both deaf and blind runners, and spectators might be surprised at how discreet the differences between VSDB athletes and non-disabled students really are. Without noticing the school's abbreviation on the front of their T-shirts, most fans would be unable to even realize the students had any kind of vision or hearing impairment at all. While some might be able to pick up on the deaf students using sign language to communicate with their coaches and teammates, the blind students almost fly under the radar. "There are different levels of blindness," VSDB head coach and athletic director Slim Hite said. "Our kids that are running track have some vision. They don't need a walking cane and they navigate campus everyday without aid." However, that doesn't mean their vision is not an issue at all. Each runner has a unique se ...

Warren Adolf grew up deaf and was baptized in a church where everybody else could hear. Then when it came time for confirmation, he was helped by a minister who was pastor of a church that catered to the deaf. "He didn't know before that there was such a thing as a deaf church," said the Rev. Richard Moody. Moody is pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church for the deaf, which once was led by the minister who helped Adolf. Adolf was so impressed that he eventually joined Holy Cross. Today the 66-year-old Maryland Heights resident is president of the congregation at 1135 Macklind Ave. And he loves it. "I like the pastor," Adolf said. He likes being able to sign to fellow members, he said. The opportunities Adolf has had at Holy Cross may not have been available to him in another church, Moody said. In any other church, deaf people would need sign language interpreters to communicate with others, Moody said. It would be hard for them to become involved in any church activities, he said. But ...

USA Deaf Sports Federation in conjunction with DeafNation will host the first-ever USA Deaf Tennis Open, to be held on July 15-19, 2010, at Las Vegas Hilton Tennis Center and Lorenzi Park Tennis Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Open will be held prior to the DeafNation World Expo on July 19-23, 2010. Sanctioned by the International Committee of the Sport for the Deaf, and recognized by the United States Tennis Association (USTA)-Nevada District, the USA Deaf Tennis Open will have four following events that will be counted toward tennis ranking points.: Open Men's Singles, Open Women's Singles, Open Men's Doubles, Open Women's Doubles. The Open will also have three non-ranking point events: Open Mixed Doubles, Men's Over-35 Singles and Women's Over-35 Singles. Doubles events for Over-35 will be determined, based on the number of entries received. Current Tennis Ranking Points can be found at www.deaflympics.com/pdf/RankingPoints-Tennis.pdf Eligible participants must a hearing loss of 5 ...

A St. Francis Xavier Church priest who was reinstated to his parish duties after a judge dismissed abuse allegations against him four years ago has voluntarily stepped down after a man charged that he was sexually abused by the priest at a Milton church nearly 40 years ago. The Rev. Charles J. Murphy serves as director of the deaf apostolate for the parish. He relinquished his ministry obligations last week. Archdiocese spokesman Terrance Donilon was not available when the News called on April 5, but a spokeswoman said in a published report that the Rev. Murphy agreed to refrain from ministry while archdiocese officials investigate the allegation. “The Archdiocese of Boston received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor,” Kelly Lynch said. “Upon receiving the allegation, the archdiocese immediately notified civil authorities of the accusation. Further, the archdiocese initiated an investigation into this matter. As a result of the investigation made, Father Murphy has volunta ...

When Dad’s a pop star, every minute of the day comes with a soundtrack. “There’s always music in the house,” says New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre, who lives in L.A. with his wife, Barrett, and their sons Griffin Thomas, 2, and Rhys Edward, 3 months. But from the day he came home, the youngest McIntyre has heard little of it. Rhys failed a routine hearing test at the hospital after he was born Dec. 13th, the couple tell PEOPLE, and extensive follow-up tests at UCLA showed that he had severe hearing loss. Says Barrett, “What’s wild is we will never really know how [anything] sounds for him.” When the McIntyres got the diagnosis two days before Christmas, “We went through a full range of emotions,” says Barrett, 31. “As a mother you want to protect your kids. I thought, ‘How could I let this happen?’ I felt responsible.” But as with most cases, there is no known cause of Rhys’ hearing problems. “You’re just shocked, and your stomach gets in knots,� ...

Today at the age of six, she is going to a mainstream CBSE school and has been promoted to Class 2. Her parents beaming proudly say that she is at par with any normal child. Vijayashree's parents first noticed that there was something wrong with their daughter, when she was six months old. "It was Deepavali and there were firecrackers bursting around our house. In spite of the loud sounds, Vijayashree was fast asleep. That's when we realised there was something wrong," said her father Vivekanandan. He said that at that time they were in Chennai and he took her to an ENT specialist there. However, he got a transfer to Bangalore around that time. Vivekanandan then approached Manipal Hospital, where after a series of examinations, she underwent cochlear implant in her right ear. She was one-and-half-years-old then. However, implant was just one part of the solution. "She had to undergo speech and hearing rehabilitation. We struggled for nearly two years and then started seeing improvemen ...

Hearing loss is on the rise in the United States and unfortunately goes undiagnosed. Although there are many different causes of hearing loss, the most common cause of is presbycusis - hearing loss due to the aging process which most often occurs in the higher frequencies. Typically hearing loss due to age is also influenced by genetics, exposure to loud sounds through your lifetime and general overall health. Hearing loss due to age occurs at different rates and affects each person differently throughout their life; however, one thing is common for all – it occurs gradually. In fact it occurs so gradual many persons don’t even notice they have hearing loss. The sooner hearing loss is diagnosed and treated, the better. Because hearing loss does occur gradually persons find ways to compensate without even knowing they are doing so. The following are common signs of hearing loss: - You have trouble hearing people talking on the telephone. - You have trouble following a conversation ...

A deaf West Side woman was charged with aggravated battery to a child Thursday for allegedly shaking and squeezing an infant she was caring for earlier this month. Angela Harris, 47, of 5200 block of West Quincy, was charged early Thursday after police questioned her through a sign-language interpreter, police said. On March 13, a 7-month-old boy was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston for breathing problems and a swollen head. He was later transferred to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, a police report said. The baby was diagnosed with several fractures: at least three on the skull, two ribs which police said were healing, the left wrist, right femur, right tibia and left tibia (two), according to the report. The child also had several new and old brain bleeds (subdural hematomas) and retinal hemorrhaging consistent with and indicative of shaken baby syndrome, the report said. Harris was identified as a household member and caretaker for the victim, according ...

A deaf man trying to cross North Broadway was struck by a vehicle today, March 30 near the Warren County Fairgrounds. Dianna Brown said her fiancee, Kenneth Martz, 31 was trying to cross the street around 3:20 p.m. when he was struck by a woman driving a Buick Park Avenue. Brown said Martz often attempts to cross the five-lane roadway to visit a store. Martz was transported by medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital from the accident, which closed North Broadway to southbound traffic. As of 6:40 p.m. Martz was still being treated in the emergency room of the hospital, according to a nursing supervisor. Police did not release the identity of the woman driving the car, but said they didn’t expect to charge her in the accident. Police said they believe Martz did not see the car before he attempted to cross the street. http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/crime/deaf-man-struck-by-car-listed-as-critical-628217.html