First Deaf Canadian Iron Worker With Certificate

Winnipeg iron worker receives red seal certificate in Canada.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Jonathon Anderson is a qualified tradesman. At 26 years of age, he's the first Deaf Canadian iron worker with a red seal certificate.

The national designation lets qualified tradespeople use their skills anywhere in the country, something Anderson said he’s very proud of.

“I'm very happy to be doing what I am doing,” Anderson explained using American Sign Language. “I love my job."

Anderson was diagnosed as Deaf shortly after his first birthday, when his parents noticed he was sleeping through loud noises.

His parents said he never let his hearing impairment get in the way of what he wanted to do.

“He learned to adapt, he couldn't hear but he always had his way of communicating," his mother Bertha Anderson said.

Growing up in Winnipeg, Anderson attended the Manitoba School for the Deaf and St.James Collegiate.

According to his mother, Anderson played hockey and football with the help of an interpreter and by finding unique ways to communicate with his teammates.

“The coaches would often write on the white board to help with the communication,” she said.

Anderson attended Red River College where he earned his iron working qualifications.

Last spring he took his red seal examination and passed.

On Sunday family, friends and mentors gathered at Union Centre to celebrate Anderson’s achievement.

Throughout his career Anderson has worked across the country, but his most significant job was at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

It’s the building he is most proud to have helped build.

"My parents will say my son helped build that building and my sons will say daddy worked there," he explained.

Anderson has also worked on many other buildings in the city, including the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg, University of Manitoba and True North Square.

He hopes what he has accomplished will inspire youth who also live with a hearing impairment to chase their dreams.

"I want to show people that Deaf people can work with people who are not Deaf," Anderson said.

“You can succeed and prove them wrong if they say you can’t, show them that you can."

SOURCE - CTV News

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Poisoned Water At Michigan School For The Deaf

WATCH [CC] - Lead found in water at Michigan School for the Deaf.

FLINT, MI –- A building on the campus of the Michigan School for the Deaf has tested positive for the first time for lead in the water, according to a letter issued by the school Wednesday, Jan. 20 to parents and guardians.

"Yesterday (1/19/16), we received the first lead positive water test for the Stevens Hall dormitory (the school building continues to show no lead detected)," reads the letter from Michigan School for the Deaf principal Cecelia Winkler and administrative manager Mark Bouvy.

The school has been purchasing bottled water since September 2015 and had no positive tests for lead prior to the recent result, according to the letter.

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Winkler said the information in the letter was true when reached by phone Wednesday evening, but she forwarded all other comment to a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education.

A call and email to the Michigan Department of Education spokesman were not immediately returned Wednesday evening.

It's unclear in the letter what the positive test showed in terms of the amount of lead found in the water or how frequently tests had taken place prior to the positive result.

The letter further states "Our research shows that lead is not absorbed thru the skin but ingested," with the school exploring the option of filtering water for showers in the dormitory.

Students will have the option for the time being to shower in the school locker room, which the letter states is "presumed lead-free pending further testing."

All faucets in Stevens Hall will be replaced in the next two weeks, with the letter stating "A lot of lead in the city water has been deemed to be coming from the sink faucets installed before the 1990's and copper piping soldered with lead solder."

Read The Full Story.

UPDATE:

Faucets replaced at Michigan School for the Deaf after positive lead test. All faucets at the Michigan School for the Deaf were replaced over the weekend after a test showed positive for lead at the campus' Stevens Hall dormitory building.

Martin Ackley, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education, said independent testing showed a level of .028 parts per billion -- well below the 15 ppb allowable under federal guidelines -- at the dorm that houses 75 of the 167 students that live on campus full-time.

"This is a very important issue and the school wanted to make sure the parents knew about the testing," he said, after a letter was issued to parents and guardians about the positive test. "They wanted to inform the parents of that and that remediation was taking place immediately."

Crews were in the school over the weekend to replace all 62 faucets in the dorm, a building that was constructed in the late 1940s, Ackley said. Students have received bottled drinking water at the school since September 2015 as a precautionary measure.

Ackley said the school had been on a waiting list to get the building tested by the state Department of Environmental Quality in mid-December, but the landlord and school administration decided to speed up the process. Read The Full Story.

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Verdict In Maryland Deaf School Sex Abuse Case

Deaf News: Clarence Taylor III found guilty of sex abuse at Maryland School for the Deaf.

FREDERICK, Maryland -- A Howard County Circuit Court jury in the Maryland School for the Deaf sex abuse case handed down a mixed result Wedneday, finding the defendant guilty of two charges of child sexual abuse, not guilty of one count and declaring a mistrial in the four remaining counts.

Clarence Cepheus Taylor III, 38, was found guilty by the 12-member jury, who began deliberations Friday, of groping two girls while working as an aide at the school from 2008 to 2011.

Taylor, who is Deaf, had his bond revoked by Judge William Tucker and is scheduled to be sentenced on the two guilty verdicts on Jan. 31, 2014, with a retrial on the four non-decision counts scheduled for May 21, 2014.

A split verdict is reached by jurors and a mistrial is declared by the judge for some charges in the Howard County sexual abuse trial of a former aide for the Maryland School for the Deaf. Barry Simms files this report on 11 News at Noon.

Earlier in the trial, three counts of solicitation of child pornography were dropped by the State's Attorney's office after the prosecution could not prove the events happened in Howard County.

Those charges accused Taylor of text messaging three of the students and requesting pictures of their breasts, according to the prosecution.

Taylor faces a maximum of 50 years in prison 25 years for each guilty count. According to prosecutor and Assistant State's Attorney Lisa Broten, the state's recommendations for such convictions usually fall between seven and 13 years per count.

As Taylor was handcuffed after his bond was revoked, his wife, who is on leave from her employment at the school, left the courtroom fighthing tears.

A split verdict was reached in the sexual abuse trial of a former aide for the Maryland School for the Deaf, prompting the Howard County judge to call a mistrial for some charges.

Taylor's defense attorney, Brandon Mead, said he recommended Taylor file an appeal, citing Tucker's jury instructions... Read The Full Story.

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Courtroom Sign Language Prohibited Raise Concerns

Maryland courtroom sign language restrictions raise concerns, only the official interpreters and trial participants are allowed to use ASL.

FREDERICK, MD -- A judge in the trial of a Deaf man is prohibiting signing among the audience, a move that has raised concerns among some in the Deaf community.

Clarence Taylor III, who is Deaf, is accused of inappropriately touching Maryland School for the Deaf students when he was a student life counselor and dormitory aide at the school's Columbia campus. MSD also has a campus in Frederick.

Judge William Tucker of Howard County Circuit Court prohibited signs and "facial gestures" among spectators at Taylor's trial, according to a report from Capital News Service.

Only the four official courtroom interpreters and trial participants communicating with them will be allowed to sign and gesture in the courtroom.

Some advocates for the Deaf took issue with the way the decision singled out American Sign Language.

Howard A. Rosenblum, CEO of the National Association of the Deaf, said in a statement that the NAD understands the need to preserve order in the courtroom, but any restriction on communication needs to be applied evenly in any language to all spectators.

"The judge's order in this case appears to impose restrictions solely on Deaf and Hard of Hearing spectators and is unacceptable," he said.

David Martin, an assistant professor who manages ASL studies at Frederick Community College, is an MSD alumnus and has been following the trial.

He said that it would be difficult for a Deaf person to avoid making gestures.

“From my perspective, you know, with a Deaf person, It's going to be a challenge for a Deaf person to have no expressions and no signing,” Martin said through an ASL interpreter.

Still, Martin said the judge's decision was fair as long as hearing people were subject to the same restrictions... Read The Full Story.

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Maryland School For The Deaf Sex Abuse Case

Deaf News: Jury selection starts for Maryland School for the Deaf case.

FREDERICK, Maryland -- Jury selection has begun in Ellicott City for the trial of a former Maryland School for the Deaf dormitory aide charged with sexually abusing seven female students in Columbia.

Thirty-eight-year-old Clarence Taylor III of Gwynn Oak pleaded not guilty to all charges Monday before the selection process began.

Howard County Circuit Judge William Tucker says 12 jurors and three alternates will be seated Tuesday before lawyers make opening statements.

Taylor is accused of molesting students from 2008 to 2011. The alleged victims were in the fourth through eighth grades. Taylor allegedly kissed, hugged and fondled the girls during their overnight stays at the school.

He faces seven counts of sex abuse of a minor and three counts of soliciting a subject for child pornography... Read The Full Story.

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Missouri Deaf Kids To Hospital As Bus Overturns

Authorities say as many as 20 children are being taken to a hospital after a charter bus carrying students from the Missouri School for the Deaf overturned in eastern Missouri.

DANVILLE, Missouri -- A charter bus carrying students from the Missouri School for the Deaf overturned along an interstate in eastern Missouri on Friday, sending 15 children and three adults to a hospital but causing no life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

The accident happened around 1:30 p.m. as the eastbound bus was exiting Interstate 70 near Danville, about 75 miles west of St. Louis.

The children, who were between ages 10 and 18, were treated in the emergency room at University Hospital in Columbia, along with the bus driver and two chaperones, hospitals spokeswoman Mary Jenkins said. She said the adults' injuries also appeared not to be life-threatening.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman Sarah Potter said initial reports from the hospital indicated the children had "minor injuries bumps and bruises, that sort of thing."

The superintendent of the Fulton school went to the hospital to help translate for the children. Jenkins said the hospital also brought in eight sign-language interpreters to help the children communicate.

The state-run School for the Deaf has residential and day programs for children in first through 12th grades. The bus was taking the children from the central Missouri campus to five drop-off points in St. Charles, St. Louis, Arnold, Sikeston and Cape Girardeau, Potter said... Read The Full Story.

Deaf Aide Teacher Charged With Sexual Abuse

An aide teacher Clarence Taylor charged with sexual abuse at Maryland School for the Deaf.

FREDERICK, Maryland -- Charges allege he molested girls at school in Columbia, Maryland. An aide at the Maryland School for the Deaf was arrested and charged Thursday with multiple counts of sexual abuse after being accused of touching three students between 2008 and 2010.

Howard County Police say that Clarence Cepheus Taylor, a 37-year-old Windsor Mill, Md. resident, inappropriately touched three girls while working as an evening-shift dorm aide at the Columbia school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Students, who are now aged 15 and 16, have come forward with allegations of abuse, and investigators believe there may be more victims. Read The Full Story.

Related:
Verdict In Maryland Deaf School Sex Abuse Case
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