Congenital Rubella Syndrome

This website is dedicated to deaf-blind awareness due to Congenital Rubella Syndrome, as well as others who are born with visual birth defects.

Between 1964 and 1965, there was a worldwide epidemic of rubella, also known as German measles. Pregnant women who contracted rubella in the first trimester of their pregnancy could pass the rubella virus to their developing fetus, causing the child to be born deaf, blind, with cardiac problems, developmental delays and other medical conditions.

In the United States alone, approximately 20,000 children were born with two or more of these symptoms, which came to be known as congenital rubella syndrome, or CRS. Several thousand of these children were reported to be deaf-blind.

In March, 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that rubella has been virtually eradicated in the United States. however, the World Health Organization reports that approximately 100,000 children with CRS continue to be born worldwide every year. Agencies in the U.S. and abroad continue to struggle to provide appropriate medical and programmatic services to these children and adults.

People who are deaf-blind, can function in everyday life just like everyone else, with the help of specialized equipment, such as hearing aids, special glasses, CCTV's, bioptic lenses, and other such adaptive aids. There is even Bioptic Driving for those who qualify. 33 states so far, have adopted Bioptic Driving laws, with more states every year joining, which allow the visually impared to drive a car.

On September 21st, 1970, my mother gave birth to a 7 lb baby boy, with Congenital Rubella Syndrome. The Rubella left me with some serious birth defects.. Some of which include: Later in life, I developed:

After 9 eye surgeries, from 18 months, to 9 years of age, I was restored partial vision, which today stays stable at 20/200.. LIving with a disability hasn't been easy, because I always have to deal with workforce discrimination, and continuing education discrimination as most colleges and universities don't properly follow Federal Laws that people with disabilities have to be given a fair education. Society seems to want to "pick and choose" which services they want to offer to certain individuals, which makes working, and getting a fair education, more difficult, so each state has what they call Vocational Rehabilitation Office, where the person once they reach adulthood, works with a counselor to reverse societies discrimination against the disabled, so we don't have to go on Social Security. They offer funding for Bioptic glasses and training, employment searching, funding of college training, and other services to the disabled. Many deaf-blind people hold employment in most any field of study, including bachlers, and masters, degree programs in any field immagineable.

In the words of Tony Danza "How do you treat a person with a disability? like a person"

If you, or someone you know, has congenital rubella syndrome and would like more information about CRS, contact me using this form

To sign up for a ListServ, for individuals interested in Congenital Rubella Syndrome click here

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