Deaf Metis Woman Wins Human Rights Case (Deaf Doctor)

KerBear

KerBear

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This is great to see! A Deaf, Canadian Metis doctor was denied an ASL interpreter to complete her medical residency in Vancouver, B.C., and had to leave her medical program. She won her human rights case against the medical program and the hospital. This could be huge in terms of setting a precedent to allow d/Deaf or HOH medical professionals access to the accommodations they need to succeed!

http://www.vancouversun.com/health/...ase+against+Paul+Hospital/11198844/story.html
 
She is not the only one as a Metis Deaf woman fighting for her Deaf rights to become a doctor in the medical schools.

In Ontario, they had been fighting for their Deaf rights with Canadian Hearing Society for years with First Nation Deaf people. So they set up a Deaf organization or Deaf club just only for First Nation Deaf people. There has been a lot of discrimination against them not getting their rights to use ASL and interpreting services.

I have a feeling that would happen to us, Deaf Native people, here in USA, too. Just know that Deaf and Hard Of Hearing Natives, Blacks and Whites are not getting our fair share of our Deaf rights to be equal in getting ASL interpreting services and other accommodations. It is very frustrating not getting the accommodations we need in the hearing society. :(
 
What is really disappointing is how this is coming from the medical and educational field. Similar occurrences have been well documented too.
 
soutthpaw said:
What is really disappointing is how this is coming from the medical and educational field. Similar occurrences have been well documented too.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, it's disappointing coming from ANY field. (But yes, I agree with you that the medical and educational fields should have a little bit more understanding than the general population.) Statistically, when one considers the fact that 20% of the population has at least some degree of hearing loss, and the fact that 1/3 of people over the age of 65 have hearing loss, (according to HLAA's website), it's actually quite appalling that anyone can be that ignorant about the need to provide reasonable accommodations for d/Deaf or HOH people.

I wonder if one of the main problems with relation to accommodating those with hearing loss or deafness is how the term "reasonable accommodations" is defined? Who determines what is reasonable? In terms of hearing loss, nobody else can possibly know exactly what I hear, so why should some other person get to decide what accommodations are reasonable in order for me to be able to perform my job to the best of my ability? As a responsible adult, and a professional, that should be my job.

I seriously shudder at the thought of returning to work once my kids are older. I said this in another post here, but when my former colleague found out that I was getting hearing aids, she actually asked me if I thought I would ever be able to work again. (I was a Nurse Practitioner for many years before becoming a stay-at-home mom.) Ugh. "No. I can't work again because I've suddenly completely lost my ability to perform the job I did for 15 years because my hearing isn't perfect anymore." (Thought, not said.) I did ask her why she thought I would be unable to work. Her answer? "Well, you can't hear." Ummm...o.k. We're standing there having a conversation, so clearly I was able to converse with relative ease, even without hearing aids, because at that point in time, I didn't even have one aid. Yet she immediately decided that I could no longer do my job. I didn't even try to educate her at that point. Retrospectively, I should have. But I think I was too shocked by her ignorance.

Anyway, referring to the original article, I look forward to (hopefully) seeing how this case will set a new precedent in terms of providing the accommodations necessary for d/Deaf and HOH people to do their jobs. We can hope more good will come from it.
 
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