If this aspect of the discussion has been covered, I apologize for wasting time. However, the following is quite important to me
ty:, Reba, for the full article):
"The U.S. Department of Justice expects that the health care provider will consult with the person and consider carefully his or her self-assessed communication needs before acquiring a particular auxiliary aid or service" --56 Fed. Reg. at 35566-67.
When the health care provider (or a worker) acts in audist ways (we know what's best for deaf patients), it can really screw up the works.
Because the VA operates hot and cold depending on who's in charge at any given moment from the White House on down to each local clinic, several years ago, I got a local physician who specializes in geriatrics (old farts like me
). Doc "Z" is terrific. He allows me to include my very significant other in all exams, yet he's careful to speak directly to me, not her. He lets me lip-read as well as look at his computer monitor and allows unlimited Q&A. He also works with my assigned (but ever-changing) VA health care team.
Then one visit last year, an interpreter showed up to "help" with my exam. My wife and I thought it was Doc Z's idea, and he thought it was ours, so we were all polite, but the exam went quite awkwardly. Afterward, I wrote Doc Z a letter saying I preferred my wife to interpret for me. To my surprise, Doc Z called us to come to a meeting at his clinic. What happened was when I said the terpt wasn't my idea, and I didn't like the "new" system, Doc Z investigated and discovered the whole debacle was the bright idea of a records staff clerk who "heard" a spouse should not interpret for a deaf patient, so she took it upon herself to order an independent terpt for me whether I wanted one or not.
The medical staff at the meeting was quite amazed that I could actually decide things for myself and had directed my own health care from the get-go. We went back to doing things the way
I wanted them faster than you can sign "nosy records clerk."
I trust my wife/partner/best friend implicitly. No one could work harder for us. When I get phone calls on my text-only cellphone, I hand it to her to find out if it's a client or prospective client trying to get hold of Chase Editing. She's my also my bookkeeper. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't hide anything from her. 
