I am still working on my lawsuit and took so long and wait and wait. now they are now file complaint to court.

No I was not using a scare tactic when I mentioned there were doctors who might terminate Medicare patients. I was already terminated twice, and I was unable to locate another in that town (Eugene, OR, so we relocated to Florida where we felt there would be more doctors willing to accept Medicare patients. So I still say- watch out when you request an interpreter and balance the pros and cons.

For example, one time I visited a deaf patient at a hospital, and an interpreter came in with the lab tech who came to draw blood from the patient. Was interpreting for that incident necessary? Then she came in again when the patient had to go to the bathroom. Again, was an interpreter necessary? I should think not. This

So let’s weigh pros and cons of requesting interpreting services and not get greedy just because it is our legal right even if we don’t really need the services at that time.

Finally I do like some privacy when lying there on the table all naked. One of my doctors did obtain an interpreter without my consent, and I threw her out so I could have some privacy. It was all routine anyway.

You are not quite correct. What you stated above refers to Employment Discrimination under Title I. Employer that have less that 15 employees are not required to provide accommodations FOR DEAF EMPLOYEES. All State or Federal employers are REQUIRED to provide accommodations for Deaf employees even if there is only one or two employees within its department or agency

Under Title III (public accommodation) ALL public entities are REQUIRED to provide accommodations to deaf clients, patients (not employees) or those who use the service no matter the size of the agency, office or entity. Be it one doctor office or 100– it doesn’t matter. They must provide interpreter when requested. The only thing they are not required to do is: hiring a CERTIFIED interpreter.

Carole- You might be interested in knowing this: In 2001, a decision was made by the judges in New Jersey appeals court in Borngesser v. Jersey Shore Medical Center that has served as a state and national precedent and was among the first to define effective communication- The judges ruled that efficacy of the communication method chosen had to be viewed from the patient’s perspective, not doctors.

ADA is often misunderstood by many doctors and service providers. They would often use their power or authority to decide what the law really mean. In fact– ADA does stand on our side. Unfortunately many deaf people wouldn’t take a strong and firm stand on this matter.

Steven Snow
Executive Director
Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Whatever happened to their swearing to uphold the Hippocratic oath to help and heal those less fortunate human beings? Deaf people cannot help being born deaf and a large percentage of them are low verbals and/or have no lip-reading skills. Many are proficient only in ASL.

And yet, those doctors and others are crying that they are not making any money out of deaf patients by having to pay for interpreters. Paper and pencil or even lap top method does not help much in many cases mainly because of patient’s poor communication skills. Heck, the doctors don’t even know how to write in ASL! Many deaf patients are afraid or ashamed to admit they do not understand or ask questions when in doubt. They can see the doctors are in a hurry to leave the room as they might have one foot out of the door already.

I have had some impatient doctors during the course of my lifetime. They end up telling their nurses to communicate with me and then leave the room. I never bothered seeing that same doctor again afterwards. Case in point: Are they really there to help and heal me or just in it to make money and “dumb” deaf clients be damned?