The Enfield Independent has reported how a local deaf man was “deeply offended” after notes in a hospital file labelled him ‘deaf and dumb.’
The article reports how 23 year old Christopher Drew “noticed the insult in his hospital file as he recovered from knee surgery at Chase Farm Hospital on March 20th.”
During his hospital stay, he had only been spoken to five times, and during a nine hour wait before surgery, also had his belongings removed by nurses.
The article reports Drew as saying: “We are in the year 2012, and my file refers to me as dumb? Deaf people used to be referred to as ‘deaf and dumb’ – a really quite offensive term which has rightly been stopped.
“So if staff were avoiding me, which seems to be true given I was spoken to less than five times in fourteen hours, then actually how sad, considering they could have spoken to me without much effort at all.”
Read the full article here: http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/localnews/9624267.Patient__deeply_offended__after_being_labelled_deaf_and_dumb/
Enjoying our eggs? Support The Limping Chicken:
The Limping Chicken is the world's most popular Deaf blog, and is edited by Deaf journalist, screenwriter and director Charlie Swinbourne.
Our posts represent the opinions of blog authors, they do not represent the site's views or those of the site's editor. Posting a blog does not imply agreement with a blog's content. Read our disclaimer here and read our privacy policy here.
Find out how to write for us by clicking here, and how to follow us by clicking here.
The site exists thanks to our supporters. Check them out below:
- BSL Zone: TV programmes in BSL for the Deaf community
- Deaf Umbrella: what support is available for deaf students?
- Bellman & Symfon: home alerting solutions, including the mobile phone transceiver!
- SignVideo: Instant BSL video interpreting online
- SignHealth: check out the BSL health library
- 999 BSL: call 999 in an emergency, in BSL
- Appa: Looking for RSLIs, TSLIs and CSWs, apply here!
- Signly: Adding BSL to websites
- Signworld: Learn BSL online!
- DCAL: world-class research into deafness, cognition and language
- Action Deafness: “A Deaf-Led Charity” – interpreting & community support services
- Sign Solutions: Instant access to Interpreters, training and BSL translation nationwide
- InterpretersLive: On demand BSL video interpretation
- Lipspeaker UK: specialist lipspeaking support
- BID: Deaf services, including advice and support, interpreting, employment and letters
- Performance Interpreting: BSL interpreting at concerts
- National Deaf Children's Society: The leading charity for deaf children
James McAlorum
April 2, 2012
The term deaf and dumb will always be offensive to anyone deaf or hard of hearing. If it was a foreigner attending the hospital, would the staff label him as “dumb” because no-one can speak the same language as him? No-one would call him dumb as it would imply that he is as thick as two planks……
Lana
April 2, 2012
Would be interesting if the other Deaf patients who attended this hospital have / had their files marked “Deaf & Dumb”? It happened to me once, I simply crossed out the word “dumb” and pointed it out to the Reception.