Liam O’Dell: The benevolent ableism of some medical staff is putting Deaf lives at risk

Ironically, reading instances of hearing medical professionals learning basic British Sign Language (BSL) and using it to communicate with Deaf patients leaves me feeling quite ill. Most often cite unqualified hearing tutors or accounts as the source for their sign language knowledge. It’s dangerous, and it’s putting Deaf lives at risk. It has to stop. Now.

I’m not being dramatic about this, either. Just last month, this site reported that a Deaf man was handed a Deaf man was allegedly handed a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNR) order without his knowledge or consent. Earlier this year, we revealed an instance of a daughter having to interpret a terminal cancer diagnosis. With the essential BSL Health Access now shut down, Children of Deaf Adults (CODAs) are still having to interpret for family members still having to interpret for family members in (what can be traumatic) medical settings. One hearing medical professional, intent that they were only “learning” the language, went on to teach about Deaf issues to a group of students.

When it’s a TikToker or Instagram account incorrectly teaching sign language, Deaf people have to race against the clock to undo the harm caused by them before it spreads. When hearing medical professionals pick it up and use it in the workplace, not only is it harder to tackle, but the communication breakdown can have serious consequences for the Deaf person affected.

Morally and ethically, the stance is clear, and backed up by the voluntary regulator, NRCPD: “Only registered and qualified sign language interpreters should be interpreting – not family members,” they tweeted in response to the aforementioned story about the daughter and her Deaf father.

Yet still, it keeps happening. BSL interpreters just aren’t being booked (with cost limitations no doubt being a factor) and poor quality alternatives are being relied upon instead. If it’s not CODAs, then it’s whatever they’ve picked up from some account on YouTube. Both have the potential to be devastating.

So, how can hearing medical professionals support Deaf people in a way which isn’t harmful? We’d want them to have some basic Deaf awareness, after all.

Just like they may have stumbled across hearing individuals teaching sign language on social media, they should listen to Deaf activists and campaigners sharing Deaf awareness tips, as well as charities, who may produce guidance for medical professionals. We already know that there’s the Accessible Information Standard for NHS staff to follow.

Though it appears as though such guidance is failing to cut through or is not being properly enforced/monitored, and it’s why we also need to call out this practice publicly when it arises, for social media allows for a more direct avenue to those who need to hear a particular message. This is important, given that the choice to rely on an inadequate alternative to an interpreter is always an individual decision made by a medical professional – consciously or otherwise.

It’s also rather important that in these medical settings, which often adopt the medical model of disability, there is an understanding and respect for the social model of disability, too, which is about how wider society and attitudes disable us.

What the professional may consider ‘helpful’ may in fact be the complete opposite for the Deaf patient. Benevolent ableism – that is, disabling attitudes and actions done with the intention of ‘helping’ a disabled person – is a very real thing, and a very dangerous threat if it seeps into our healthcare. It must be stopped.

Photo: Ollie Cole.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.