A Sign Of Trouble: The HIV Crisis In The Deaf Community
August 15, 2017 11:43 AM   Subscribe

In July 2016, Smith, who identifies as black, gay and deaf, presented to a doctor seeking pre-exposure prophylaxis. Despite his knowledge of PrEP, the HIV infections rates in the black queer community and his willingness to take the drug, one thing stood in his way: a hearing doctor. The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex. Journalist Matthew Rodriquez (twitter) writes about the unspoken HIV crisis in the deaf community for Into, the online lifestyle magazine from Grindr (yes, that Grindr - note: not a link to Grindr)
posted by MCMikeNamara (16 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
I went with the outrageous-anger-making-pullquote instead of the horrible-but-hilarious one so here it is (emphasis mine):

The videos, he said, will feature written captions that accurately reflect the video’s contents, rather than automatic captioning, which can mess up and leave deaf people confused — like the one time he watched a video about PrEP that confused a woman’s name, “Poppy,” with the Spanish term, “Papi.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 11:45 AM on August 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.
Wait, what?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:20 PM on August 15, 2017 [12 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

Someone should tell this doctor that idiots should not be doctoring.
posted by chavenet at 12:20 PM on August 15, 2017 [20 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

Just thinking through the various prejudices and misconceptions this single statement encompasses makes my head spin!

And like...WHEN HAS TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO HAVE SEX EVER WORKED???????? It demonstrably does not work! Ahh!
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:26 PM on August 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

That's a very egregious statement if true. It's so egregious and nonsensical that I can't help but think there might be a misunderstanding?
posted by Pantalaimon at 12:27 PM on August 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

To be fair, the doctor's leeches disagreed.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:30 PM on August 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah, when you're hoping "horribly egregious thing is actually just a miscommunication because of the horrible accessibility of communication in people's healthcare", we're already in a bad place.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:49 PM on August 15, 2017 [14 favorites]


Pantalaimon, it's well within the bounds of "crazy dehumanizing shit bigoted people say." There are a lot of creepy, eugenics-influenced assumptions about disabled people (or people who are perceived to be disabled, like Deaf people) and sex.

Even it was a misunderstanding, that's one of the primary issues Deaf people identified in the article; they use a different language than most medical practitioners and can't communicate effectively with doctors to access needed medical care. It's not an ok misunderstanding to leave a patient with.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:52 PM on August 15, 2017 [16 favorites]


Also, the fact that the doctor wouldn't prescribe PrEP for this patient pretty much confirms it was not a misunderstanding.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 12:58 PM on August 15, 2017 [19 favorites]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

That's a very egregious statement if true. It's so egregious and nonsensical that I can't help but think there might be a misunderstanding?


You'd be amazed what doctors think (and say) about the sex lives of their disabled patients. Even when it's not eugenics-influenced like Snarl Furillo mentions, there's still a lot of paternalism in the field.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 2:00 PM on August 15, 2017 [12 favorites]


I thought I knew a little about the struggles disabled folks have, but I have to say I am completely astonished that a doctor would say that. If that is truly representative of the kind of nonsense that disabled patients have to deal with, then consider my eyes opened.
posted by Falconetti at 2:41 PM on August 15, 2017 [4 favorites]


I was a sign-language interpreter in an earlier life. The things doctors feel comfortable saying to deaf people are remarkable. (The interpreter's code of ethics forbids details, but this didn't surprise me at all)
posted by Jesse the K at 3:06 PM on August 15, 2017 [11 favorites]


I told him not to go to Ben Carson.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:55 PM on August 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


The doctor told Smith that Deaf people should not be having sex.

Deaf folks should definitely not have sex with that doctor.

And neither should anyone else.
posted by bile and syntax at 6:31 PM on August 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


That's a very egregious statement if true. It's so egregious and nonsensical that I can't help but think there might be a misunderstanding?

Yep. The doctor misunderstood what their job actually was in this case - if there was a "misunderstanding" it was namely the doctor misunderstanding they had a duty to ensure he or she was actually treating the patient in question and putting into place the accommodations required for clear and effective communication with said patient. Add to that the claim that sex was not a thing the patient should be having, well, fuck that. Failure to treat, period, communication aside.

This is a thing that happens in emergency care scenarios as well.

From the case cited (pdf) in the article linked above:

Plaintiffs Cheylla Silva and John Paul Jebian are profoundly deaf. On
numerous occasions, they presented at Defendants’ hospitals but allegedly could
not communicate effectively with hospital staff because of the absence of certain
auxiliary aids or services. Federal law requires, however, that healthcare providers
offer appropriate auxiliary aids to hearing-impaired patients where necessary to
ensure effective communication. Failure to do so constitutes discrimination
against disabled persons


So systemic discrimination on the part of medical personnel - in this case failing to make sure there is effective communication - that impedes effective treatment (whether acute or preventative) is a thing that happens in health care.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:01 PM on August 15, 2017 [8 favorites]


That's a very egregious statement if true. It's so egregious and nonsensical that I can't help but think there might be a misunderstanding?

Of course it isn't. Why be surprised terrible doctors says terrible things to Blind people, when it's long been clear the profession as a whole has little time for anybody who isn't white, male, straight, cis and not in any way, shape or form in perfect health? Anybody with any sort of disability or chronic illness, visible or invisible, will tell you that the medical profession is the worst for dealing with this and that it only functions adequately when dealing with one-off illnesses or injuries.

We know that for both women and Black people, mistrust of the patient is a given, as women "complain too much" and Black people "feel pain less", so the doctor won't believe you, let alone the simple fact that most medical research is still only done for the benefit of white males -- didn't we recently have that post about how heart attacks just work differently for women than for men but nobody knew?

We know temporarily able people in general are completely horrible when it comes to any kind of disability and that eugenic thinking is still driving a lot of the "debate" about disability in the background.

So why then is it strange you got some asshole doctor saying this to a Deaf person, when again, it's well know there's a terrible lot of prejudice against and about Deaf people?
posted by MartinWisse at 11:10 PM on August 15, 2017 [9 favorites]


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