Disability Awareness in Medical Offices: A Call for Change

Discrimination and ablism strikes again! I had an appointment with my oral surgeon to discuss the removal of an impacted tooth. During the check-in process I hit a snag, and it caused some problems. The receptionist was kind at first, talking directly to me and not to my room mate who was with me who was kind enough to give me a lift. When it came to updating the health history things took a sudden change and highlighted the lack of education on HIPAA standards, policies and general disability awareness.

Before the problem started, I’d walked up with a white cane in hand, I’d indicated I didn’t have my medical insurance card because I’m in the process of replacing it. I was struggling to do so because the insurance’s website wasn’t exactly accessible. I’d set up a pretty strong foundation I was blind, and this should have registered in her thought processes moving forward.

The receptionist wanted me to fill the health history paperwork out in the waiting room. When I asked if I could do it once I was back in the exam room, she said I needed to fill it out now before I’d get called back. I kindly explained I didn’t want to discuss or disclose any medical information in a public area.

This didn’t seem to be a concern of hers and she told me to just fill it out. In a rather condescending voice, she told me to just write down any changes and fill out the forms. My roomy said the receptionist started giving me a nasty look at this point. I told her I was completely blind and that wasn’t possible. She said that my escort can help me. At this point my eyebrows went up and I knew this was going to be a problem. I pointed out the fact that the questions and answers would be spoken aloud and easily heard by anyone around.

She spoke to me like I was a stupid child, and I kept my cool as best as possible and we finally reached the solution of me filling out the paperwork in the back. If she’d just accepted this in the beginning, there wouldn’t have been a problem.

I’ve dealt with this time and time again; people assume the family and friends who are kind enough to help with transportation or sighted guide are caregivers. There’s always this assumption that all blind people require 24:7 caregivers and anyone with them is there in that role.

People with disabilities are treated as morons, we’re talked to like we’re children and people infantilize us constantly. When this happens, I tend to match their tone while advocating for myself and those who come after me.

The person I was with knows my medical history and I trust her fully but what if it was an Uber driver, a paratransit driver, a person I paid for a ride that I didn’t trust with private info? I was called back before I could walk away from the desk and my room mate was pissed off. I’d dealt with this before and was going to address it once we were back in the exam room.

My roomy in a very kind way unleashed legendary boss mode and began advocating on my behalf, I was shaking at this point, I was already anxious about the appointment and when dealing with ablest based ignorance adrenaline floods my system. I sat down in the exam chair and let my roomy voice her opinion and explain the problems. Yall, she didn’t miss a single point, she hit every nail on the head. I’ve always been my own advocate, and often feel like “normal” people just don’t understand. She swung for the fences and launched balls out of the park and into orbit. Again, she was respectful, didn’t raise her voice but calling upon all her years as a mom and as a customer service professional gave a lecture of epic proportions.

I sometimes forget just how nice it is to have other people in your corner, who can witness the discrimination and ablism and call it out. The person who took us back to the exam room was kind and listened to our concerns. I’ve dealt with her in the past and have never had an issue with her. I’m not sure if the front desk receptionist was a new hire or whatever but everyone else at the practice was fantastic.

I’m now in the process of writing a letter to the practice, with a rundown of our experience today, I’m putting in info about discrimination, disability awareness and how to be more accommodating. I think these people get so used to a scripted routine and when something comes along and forces them to go off script, they get defensive and will say or do things to try and keep the interaction within their control. We weren’t being unreasonable; I’ve made this same request time and time again with most places accommodating the simple request.

There has been some push back and at one practice I was turned away because I didn’t bring a caregiver who could help fill out the paperwork. They refused to have a medical assistant help with the paperwork, so they canceled the appointment and tried charging me a cancelation fee. So, like I said, I’ve dealt with this nonsense in the past.

I really wish medical practices and customer service focused professions trained their staff better. They need to focus on disability awareness, reasonable accommodations, sighted guide, HIPAA, discrimination laws and much more. This should be a mandatory class in nursing programs, medical schools and on the job training.