🚀 go-pugleaf

> > I don't see well enough to drive, so obviously a doctor should provide
> > transportation for me while s/he is providing an interpreter for you!
>
> irrelevant

It's only "irrelevant" if you're blind (or an insomniac, etc) instead of
deaf ... :-)

OK, if "it's the law" that doctors have to provide interpreters for the
deaf, then that's the end of it, and how the country physicians in rural
communities who've never seen a deaf person will deal with this is left as
an exercise for the alert reader, er, doctor.  Laws are based on who can buy
the most politicians, and logic doesn't enter into it.

If this is a grey area, however, as another poster pointed out, then I think
that my point is a valid one.  Of more interest is the logic (or lack
thereof behind Mike's original rant, er, complaint.  The logic went
something like this: Physicians are uncaring because they are unwilling to
provide him with an interpreter.  Now, Mike is going to sue these same
doctors by hiring a lawyer who refuses to provide an interpreter.
Therefore, he is going to try to get justice by hiring an uncaring lawyer.
Furthermore, Mike isn't willing to pay for an interpreter himself, so he is
uncaring about himself.

I also can't understand why the guy'd want a total stranger discussing
intimate medical details with his doctor.  If the doctor arranges an
interpreter, Mike has no clue what kind of person he'll get.  The
interpreter could've come in dead last in his ASL As A Second Language
class, and not be good at making medical information understandable.  Yes,
it's true that doctors bury their mistakes, but patients aren't so lucky.
Somebody else has to bury theirs, and the chore usually is left to the
immediate family.  Where I live, I'm faced with the problem of finding
doctors who speak English.  I went to a lot of trouble to make sure I could
find one I could communicate well with.  There's no way I'm going to trust a
translation to someone whose abilities I'm not familiar with.

> ASL is "spoken" by Americans.  It is an American language developed
> here in the USA.  Therefore, it should be provided for.  The others
> can learn ASL or American English.

Both Spanish and Ebonics are "spoken" by Americans.  Spanish was an
"American" language in many parts of the US long before English was.  There
are also Americans who speak Manderin, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc
(remember that quote on the Statue of Liberty about those "huddled masses"?
Well, the world took us at our word on that one ...).  I don't know the
statistics, but I'd bet that many (if not most) of these languages are
"spoken" by a higher percentage of the population than is ASL.  So, why
should ASL be provided for when the othars are not? Why shouldn't the person
needing an interpreter be responsible for providing one (assuming anyone
would be willing to trust an interpreter provided by someone else with life
and death information)?

> > But, what about physical accomodations? There should be smaller chairs
in
> > the waiting rooms for the vertically challenged, wider chairs for the
> > calorically gifted, and the office should be open late for the
insomniacs.
> > There should always be food available for the diabetics.  Surely I've
> > forgotten somebody.  Oh, yes, the doctor should be responsible for
calling
> > Alzheimer patients so they don't forget their appointments.
> >
> > You go get 'em, guy, and when you're done America will be a great place
for
> > medical care for all of us no matter what "challenge" we might have!
>
> Ridiculous and irrelevant to the discussion

You quoted my whole post and added, what, 5 lines total? Unless you take the
time to show how my comments are irrelevant, you've done nothing but state
an opinion (or waste our time, depending upon how charitable your readers
are).