Page 145 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

130 Reading Between the Signs

Scenario 3
Hearing Doctor: How many hours of exercise do you get a week?
The doctor is expecting the answer to come in the form
of a number and assumes the patient will do the neces-
sary mental calculations and come up with an average
estimate.
Deaf Patient: Well, Monday I went bowling, Tuesday I was sick,
Wednesday I was supposed to play softball, but I had to help
my friend John with his car, Thursday....
Again the answer takes the form of a chronological nar-
rative and includes more specific details than the doc-
tor wants to hear. The Deaf patient might very well cal-
culate the hours for this particular week after having
finished his recitation, but the doctor will probably in-
terrupt him out of frustration first.

Hearing Doctor: Wait a minute, didn’t you understand my ques-
tion?

Deaf Patient: (thinks) Why doesn’t he let me explain?

Scenario 4
Deaf Patient: My friend told me she has glaucoma too and she
used a blue bottle of drops that made her vision blurry, but
then she got a red bottle of drops that made her eyes feel bet-
ter....
As noted in chapter 3, the peer group often acts as the
primary source of information as well as the authority
to be trusted.

Hearing Doctor: Never mind about your friend.
The doctor tends to view each patient as an individual
and he or she may be concerned about the danger of a
patient’s using someone else’s medication, even if his
or her medical condition had the same diagnosis. Dis-
counting the patient’s concerns, however, conveys an
attitude of disrespect.

06 MINDESS PMKR 130 10/18/04, 12:01 PM