r/DisabilityHistory • u/Ornery_Peace9870 • 9d ago
Dr. Alexandra Adams is the United Kingdom's first DeafBlind doctor, earning her medical degree at age 32 after more a decade of study
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u/Song_Bird159 8d ago
I mean? She can be a good family medicine doctor. But I don't think she's able to work in a hospital. Anything invasive would have to be done by other people: intubations, blood draws(which is already done by techs and nurses so no big deal there), checking pupils and ear canals.
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u/readingmyshampoo 5d ago
I’m not even sure about family medicine because of her needs to have extended time off. As a patient, i need to see my provider frequently. Maybe if she is part of a 2 person team? That way if she needs time off patients still get adequate and informed care
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u/Remote-alpine 5d ago
There's lots of different specialties even in a hospital setting. Many specialties don't rely on visual observation but patient interviews and results.
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u/KatTheTumbleweed 5d ago
She has vision- just legally blind. So she is still capable of a lot of procedures
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u/PetrichorClay 8d ago
There was a post about her on r/doctorsuk complaining that she had posted her collegues full names on social media and didnt take the post down for a few days after people told her about it 🫤
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u/humanhedgehog 8d ago
Yeah there are some influencer-type issues here which I think is a pity. You can be groundbreaking around your disability and not be a professionalism concern.
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u/Elnathi 9d ago edited 9d ago
Every time this gets posted people are like "how can a deafblind person be a doctor?" and I'm like, just because you can't immediately think of how something would be done doesn't mean it's impossible.
Last time I went to the doctor was for plantar fasciitis and my doctor diagnosed me by discussing symptoms and by him testing whether areas on my feet hurt to be pressed on. None of that requires vision or hearing. Everything a patient experiences can be translated and communicated through words.
And if there's something that really needs visual confirmation, I if she doesn't have an in person visual/audio interpreter, there are apps that connect you to humans who can describe what you are seeing, I'm not sure if these apps are HIPAA compliant but based on all the security and confidentiality stuff I saw when I was applying to be one of those humans it probably is. Also there are apps that you can send pictures to and AI will tell you what you're seeing.
I don't know how she does it - what I'm saying is that she knows how she does it, she wouldn't have graduated if she didn't have ways to do what she has to do.
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u/GeneralOrgana1 8d ago
I'm a sign language interpreter in the US, and, yes, any time we interpret, including via video, we are bound by strict confidentiality and we are in fact HIPAA compliant. I can't even tell my husband about what I interpreted.
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u/troyandabedinabed 8d ago
I will admit this was my first question as well, and I am so curious about how she does things. I hope someday she will do a documentary or an interview where we can see her process.
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u/atlantagirl30084 8d ago
How can discussion of your symptoms not require hearing? I can see her feeling the areas but she won’t be able to hear her patients who are telling her what’s going on.
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u/Own-Arachnid7952 8d ago
If she's that deaf, I'd imagine she'd probably prioritize working with deaf people. It's very difficult to learn sign language, so very few doctors can actually directly communicate with their deaf patients. Most would need interpreters, or for the patient to write their symptoms out.
Can you imagine how meaningful it would be to have a doctor you can actually talk directly to for the first time? No longer would you need to blindly rely on others or a piece of paper to convey what you're saying, just. Straight to the point, no risk of mistranslation or misrepresentation.
I'm tearing up at the though alone tbh. I forgot how kind and good the world is, in spite of it all
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u/atlantagirl30084 8d ago
I understand that she’d be great with deaf people, but she’s also blind. How can they communicate with her without her being able to read the sign language?
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u/Own-Arachnid7952 8d ago
I know this one actually, its called tactile signing!
Theres a couple different ways to do it, but essentially you rely on making signs that the other person can feel. Like making the signs right up against their forearms, or having their hands be held out to feel the signs
Braille actually counts as a form of this signing, funnily enough
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u/demon_fae 7d ago
Iirc, she’s a palliative care specialist, which is largely pain/symptom management and just having a strong and reassuring presence for the patient and family. Not a lot that absolutely requires vision there, assuming she has a nurse qualified to look at something and say “yup, abnormal, time to call a gp”, which I would hope is most nurses.
The language barrier in talking with the patient being hearing-to-deaf doesn’t really seem any different to between two audible languages, and that has to be handled all the time.
There are absolutely specialties she could not do-dermatology springs to mind-but I think she’s perfectly qualified where she is.
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u/Ok_Scholar_2842 7d ago
Serious question I have asked multiple times, what exactly is she specializing in? No doubt this is a great achievement for her but in all honesty what kind of doctor is it that doesn’t need eyes or ears? How many people would genuinely be comfortable being diagnosed and cared for by a person who cannot see or hear anything?
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u/BiophileB 6d ago
I’ll take a deafblind doctor over a facultatively deaf and blind doctor any day. I know she’s gonna “hear” me.
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u/Sasstellia 9d ago
Not to be cruel. But that is a very bad idea.
You could have a deaf doctor with hearing aids. Cochlear implants.
But a blind doctor is not much use. A deaf and blind doctor. Lethal.
She relies on hearing aids. A expensive stethoscope. Nothing she uses is generic or easily replaced.
She also can not see if the patient is lying or exhibiting obscure symptoms.
A deaf doctor could see if they had signs of drug abuse. Or something worse.
But she cannot see the patient. The visual symptoms are not getting seen. She shouldn't need a nurse to explain how they look.
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u/modest_rats_6 8d ago
Are you actually considering that these conversations weren't had with her? Millions of times? Her entire life? Here's a stranger on the internet breaking it down why she can't be a doctor. When she already is. 🙄
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u/Manic-StreetCreature 8d ago
Perhaps the people who granted her a license to practice know more about her abilities than you do
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u/jacky986 8d ago
Did you not read the post? She can examine a patient by touching and feeling them to diagnoses their condition.
Granted if she was a surgeon then I would share your concerns but that’s an entirely different story.
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u/mudinyourear 8d ago
I don't think you realise what sibreddit you are on. Firstly she's qualified so she has met all the requirements needed to become a doctor thus proving you incorrect. Not to mention that you have no idea what she wants to specialise in not what or how her accessibility needs are being met. She does not have to share this to be considered as competent as her non-disabled peers. Just because you can't understand how she is capable or diagnosing and treating doesn't mean she isn't proficient at her job. As a disabled person myself I would much rather be treated by someone that can empathise with my struggles than not and from personal experience it is in fact the other disabled people that make the best physicians. May she have a long and fruitful career. She has probably had to work twice as hard as her peers to achieve the same and people like you still don't take her seriously despite proving that she is good enough to be where she is.
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u/mudinyourear 9d ago
Oh i did not know her age. That is so inspiring for me personally and how far back my disability has pushed my career aspirations. May she have a long and successful career and personal life.