Asking for doctor without accent is racist

[arydant]

Since I began having hearing loss I have been having a hard time understanding people with foreign accents. My brain can only fill in the missing pieces of speech that it learned that I grew up with - essentially US midwestern diction. When I encounter people who do not articulate this speech pattern well, for whatever reason, it is a struggle for me to communicate with them effectively - particularly in a doctors office with loud ventialtion noise which most seem to have nowadays.

So when I went to my clinic and asked for a physician that spoke clear english because of my hearing loss, the receptionist assumed that I only wanted a “white doctor” and kept repeating “all our doctors speak english”. She clearly wasn’t listening to me nor was sensitive to my needs. I complained to management.

[Psych1]

Yes, I agree with the title of your post.

[d_Wooluf]

I think this might escalate quickly. Some people speak more intelligibly from the point of view of a hearing impaired person than others. Fact. People from your own neck of the woods are more intelligible to you? Maybe in your case, not in mine. People from around here mumble like crazy. Some people with accents are very clear speakers. Some- especially when they’ve been speaking their own brand of English since birth- are not. There are also people (not you!) who almost refuse to listen to a person with an accent because… they have an accent.

I think the best you can do is point to your hearing aids and ask for the clearest speaker they know. Then hope for the best.