"He may not hear, but he is not stupid": The clinic visit that turned into a struggle for accessibility
A routine visit to a dermatology clinic turned into a struggle for the right to accessible and independent medical care for Erez Avraham, who has been deaf from birth. His wife told Walla about the difficulties regarding appointment tracking, communication with the doctor, and understanding medical procedures. "I don't want them to just clarify procedures—I want systemic change," she stated.
Erez Avraham, 35, who has been deaf from birth, arrived about two weeks ago for a visit to a Clalit dermatology clinic in Tel Aviv, where he encountered a series of failures: the appointment screen was broken, he had no way of knowing when he was called, communication with the doctor was impossible, and a painful medical procedure was performed without any prior explanation.
What was supposed to be a routine visit turned into a difficult ordeal. The problems began in the waiting room, where the screen displaying appointments was not working. Erez, unable to hear the calls, had no way of knowing when his turn arrived. "He waited for about 20 minutes while others bypassed him," his wife told Walla. Even inside the doctor's office, no communication solution was offered. "It would have been simple to use a phone, a piece of paper, or turn the computer monitor toward him. There were so many simple solutions."
"We had filed a complaint on the website a week and a half earlier, but no one contacted us," his wife emphasized. Before the social media post, she had contacted the HMO twice, receiving only vague assurances that the issue was being handled. No official contact was made until the inquiry from Walla.
According to the couple, the doctor at one point refused to provide a piece of paper for written communication. Subsequently, a medical procedure involving a spray was performed without Erez understanding what was happening. "They treated him as if he didn't understand," she says. "He doesn't hear, but that doesn't mean he's stupid. Erez reads lips and is literate."
"I don't want them to tell me they clarified procedures"
Since the video was published, the family has received numerous messages from deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals reporting similar experiences. "People shared stories about injections and anesthesia where they didn't understand what was being done to them," she notes.
She clarifies that she is not seeking financial compensation but rather systemic change. "I'm not interested in suing anyone. I don't want to hear that they 'clarified procedures' or 'reprimanded the staff.' I want real change." Following the incident, a manager from another Clalit clinic contacted her. "I asked him: how does this help? Can Erez go to the doctor alone tomorrow? My husband is 35; he needs to be independent." She has offered to help train medical staff on how to provide accessible services to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
"It scares me at the level of our lives"
The event has left the couple concerned about emergency situations. "What if I'm pregnant and go into labor unexpectedly? Will an interpreter be able to arrive in time? What am I supposed to do—translate during childbirth? He needs to know what is happening," she says.
According to her, accessibility in the healthcare system is not just a matter of convenience. "I want every deaf and hard-of-hearing person to be able to enter a clinic, know that they will be informed about their treatment, and be treated as a person who understands and makes decisions about their own body. This shouldn't be an unusual demand," she concludes.
