North Texas Dentistry Volume 9 Issue 4 2019 ISSUE 4 DE - Page 19

team talent
Laureli Hattaway
INDIAN CREEK DENTAL:
A Deaf-friendly practice
by Dr. Shad Hattaway
he idea for our “Deaf-friendly”
dental practice started when I
was volunteering at Dental
Health for Arlington, a non-profit dental
clinic, and a Deaf patient showed up on
our emergency appointment schedule.
The patient was clearly in a lot of pain and
his only way of communicating was
through his wife, who was also Deaf.
She spoke, but relied on lip reading to
understand what anyone was saying.
I predicted the upcoming obstacle of com-
municating with her while my face mask
was on. My girlfriend, Laureli (now my
wife), is an American Sign Language
interpreter and taught me a few phrases
for when I went with her to Deaf events. I
signed, “Hi, I am S-H-A-D. My fiancée is
a sign language interpreter.” The patient
lost his mind! He started signing at an
unintelligible speed (for me) and started
crying. I was thinking, ‘Oh no, the tooth is
T
hurting him so bad, he’s sobbing!’ How-
ever, I realized these were tears of joy. I
texted Laureli and she showed me how to
sign “I only know a little sign language.” I
have never learned a signed phrase so
fast. We video interpreted the rest of the
appointment with Laureli on FaceTime,
and the patient was successfully treated.
After that, Laureli and I discussed the
intricacies of the Deaf community and
their need for access to communication in
healthcare settings. She informed me that
people who have no exposure to the Deaf
community assume that they can just
write everything down. This is not always
the case. For most Deaf people, English is
their second language. Imagine reading
complex medical treatment and diag-
noses in your second language! How frus-
trating and disempowering! That’s when
we decided to combine our passions and
make a Deaf-friendly dental practice.
Laureli is our staff interpreter. When we
have to utilize specialty care, Laureli will
often go with the patient to their appoint-
ment to make sure our message is accu-
rately translated to the specialist. Laureli
also provides our staff with monthly
ASL/Deaf culture lessons so the staff feels
comfortable conversing with and welcom-
ing Deaf patients into our practice. Lau-
reli has taken special interest in
medical/dental interpretation and is the
strongest advocate for our Deaf patients.
She cares so deeply, and strives to make
sure they get the same quality of care and
education that a hearing patient would
get. Our office also sponsors and partici-
pates in the Deaf Celebration Expo of
North Dallas. It’s important for us to be
as visible as possible in the community, to
let Deaf people know the service we offer.
Indian Creek Dental is located in Carroll-
ton. Visit www.indiancreekdental.com.
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