Firstness comes full circle - Dr Laura Riley on Grey’s Anatomy

Firstness comes full circle - Dr Laura Riley on Grey’s Anatomy

February 2020 saw for the first time the appearance of a deaf doctor on national TV in the form of Dr. Laura Riley on the long-time running drama Grey’s Anatomy. Compared to Dr. Kerry Weaver several years ago, this representation is an authentic take on deaf doctors in the field of medicine as it shows Dr Riley a good diagnostician not despite their deafness but rather because of it. Moreover, the show does not use the character’s deafness as a trope but another layer of their multifaceted personality. Last but not least, the show brings to the fore the variety of communication techniques used by deaf people in professional settings - from signing, lip reading and English to using a sign language interpreter via an iPad, a holistic and nuanced representation of the ways deaf people communicate is shown. Through this, we see more and better representation of doctors with disabilities making their way to the small screen.

Grey's Anatomy