Shoshannah Stern to be a deaf doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy”
Deaf actress Shoshannah Stern will be a doctor on “Grey’s Anatomy” at 9 p.m. Eastern Time tonight on ABC.
Before I go into her role, I want to let you know that there will be a deaf girl, Kiera Vincent-Rose, on “Station 19” tonight. It is also on ABC, but at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
The California School for the Deaf, Riverside announced on Facebook that Kiera is an elementary student at CSDR. Station 19 is a drama TV series about firefighters. Nyle DiMarco had a role on Station 19 last year as a deaf firefighter.
So, that’s two straight shows tonight on ABC with deaf roles. Nice. Now, let’s go back to Stern’s role on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
According to ET Online and Variety, the role is Dr. Lauren Riley, a signing deaf diagnostics expert. She is recruited to come to the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to treat a patient with a mysterious ailment. She will have to deal with different opinions from other doctors. ET Online said it will be a multi-episode arc, so we can expect to see more of Dr. Riley after tonight. Stern told Variety that the “Grey’s Anatomy” team reached out to several real-life deaf doctors to check on if what they wrote about Dr. Riley was accurate.
ET and Variety reported that Dr. Riley was the “first deaf doctor” on primetime television, but there were deaf doctor roles cast by Phyllis Frelich (ER) and Marlee Matlin (Law and Order: SVU).
California Association of the Deaf (CAD) Media and Jack Jason took to Twitter to make the corrections. Stern said it was never her intention to take anything away from any member of my community and that she was told about the “first” in error. Variety and ET edited their stories.
Stern said she is honored “to follow in these giant footsteps,” referring to Frelich and Matlin.
A real-life deaf doctor — ear surgeon Dr. Chad Ruffin — tweeted that he is “proud to have collaborated with the show’s writers to help create a deaf physician character.”
The Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL) also tweeted in support of Stern’s role.
https://twitter.com/Shoshannah7/status/1227762061007917056
https://twitter.com/ChadRuffinMD/status/1222394581288808449