My Ride With an Uber Driver Who Was Hard of Hearing
Today was like any day at work. Busy and eventful, not to mention exhausting.
Typically, I have to take buses everywhere I go, and being legally blind turns a 20-minute drive home into a three-hour bus ride most days, even more so with the local highway under construction.
So when I have extra money, I Uber it.
I went to an area where I could hail myself a ride, and when I went to request one on my phone, I came across this pop up that informed me my driver was hard of hearing. It thanked me for putting in my destination so he could get step-by-step written directions.
Needless to say, I was impressed.
My driver’s name was Scott and he was extremely helpful. He was able to read lips and had a phone charger, water and candy all set up in between the seats for his passengers. Our conversation was great. We joked around about the irony that one of us was hard of hearing, while the other one had a visual impairment.
I am amazed that a company such as Uber went out of their way to accommodate its drivers in a way I have never seen before.
Thank you, Uber, for the safe ride home. And thank you, Scott, for everything.
Diversity is awesome.
Mandy is a writer, disability activist, and former paraprofessional, defying the odds as a woman with severe visual impairments. She’s originally from Philadelphia and a graduate of Johnson and Wales University. Mandy has been an active supporter of the self advocacy community and has spent much of her life working and volunteering with special needs adults and children. She currently resides in Orlando, Florida where she currently works as a parade escort and vacation planner Follow Mandy’s journey from caregiver to cast member and beyond on Legally Blind Bagged
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