Codas Dod And Deaf Children Born To Deaf Adults: A Look Into The Similarities

Kimberly Barnaby

104412422

SLN 111

Prof Melissa Scali

November 30, 2006

ASL Writing Assignment

The source of inspiration for this paper comes from my mother's friend's daughter. She was born hearing and at age seven lost it due to an illness known as scarlet fever. This event was unexpected, which made it a difficult journey for both she and her hearing parents. Through love, dedication and perseverance, the family was able to successfully put her through schooling (which happened to be in educational institutions for the hearing). Surprisingly, she was able to do well in school, and showed no signs of a serious disability. She was later able to enroll in a university for the deaf/hard of hearing. Ironically, she married a man who is deaf (since birth) and together they have three children, who have perfect hearing capabilities. It is fitting to conclude that she has covered all aspects of the role deafness and deaf culture play within families. Her experiences being the daughter of hearing parents and then the mother of hearing children have differed quite greatly. Motherhood is already hard in itself, but to have children that are hearing and that have the ability to speak (clearly) onsets an entirely new set of obstacles. Through research, I was able to find several sources that focused on the differences existing in familial interaction, and the like, between families involving deaf children born to hearing parents, hearing children born to deaf parents and deaf children born to deaf adults. My goal is to enlighten the reader on both differences and similarities that exist between these types of families and provide insight into the struggles, triumphs and inner-workings of these familial units.

Those children who have hearing parents are reported to have a communication pattern characterized by more than average amounts of speech use and less than average amounts of sign use. Now, there is another group of children whose situation is the complete opposite. Such prominent sectors of the Deaf world are known as CODAs, hearing individuals who are Children of Deaf Adults. Having two hearing impaired or deaf parents allows the family to place heavy emphasis on the use of signs and substantially less emphasis on speech communication. However, it is highly common for a CODA to both learn and embrace two languages and two cultures: those of the Deaf world and those of the larger hearing society. In a sense, a CODA is "almost deaf", because CODA's possess the cultural part of being deaf, including knowledge of the Deaf world, but they lack the physical difference. ASL is often their first language, taught to them from birth, in the same way hearing parents speak to hearing children. Learning ASL at a young age allows these children to spend a little time every day mediating issues between Deaf and hearing cultures. As a result, they generally become sign language interpreters and cultural mediators while they are still children. Issues arising from the mutual ignorance of hearing and Deaf people concerning one another's way of life, onsets the intention of these people to close the gap between both cultures as well as spread knowledge and understanding. Virtually all CODAs perform this function, relying solely on life experiences to be their source of wisdom. This inter-cultural mediation can be rewarding; which makes it unfortunate that there still exist negative implications regarding Deaf people(including the parents of CODA's), that are held by hearing people.

In some cases, CODAs may need speech therapy due to limited exposure to spoken language, as is in the case of my mother's friend's daughter. Her children have some social issues as well as behavioral issues (i.e. Melanie's daughter turns her back to her whenever she is "yelling at" or reprimanding her). Generally though, they are exposed to spoken language via extended family members, friends, neighbors, and the media. Due to the fact that these children have perfect hearing capabilities, they are not exposed to the same experiences as their parents; such as attending schools for the deaf. As such, many feel that they don't fully fit in with either the Deaf world or the hearing world.

Deaf children born to hearing adults have a tougher time with learning ASL and even English. In addition, it is harder for them to bridge the gap between both languages. Luckily there have been many programs and institutions created to help these children. BEGINNINGS, for example was created to educate parents of deaf or hard of hearing children. It provides information regarding screening for babies, benefits of visiting an audiologist, the emphasis on constant communication