Child of deaf adult
A child of deaf adult, often known by the acronym CODA, is a person who was raised by one or more deaf parents or legal guardians. Ninety percent of children born to deaf adults can hear normally,[1] resulting in a significant and widespread community of CODAs around the world, although whether the child is hearing, deaf, or hard of hearing has no effect on the definition. The acronym KODA (kid of deaf adult) is sometimes used to refer to CODAs under the age of 18.
For the film, see CODA (2021 film).The term was coined by Millie Brother who also founded the organization CODA,[2] which serves as a resource and a center of community for children of deaf adults as an oral and a sign language, and bicultural, identifying with both deaf and hearing cultures. CODAs often navigate the border between the deaf and hearing worlds, serving as liaisons between their deaf parents and the hearing world in which they reside.[3]
Potential challenges facing hearing CODAs[edit]
The challenges facing the hearing children of deaf adults parallel those of many second-generation immigrant children. Just as many first-generation immigrant parents frequently struggle to communicate in the majority (spoken) language, and come to rely on the greater fluency of their bilingual children, so deaf parents may come to rely on hearing children who are effectively fluent bilinguals. This dynamic can lead CODAs to act as interpreters for their parents, which can be especially problematic when a child CODA is asked to interpret messages that are cognitively or emotionally inappropriate for their age. For example, a school-aged child may be called on to explain a diagnosis of a serious medical condition to their deaf parent.
In addition, CODAs are often exposed to prejudice against their family. The isolation can deprive the child of normal social skills. Many people may assume that the entire family is deaf because they are all able to sign and communicate in this manner. Bystanders may make negative comments about the deaf community in that family's presence, not realizing the child can hear. Deaf parents may not adequately understand that while a deaf person can look away or close their eyes, a hearing person cannot choose to ignore hurtful words so easily.[5] The CODAs might often keep the hurtful comments to themselves adding additional weight to the already difficult circumstances.[6]
Discordant hearing status can also pose practical problems. Deaf and hearing people differ in visual attention patterns, with deaf people being more easily distracted by movement in peripheral vision.[7] Deaf parents often instinctively use such movement to attract their child's attention, which can lead to difficulties engaging in joint attention with hearing toddlers.[8] Parental sensitivity to child cues modulates this effect, with highly sensitive parents being more able to adjust to a child's differences from them.
Millie Brother established the organization CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) in 1983 as a non-profit organization for the hearing children of deaf parents.[9] Its first annual conference took place in 1986 in Fremont, California.[10] The conferences have grown and have taken on an international status, with attendees hailing from around the world. CODA aims to raise awareness about the unique experiences and issues of growing up between these two cultures. It provides a forum for CODAs to discuss the shared problems and experiences with other CODAs.[11]
Regardless of the spoken and sign languages used, CODA believes that such feelings and experiences that derive from the binary relationship of the two divergent cultures are universally felt by CODAs. CODA provides educational opportunities, promotes self-help, organizes advocacy efforts, and serves as a resource for CODAs raised in both signing and non-signing environments.
There are support groups for deaf parents who may be concerned about raising their hearing children, as well as support groups for adult CODAs. One organization, KODAheart [12] provides educational and recreational resources for deaf parents and hearing children through an educational website and pop-up camps. Several camps have been established for KODAs:
There is also CODA UK, Ireland, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and France.