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Deaf-related
Resources
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Hearing Children of Deaf Parents
A Pathfinder
SCOPE
Hearing children born to deaf parents are often called CODAs or codas ([Hearing]
Children Of Deaf Adults). Many of these hearing
children grow up in a deaf-culture environment. Many of them learn to sign before
they learn to speak. They are often pressed into service as interpreters for their
parents, even while they still are very young children. Their parents usually
involve their hearing children in deaf activities and events. At the same time,
these children must function as part of the hearing world, because they are in fact
hearing and go to hearing schools, and they usually grow up with hearing friends and
participate in hearing activities and events. Hence, CODAs often feel caught between
two cultures: they are hearing, but grew up "Deaf"; they usually like music and other
distinctly "hearing" things, but also must reconcile those with their "Deaf" identities.
Many adult hearing children of deaf parents are members of a support group called CODA,
which helps them to come to grips with the conflicts involved.
The Gallaudet University Library contains much material relating to hearing children of
deaf parents. This pathfinder is designed to help you find information and materials
about hearing children of deaf parents. If you want the most recent information on this
subject, you should plan to use periodicals (magazines and journals) found in the
ERIC or Exceptional Child Education Resources databases. Books will also
be helpful and often more thorough, but they are usually not as current as periodicals.
Remember, this pathfinder will not tell you about all the materials the Library has
about this topic. You must do the basic research yourself. This pathfinder will guide
you to the appropriate places to begin your search for information. If you need further
assistance, please ask at the Reference Desk.
BOOKS
Books are good places to get in-depth information and the historical background of an
issue. Books are not good places to find recent information. Hint:
Don't forget to check the bibliography (list of resources) at the end of most books to
find other suggestions of where to find information!
Two books are suggested for introductions and starting points:
Bull, Thomas H., On the edge of deaf culture: hearing children/deaf parents,
Alexandria, VA: Deaf Family Research Press, 1998 (DEAF 306.874016 O57 1998).
- This contains annotated references to thousands of books, periodical articles,
videotapes, and other materials relating to hearing children of deaf parents,
grouped by topics.
Preston, Paul, Mother father deaf: living between sound and silence, Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994 (DEAF 306.874 P73m 1994).
- An excellent orientation to this topic, covering the two "cultures in collision"
with reviews of previous research, personal experiences of many different people,
and examinations of psychological and social factors, especially self-identity and
social acceptance.
You can find other books about hearing children of deaf parents in the ALADIN catalog
by using the WRLC Libraries Catalog. Use the following terms in a Keyword
search:
- "hearing children" AND "deaf parents"
- "hearing children" AND "family relationship"
- "parent child relationship" AND "hearing children"
- children AND "handicapped parents"
PERIODICALS
To find information about hearing children of deaf parents using the ERIC
article database, access ERIC through the Articles and Other Databases
section of ALADIN. You can use the following terms in a keyword search:
- hearing children and deaf parents
Some additional material may be found through the Exceptional Child Education
Resources database, which is also in Articles and Other Databases. In
this database, use the Words anywhere search with the terms:
- hearing children deaf parents
To find information in the psychology literature about hearing children of deaf parents,
use the PsycINFO article database on ALADIN. Use the Keywords search with the
following terms:
- hearing children deaf parents
The online Index to deaf periodicals (available through Deaf-Related
Resources on the Gallaudet Library's Web page,
http://library.gallaudet.edu) will help
you find articles in several popular deaf periodicals. Use these terms in a
Browse…Subject search:
- hearing children of deaf parents
- children of deaf adults
OTHER RESOURCES
Videotapes
Videotapes are available through the Circulation Desk. Use the WRLC Libraries
Catalog part of ALADIN and the Keyword search with the following terms:
- "hearing children" AND "family relationship" AND videorecording
- "parent child relationship" AND "hearing children" AND videorecording
- "hearing children" AND "deaf parents" AND videorecording
World Wide Web (WWW)
The organization Children of Deaf Adults (CODA) has a site on the WWW, which you can
visit for more information about CODA itself:
http://www.coda-international.org/.
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) also has a Special Interest Group
called Hearing Interpreters with Deaf Parents (HIDP), with a somewhat different
emphasis and membership than CODA. Some information about HIDP can be found through
the RID web site:
http://www.rid.org/sigs.html#sig5.
For more information on hearing children of deaf parents, use a search engine such as Google
(http://www.google.com)
or Northern Light
(http://northernlight.com)
and run the following search:
- +"hearing children" +"deaf parents"
Remember: If you have any questions, please ask a librarian at the Service Desk.
* * * * * * * * * *
Written by Patrick Oberholtzer
Reference and Instruction Librarian
October 1995
Revised by Tom Harrington
Reference and Instruction Librarian
October 2001
