Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence. Third Culture Kids: The Experiences of Growing up among Worlds. “Cochlear implants and codas: the impact of a technology on a community,” Boston University School of Medicine. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. “Border Crossings by Hearing Children of Deaf Parents: The Lost History of Codas” In Open Your Eyes: Deaf Studies Talking, edited by H-Dirksen L. CODA International video by Alex Laferrière (2016).Families In Global Transition – Children Of Deaf Adults As “Third Culture Kids”. This means that the space of the third culture - the community Codas create with each other - becomes even more important as Codas try to establish their sense of belonging.Ĭlearly, there is more that we need to learn about new ways of living in the third culture. As biological relatives, but not biologically deaf themselves, Codas do not feel as though they can truly claim their parents’ culture - no matter how intimately they know its language and customs.
#Coda definition deaf series
Inspired by FRN’s seminar series (in particular, FRN Co-Chair Danau Tanu’s provocations), Erin suggested that instead of trying to determine whether or not Codas are TCKs or CCKs, it may be more useful to look at the third culture (or interstitial culture) as an analytical concept and to ask: how might Codas’ experience of the third culture be unique?Įrin explained that for Codas, biology (i.e., whether one can hear or not) is integrally linked to a cultural affiliation (i.e., Deaf versus hearing). Both Codas and traditional TCKs have connections to multiple cultures while not fully claiming membership in any.Codas can be considered a type of cross-cultural kid (CCK), like children of immigrants or international adoptees, who don’t fit the classic definition of internationally-mobile TCKs.For example, Codas have built a community through organisations like CODA International, where they have the space to explore their identities. Both feel a sense of belonging with others who share a similar background.Codas don’t fully belong to their Deaf parents’ culture nor the hearing culture that surrounds them.
Like traditional TCKs, Codas spend their childhoods ‘ growing up among worlds’. Robert Hoffmeister, professor of Deaf Studies at Boston University and himself a Coda, explains in Open Your Eyes: Deaf Studies Talking (2007) They may choose to only live one life, but all of them have two.” Every Coda leads two lives: one as Codas and one as a hearing person. “…all Codas grow up in two worlds, the Deaf world of their families and the Hearing world. At the same time, Codas don’t feel as though they belong to the hearing world either - citing distinctly ‘Deaf’ ways of being that don’t mesh with hearing culture. Despite being biological relatives of Deaf people and being raised by them, Codas lack the biological feature (deafness) necessary to be considered completely part of the Deaf community. It is now felt that Codas - children born to and raised by Deaf parents - who grow up in the Deaf world, yet their ability to hear puts them in a unique position between the hearing and Deaf worlds, Codas as inhabitants of both (or neither) the Deaf and hearing worlds. Erin’s current and ongoing dissertation research with deaf immigrants in the United States sits at the intersection of a number of fields including medical anthropology, Deaf studies, disability studies, linguistic anthropology, and immigration studies.Ĭhildren of Deaf Adults as Third Culture Kids: For a concise explanation of the differences between writing “Deaf” and “deaf,” as well as other labels, see the FAQ page of the National Association for the Deaf.]Įrin Mellett, MS, is a PhD candidate in the Anthropology department at Brown University, whose research interests include Deafness and the Deaf community, disability studies, language, and belonging.
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