The Social Development of Children with Deaf Parents
The ability to listen and recognize a mother’s voices plays an intricate role in one’s development. Mehler et al (1976) conducted a study and exposed one-month-old infants to their mother’s voice and the voice of a stranger. There were two conditions applied to each mothers’ voice. The first condition was that the mother focused on communicating with the infant, and the second condition was that the mother spoke without “prosodic and intonational aspects of normal speech” (Mehler et al, 1976, pg. 491). In order to measure which voice the infants preferred, researchers recorded the frequency in which the infants engaged in “nonnutritive sucking” (Mehler et al, 1976, pg. 493). The results of …show more content…
I address four questions in this analysis: How does being a child of a deaf parent affect the child’s sense of identity? Is the child’s cognitive development hindered? How do the personalities of CODAs (Children of Deaf Adults) differ from children with hearing parents? Lastly, how do the parent-child relationships compare between hearing children and their deaf parents, and hearing children and their hearing parents? The answers to these questions will highlight a way of life that is overlooked and forgotten by society. If more attention can be cast upon CODAs and the deaf community, there may be a decrease in the stigmas and marginalization of deaf …show more content…
These children identify as CODAs and they grow up exposed to both the hearing and the deaf communities. CODAs learn ASL (American Sign Language) as their primary means of communication, and later learn the oral language of their community (Bishop & Hicks, 2005). Because CODAs interact with both the deaf and hearing communities, a vast amount of research has been conducted in order to explore the process of identity development in these children. Bishop and Hicks (2005) write “hearing children do not see themselves as different from their parents” when they are young (pg. 188). However, as the CODAs grow older they begin to feel as if they do not belong to either the hearing or the deaf communities. From a deaf perspective, CODAs are essentially “deaf” because they understand and assimilate to the cultural norms of deaf society (Bishop & Hicks, 2005). On the other hand, CODAs are considered part of the hearing community because they are able to hear and communicate orally (Bishop & Hicks,
The ability to listen and recognize a mother’s voices plays an intricate role in one’s development. Mehler et al (1976) conducted a study and exposed one-month-old infants to their mother’s voice and the voice of a stranger. There were two conditions applied to each mothers’ voice. The first condition was that the mother focused on communicating with the infant, and the second condition was that the mother spoke without “prosodic and intonational aspects of normal speech” (Mehler et al, 1976, pg. 491). In order to measure which voice the infants preferred, researchers recorded the frequency in which the infants engaged in “nonnutritive sucking” (Mehler et al, 1976, pg. 493). The results of …show more content…
I address four questions in this analysis: How does being a child of a deaf parent affect the child’s sense of identity? Is the child’s cognitive development hindered? How do the personalities of CODAs (Children of Deaf Adults) differ from children with hearing parents? Lastly, how do the parent-child relationships compare between hearing children and their deaf parents, and hearing children and their hearing parents? The answers to these questions will highlight a way of life that is overlooked and forgotten by society. If more attention can be cast upon CODAs and the deaf community, there may be a decrease in the stigmas and marginalization of deaf …show more content…
These children identify as CODAs and they grow up exposed to both the hearing and the deaf communities. CODAs learn ASL (American Sign Language) as their primary means of communication, and later learn the oral language of their community (Bishop & Hicks, 2005). Because CODAs interact with both the deaf and hearing communities, a vast amount of research has been conducted in order to explore the process of identity development in these children. Bishop and Hicks (2005) write “hearing children do not see themselves as different from their parents” when they are young (pg. 188). However, as the CODAs grow older they begin to feel as if they do not belong to either the hearing or the deaf communities. From a deaf perspective, CODAs are essentially “deaf” because they understand and assimilate to the cultural norms of deaf society (Bishop & Hicks, 2005). On the other hand, CODAs are considered part of the hearing community because they are able to hear and communicate orally (Bishop & Hicks,