Children of Deaf Adults

The hearing children of Deaf parents grow up in two cultures with two languages. They are similar to other bilingual, bicultural children in many ways but are special also. They can be in conflict between two worlds and often carry an extra burden of responsibility in functioning as a bridge between the two. As long as the child is given enough exposure to both the spoken and the signed languages, both will be learned well. Since Deaf parents will most often have hearing children, it is important for them to understand the position of Kodas. Stakeholder organizations define a Koda as the hearing child of Deaf adults who are signing (kid of Deaf adults). The term Coda is usually applied to an adult child of Deaf adults.