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Resources

A complete listing of resources compiled by Tom Bull, a CODA. Click below:

CODA Facts and Resources for Deaf Parents

Notable CODAs

Lon Chaney, Sr., American actor raised by deaf parents. His upbringing allowed him to communicate better in silent films
Kambri Crews, American comedic storyteller and writer who incorporates sign language in performances and whose parents, maternal grandparents and several aunts and uncles are deaf.
Lou Fant, American actor; sign language coach for Children of a Lesser God
Louise Fletcher, American Academy Award-winning actress for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder of Gallaudet University, the world’s only university for deaf and hard of hearing students. He is the son of Sophia Fowler Gallaudet and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, founder of the American School for the Deaf, the first school for the deaf in the U.S.
Craig Gass, American impressionist
Richard Griffiths, English actor
Stefan LeFors, Canadian football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Homer Thornberry, a United States Representative from the 10th congressional district of Texas from 1948 to 1963
Jim Verraros, American Idol finalist, season 1
Keith Wann, with two other Deaf actors, perform regularly in a troupe called Iceworm, to showcase the cultural and linguistic barrier faced between the deaf and hearing worlds in a comedic fashion
Vera Patterson, Consistent volunteer at the Ontario camp of the Deaf. Lead staff in programming all activities for said camp. A notable deaf ally of her time. Has been voicing her concerns for the deaf community since her early youth.
Blair Patterson, Deaf advocate for the deaf community. Currently 18 years old. One of the youngest CODAs to fight for deaf rights.
Jerry Ferris, best known for appearing on season three of The Bachelorette, which featured Jen Schefft, went on to become a successful sign language interpreter, actor and producer.
Half n Half, Sherry Hicks and Michael Velez, dynamic duo delights audiences with their original multimedia American Sign Language (ASL) performances combining Music and storytelling.
The Olson Brothers, (Andy and Ben Olson) CODA Brothers, YouTube sensations
Liysa Croll Callson, CODA Diva, inspirational speaker and comedienne
Dennis Daugaard, elected as South Dakota’s 32nd Governor on November 2, 2010. Both of Dennis’ parents were born deaf, making sign language the principle means of communication for his family.

Other Deaf Culture Acronyms:

CODA – Child of Deaf Adult(s) (18+ years old)
OHCODA – Only Hearing Child of Deaf Adults (deaf parents and deaf siblings)
OCODA – Only Child of Deaf Adult(s) (no siblings)
KODA – Kid of Deaf Adult(s) (17 years or younger)
SODA – Sibling of a Deaf adult
SpODA – Spouse of Deaf adult
GODA – Grandchild of Deaf Adult(s)
COHHA – Child of a Hard-Of-Hearing Adult(s)

Publications

The Girl on Two Chairs by Olga Svensson Richter, is a different and unique narrative about a hearing child growing up with deaf parents. We get introduced to the girl called Olga who sets out on a long journey from the 1950s to the present, a childhood in which she experiences success and adversity such as society’s ignorance about and bad attitude to the Deaf.

Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World by Leah H. Cohen. This portrait of New York’s Lafayette School for the Deaf is not just a work of journalism. It is also a memoir, since Leah Hager Cohen grew up on the school’s campus and her father is its superintendent. As a hearing person raised among the deaf, Cohen appreciates both the intimate textures of that silent world and the gulf that separates it from our own.

A Loss for Words: The Story of Deafness in a Family by Lou Ann Walker. From the time she was a toddler, Lou Ann Walker was the ears and voice for her deaf parents. Their family life was warm and loving, but outside the home, they faced a world that misunderstood and often rejected them.

In This Sign by Joanne Greenberg. The story of deaf couple, their hearing daughter, and their struggles through life.

Mother Father Deaf: Living Between Sound and Silence by Paul Preston. “Mother father deaf” is the phrase commonly used within the Deaf community to refer to hearing children of deaf parents. These children grow up between two cultures, the Hearing and the Deaf. The author is one of these children, and in this book based on 150 interviews, he takes us to the place where Deaf and Hearing cultures meet.

My Sense of Silence: Memoirs of a Childhood With Deafness by Lennard J. Davis. The author tells what his childhood was like growing up a hearing child with deaf parents.

The Silents by Charlotte Abrams. The hearing daughter of deaf parents presents a memoir about growing up in a close-knit, community-minded Jewish family in Chicago during the Depression and World War II, a time during which her mother began to go blind.