Parenthood of Deaf mothers of hearing CODA children: Overview of selected research

Abstract

The aim of this article is to attempt to present the issue of parenthood of Deaf mothers of hearing, underage children (KODA). The presented subject is important from a scientific and cognitive point of view due to the important role of a mother in the family, and also due to the deficit of empirical research and scientific studies in the area of parenthood of Deaf mothers of KODA children. This article consists of five parts. Part one introduces the adopted terminological conventions and also draws attention to the issue of Deaf mothers from mixed-hearing status families as a rarely described or explored area. Part two and three form an attempt at synthetic description of the situation of Deaf mothers, as well as the situation of their hearing children (KODA). The main part of this article focuses on selected empirical studies carried out both in Poland and abroad. The article concludes with the author's summary and conclusions, highlighting that Deaf mothers, in their parental role, encounter a number of barriers regarding, among others, communication, access to information or social perception of parenthood of people with a damaged hearing.