Autoethnography of an experience of CODA, Children of Deaf Adult

Abstract

In this autoethnographic work I relate how the late acquisition of a sign language allows a process of repair and re-appropriation of a CODA (Children Of Deaf Adults) identity. This is a reflective research on a singular experience as the eldest daughter of deaf parents in order to highlight its complexities and link them with social, cultural and psychological concepts. In this particular process of telling one's story, I write in the first person by fusing the “subject” and “object” of the investigation. Each person creates the social and cultural reality while drawing inspiration from it to build his or her own identity. Thus, the deliberate choice of sign language reflects a will for vital transformation both at the personal and social level, it is a political action. The comic strips allow to illustrate the issues and represent the research in an accessible way in order to reach a certain degree of generalization.