Jacob can hear, his parents are Deaf. This camp is helping bridge the communication gap

Dateline returns for a new season with a documentary about the first-ever Asian-American camp for children of Deaf adults, or Codas, reported by Australian filmmaker and artist Jodee Mundy, a Coda herself.

Watch Camp Coda premiere on Tuesday 5 March at 9:30pm on SBS or SBS On Demand.

In a campsite in a national park in rural Pennsylvania, 10-year-old Jacob Ma is trying to learn the signs for American Sign Language (ASL).

“I want to talk to my mum more,” he says. Asked what he would want to say to her, he replies, “Anything. Like I can normally talk to her, like, ‘Can I have food?’ But I don’t know how to do food.”

Jacob is a Coda, or child of Deaf adults. He can fingerspell (spelling words using hand movements) a bit but doesn’t know how to sign so he’s been relying on his phone to communicate with his parents.

His dad Johnny Ma explains that he and his wife Michelle work long hours and haven’t spent enough time with their kids to teach them to sign. The family lives with Jacob’s grandparents, who speak Chinese instead of ASL.

In the hope of breaking this barrier, the family is taking part in the first ever Asian-American Coda camp.

At the camp, Jacob is learning to communicate with his Deaf parents. Source: SBS / Dateline

At least half a million people in the United States use ASL as their main language. It’s one of 300 different sign languages used around the world.

For Codas, growing up as the only hearing person in a Deaf family can often be an isolating experience.

“There’s a lot of layers to being Coda,” Marie Rose Guillermo, one of the camp facilitators and a Coda herself, explains. “We’re constantly on the edge

,

navigating both worlds.”

For Asian Codas growing up in a western hearing world, an even greater cultural gap exists between them and their Deaf parents’ world.

It’s what motivated the Metropolitan Asian Deaf Association (MADA) to organise a camp that would bring Coda kids closer to their Deaf parents and Asian culture.

“I’ve seen other Coda camps here in America. We’ve seen they do exist, but they don’t match our values,” MADA President Clement So says. “We wanted to teach Asian values and Asian activities.”

Clement Ho, President of the Metropolitan Asian Deaf Association (MADA), wanted to organise a Coda camp that would focus on Asian culture and values. Source: SBS / Dateline

Clement has two hearing daughters

,

Beverley and Everlee. The girls know ASL, but their father wants to keep strengthening the existing connection they have.

“For Deaf parents, you never know if you’re going to bond. You see some Deaf people and I notice it’s a struggle for them. It’s very important to communicate and have that relationship. I want that bond to remain with me for life.”

Camp activities

Over the course of three days, the Codas are immersed in the Deaf world, or at least they try to be. Keeping a group of kids who react to sound paying attention proves difficult, so the camp leaders soon abandon the ASL-only approach. Several Coda adults help as interpreters.

The activities include Chinese lantern-making and night-time stories. The weekend leads towards a filial piety session on the last night in which the children commit to look after their parents in their old age – all in sign language.

As night falls, the Codas gather in a tent to talk about challenges they face growing up with Deaf parents. One of the common frustrations is having to act as interpreters from a young age and help adults navigate everyday life and bureaucracy such as at clinics or banks.

The first-ever Asian American Coda camp aims to bring hearing kids closer to their Deaf parents and Asian culture. Source: SBS / Dateline

Brandon, a 18-year-old Coda who volunteers at the camp, says it is important to make connections with kids who are going through the same experiences. When his mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, he was the one translating the doctor’s words to her.

“I didn’t even know what it meant. There was a lot of responsibility. I was 10 or 11,” he recalled.

For Jacob, it’s still a long way to freely communicate with his parents in sign language but the camp served as a much-needed first step.

On the last night, with a bit of guidance from Marie Rose, Jacob signs to his dad, “I want to learn more ASL.” His father signs back, “I will teach you more ASL,” to the cheers of the rest of the camp.

“When I look back at this camp, no matter how the rest of the camp turned out, it’s moments like these that we will cherish forever,” Marie Rose says, with a tear in her eye.

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