CODA Hong Kong offering deaf parents new support with help of Operation Santa Claus
- Charity aimed at helping children of deaf Hongkongers and their parents will add a full-time counsellor next year with money from South China Morning Post, RTHK fundraising campaign
- Founded by the hearing child of deaf parents, CODA has been offering support to struggling families since 2013
Born to deaf parents, Cindy Chan Kai-yee’s mother tongue is sign language, even though she herself can hear.
From a young age, Chan has lived between the deaf and hearing worlds, signing with her parents at home and later learning Cantonese from relatives and at school.
Speaking in a direct manner reflective of how she used sign language at home, she was often mistaken for being rude or blunt at school. Taken in combination with her poor Cantonese pronunciation and grammar skills, the result was a sense of isolation from her classmates.
As the eldest child, Chan also found herself caught up in her parents’ conflicts, describing her childhood as “rough” and “wounded.”
“As my parents’ [communication] abilities are limited, it affected their emotions. They often fought, which led to cracks in their marriage,” she said.
“Aside from being the translator for my parents, I also had to counsel them for their emotional issues.”
Those childhood experiences drove Chan to establish CODA Hong Kong in 2013, a charity to unite and empower the children of deaf adults who had lived through the same experience.
Having watched her own parents’ struggles, Chan will hire a professional counsellor or social worker in 2022 to lead a psychosocial and emotional support programme for 100 deaf parents.