Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature

Carla, one of my former students, sent me an email requesting summer reading recommendations. Her only stipulation was that she wanted to read about characters similar to herself. As teachers, we often try to hook our students on reading by presenting books with characters with whom they can relate. Such books can help increase their overall knowledge of the world, open their minds to multiple realities and variations of the human experience and provide scenarios in which they can live vicariously.

Carla's request is more complicated than one might presume. She is a deaf student who attends a residential school for the deaf and views herself as a member of a linguistic cultural minority, not a member of a disabled group. Historically, authors have used deafness as a literary device to relay various messages about the struggles of humankind and elicit sympathy from readers (Batson & Bergman, 1985; Bergman, 1987; Burns, 1950; Krentz, 2002; Panara, 1972; Taylor, 1974, 1976a, 1976b, Schwartz, 1980; Wilding-Diaz, 1993). I knew that Carla did not want to read novels that pitied her or her peers. She wanted to read about characters who use American Sign Language and participate as members within the "Deaf"1 community. She does not want to read didactic books about deafness, but instead wants books with unpredictable plots and believable characters.

As an educator, I have sought and read numerous books about deafness. While memoirs and biographical selections have been relatively easy to acquire, finding fictional books for adolescents including deaf characters has been more challenging.

In recent decades, however, the general public's awareness of and perhaps interest in deaf people has risen along with that of our increasingly multicultural world. Educational legislation has increased awareness of the deaf as has news coverage of Gallaudet University protests. In addition, Deaf people have benefited from advances in communicative technology, such as Video Relay (VRS) and instant messaging pagers, more coordinated interpreting services and an increase in awareness of American Sign Language. Authors are incorporating more deaf characters than they did in the past. However, this increase does not necessarily translate to an increase in understanding of the deaf, nor does it translate to the most accurate, respectably, well-rounded characterization of the deaf. This dilemma, along with Carla's request, provided me with an interesting topic for study.

Problem and Purpose

Acquiring fictional books that include deaf characters can be time-consuming and challenging for teachers and librarians. The research examining deaf characters in fiction is extremely limited (Burns, 1950; Guella, 1983; Krentz, 2002; Wilding-Diaz, 1993). The most recent articles predominately focus on children's literature-specifically picture books (Bailes, 2002; Brittain, 2004). Despite decades of research affirming culturally authentic children's literature and the merits of multicultural literature, a coexisting body of research reveals the lack of culturally authentic texts (Applebee, 1992; Campbell & Wirtenberg, 1980; Ernest, 1995; Larrick, 1965; Sherriff, 2005; Taxel, 1986). Moreover, children's books with deaf characters are used as informational depictions of deaf individuals (Bockmiller, 1980). Readers of such resource books, typically parents, teachers and their students, gain information about deafness and individuals with "disabilities" (Bockmiller, 1980; Civiletto & Schirmer, 2000). If an important purpose for deaf characters in fiction is educational and informational, then I suggest that there is a need for the characters to be presented as realistic models of deaf people. If not, the readers of such fiction gain inaccurate information about deafness including reinforced negative stereotypes, as can occur in any other literature portraying cultural minorities.

Similar to authors' informational depictions, writers also reveal societal understanding of groups of people through their fiction (Banfield & Wilson, 1985; Panara, 1972; Rudman, 1984). Literature has often stigmatized minority culture individuals based upon race, ethnicity, disability, gender and/or sexual orientation. While readers might recognize the negative depictions and dismiss them as harmless stereotypes, these portrayals could become a part of the unconscious of members of our society. If books continually reinforce stereotypical depictions of deaf people, individuals belonging to the group might be typecast and discouraged into a limited way of being. As an educator, I want all of my students to have unlimited opportunities for the future without facing the disadvantages wrought by stereotyping.

The Study

For the purposes of this study, I examined six contemporary adolescent literature books with deaf characters, including: Nick's Secret, by C. Blatchford; A Maiden's Grave, by J. Deaver; Of Sound Mind, by J. Ferris; Deaf Child Crossing, by M. Matlin; Apple is My Sign, by M. Riskind; and Finding Abby, by V. Scott. These were written by three deaf authors and by three hearing authors. My research was based upon the perceptions of adult readers who each read two of the before-mentioned books. I selected the participants from a criterion sampling and divided them into three groups: 1. Adults who had attended either a special program for the deaf or a residential school for the deaf, used American Sign Language, and identified themselves as deaf were considered for the deaf category of the study; 2. Adults who were friends, family members, co-workers or professionals in fields connected with individuals who identify themselves as deaf were considered for the familiar category of the study; and, 3. hearing adults who were not aware of the everyday experiences of deaf people and who had not taken a sign language class or worked with or lived with a deaf person were considered for the unfamiliar category of the study. Nine participants were selected for each group, totaling 27 participants.