Children of Deaf Adults

CODA celebrates the unique heritage and multicultural

identities of adult hearing individuals with deaf parent(s).

CODA was officially founded in 1983 as a result of research I did as a graduate student at Gallaudet University. I sent out the first CODA introductory newsletter and coined the term “CODA – Children of Deaf Adults” referring to hearing offspring of Deaf parent(s). Research has shown that approximately 90% of the children born to Deaf parents are hearing. I was one of them and set out to organize our widely dispersed group. My life was full of constant movement between Deaf and hearing worlds. I felt comfortable in both but not fully immersed in either. The CODA world would become my third option where I felt balance between my Deaf and hearing cultural experiences.

CODA has moved from a small, grassroots organization to a worldwide entity with strong familial bonds reaching overseas. Our shared family experience has transcended global boundaries, languages and cross-cultural divides. Our mission is to raise funds for deserving Codas for continuing education. The annual conferences, retreats and meetings allow for self-exploration of our bilingual-bicultural heritage. As a result, we have supported and/or implemented activities such as Mother/Father Deaf Day to honor our parents, KODA (Kids of Deaf Adults) camps for young Codas under age 18, resource development and scholarship opportunities.

I welcome you and encourage perusal of our website in order to become familiar with our identity and activities as Codas. We appreciate your interest and hope you will learn more about our CODA community.

Warm CODA Regards,
Millie Brother

Jennifer Hensley

Jennifer Hensley
CODA President 2016-2017

Greetings and welcome to Children of Deaf Adults, Inc., also known around the world as “CODA International”. CODA is a volunteer organization that has nonprofit status in the US, and partners with other Coda and Deaf organizations to provide local and larger communities with connection, education and awareness.

CODA's mission is to celebrate our “unique heritage and multicultural identities” - this is strongly held by members and non-members as evident in the goals put forth in our strategic plan. The goals that were defined for CODA for the 2020 Strategic Plan include, but are not limited to:

Develop and implement marketing and communications plan promoting the mission, goals and contributions of CODA.
Establish official partnerships with key national and international Deaf and KODA organizations.
Enhance and promote informational resources for Codas, Deaf parents, educators, and health care and other social service providers.
Develop and implement a fundamental recruitment and retention plan.
Develop and implement strategies to specifically recruit members of diverse identities and from various nations across the globe.
Develop and implement strategies to build a KODA to CODA membership pipeline.
Establish a multi-language approach to officially communicate with CODA members across the globe.
Restructure the organization’s design into a federation-type of structure to provide greater equity and participation of individuals and CODA.
Develop and/or officially implement a formal chapter/affiliate system.
Enhance the committee structures, leadership and membership to engage more members in doing the operational work of the organization.
Develop and implement a comprehensive fundraising plan that addresses current organizational goals and objectives.
Develop and implement a continuous improvement plan for the organization and its programs and services.

Progress has been made on several of these goals, and others are tasked to the Board of Directors to develop work groups to study how these goals might be achieved that aligns with our mission and purpose. I encourage members to review these goals and if there are any areas of interest or where expertise can be offered – contact us at info@coda-international.org to engage in making these goals reality.

Messages from the Founder & President