I am currently a PhD student at Heriot Watt and is progressing with my research. My research question is:
Can children’s literature support hearing parents’ understanding of their child’s experience of being deaf*?
With the sub questions of:
- How are deaf characters represented in children’s picture books?
- What narratives are deaf characters included in?
- Can children’s literature offer a bridge to deafhearing families (those families with deaf and hearing members) into deaf communities and culture?
To answer these questions I have reviewed the current relevant research to understand the literature and what others have found so far. I have read around many related topics to help develop my knowledge, understanding and to appropriately frame my research questions and approach. My research is focused in the UK and draws on the Scottish policy context in terms of the Scottish Government’s policies relating to British Sign Language and children and families.
I have gathered a corpus of children’s picture books with deaf representation. These books are all published in the UK. On the resources page you will find a list of books, not all of these will be used in my research as I am focussing on books that are published between 2010 and 2024. The analysis of the books aims to uncover themes around deaf representation.
I will also be undertaking interviews with hearing parents of deaf children under 10 years old. These will be semi-structured interviews taking place in early 2025. If you would be interested in taking part please do get in touch via the contact me page.
After all the data is collected, the findings will be analysed and written up.
*deaf is being used to encompass those who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, or a deaf user of British Sign Language
Sarah Goulding PhD Student 