On Sunday, March 25, 2007, Sherry Bravin Duhon will present a workshop for deaf parents of hearing children at the Student Development Center at NTID. Sherry is the mother of two grown CODAs and so she speaks from experience!

Cost is $8 in advance and $10 at the door. The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (although the flyer says 9-12), and light refreshments and interpreting services will be provided. Although the workshop is for adults only, KODA of Rochester has secured some volunteers who are willing to provide child care in adjacent rooms during the workshop. E-mail Comments (0)

If you’re reading this, you’re likely connected to the Internet. So before you read on, click on Alan “Abababa” Abarbanell’s website.

And if you have any hearing at all, be sure to turn up the speaker volume.

“Hello!” Alan says, “And welcome!”

The voice… that’s not his, is it? I thought Abababa was hearing?

Yes, he is. And no, that’s not his voice.

It’s a deaf voice.

Not just any deaf voice, though.

It’s a deaf voice from his past – a past that comes alive in stunning detail with each performance on the Abababa Road Tour.

The youngest of four hearing children of deaf parents (the late Joe and Yetta Abarbanell of Chicago), Alan criss-crosses the country as he delivers one virtuoso comedy performance after another to pay homage to his heritage.

“The story I tell in my show is true,” says Alan.

“I loved hearing the voices at the Deaf Club and my parents’ home when I was growing up. They were better than TV, movies or books! I just had an odd ability to catalog them, and to be able to repeat them without sounding condescending.

“Of course,” Alan continues, “having a ten-year-old running around “doing” Mr. Kessler wasn’t exactly comfortable for my folks, but over time even they came to enjoy watching the characters come alive in me.”

For the last three years, audiences around the country have been able to see those characters come alive night after night on the Abababa Road Tour, which makes its second stop in Rochester at NTID’s Panara Theatre on September 30, 2006 – a performance generously underwritten by Sprint, New York State Relay, Camp Mark 7, Fair Access for the Deaf, and the ASL Program at the University of Rochester.

(Read on …)

For the past several years, deaf Rochester mothers Lisa DeWindt-Sommer and Stacy Lawrence often commented to each other on how comfortable their hearing children were together.  They compared notes about the differences between the ways in which their children related to each other and to their hearing school/neighbor friends.

Despite Rochester’s deserved deaf-friendly reputation,  Lisa and Stacy still worried about what their children’s school/neighbor friends might say to them about their deaf parents, and about how their children would react.  They wanted their children to be proud of their deaf parents and their deaf heritage.   And they knew that they were not the only deaf parents in Rochester who struggled with such issues. And so, on February 2, 2006, KODA of Rochester was born!  

As set forth in our Mission Statement, KODA of Rochester recognizes that the KODAs (Kids of Deaf Adults, who are under 18) are a rare breed because of the rich bicultural and bilingual heritage they have inherited from their deaf mothers and fathers. Not only do KODAs have a dual identity, but they also share a special bond. KODA of Rochester promotes that bond by creating educational opportunities for, organizing advocacy efforts on behalf of, and providing guidance to KODAs.  KODA of Rochester supports its own KODAs by raising family awareness about KODAs’ experiences in navigating two unique cultures.  

As just one example of KODA of Rochester activities, we affiliate with Camp Mark VII (in Old Forge, NY) to raise monies for and to administer a Scholarship Fund that provides KODAs financial support in order to pursue various educational opportunities and to attend summer KODA camp at Camp Mark 7 in Old Forge, NY.  We raised nearly $2,000 earlier this year to help send a local KODA on an educational trip to China!   

On September 30, KODA of Rochester will be proud to host CODA Alan “Abababa” Abarbanell in a repeat performance of his wonderful tour stop at NTID’s Panara Theater last March.  Finally, we are also hosting our first KODA picnic at Kings’ Bend Park in Pittsford on October 21, 2006.  We hope to see you and your KODAs there! 

KODA of Rochester is open to deaf and hard of hearing parents with at least one hearing or hard of hearing child, and to their children.  We are also pleased to invite CODAs — children of deaf adults who themselves are over 18 – to be involved with KODA of Rochester as Community Liaisons.  

Please do not hesitate to contact any of the board members if you have questions about the organization, and be on the lookout for events and dates on this blog! (Read on …)