I attended the session “Representation Matters: Books for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.” The session examined why Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children (DHH) need literature in which they can see themselves represented. The presenter offered five categories.
Deaf Life
Hearing Technology
Educational
Inspirational
Diversity
The session shared current DHH representational book and explored recommended titles in the five categories previously listed.
The goal was to teach participants to screen and evaluate picture books containing Deaf or hard-of-hearing characters for productive representation. The questions a librarian questions should as are: What representation is absent? Whose perspectives are being centered? What needs to be added? The stated goal is to make educators, families, and professionals consider not merely whether a DHH character appears in a book, but what that book teaches a DHH child about deafness, identity, and the world.
One thing that stood out to me in the session about representation is how it becomes even more important when we recognize that there is no single experience of Deafness or hearing loss. Some Deaf and hard of hearing children also live with additional disabilities, which can shape how they communicate, learn, move through the world, and connect with others. Bookshelves should reflect those intersecting experiences rather than presenting Deaf children as one uniform group. Just as importantly, many children with hearing loss are born into hearing families and may grow up without routinely seeing Deaf adults, Deaf peers, sign language, or experiences like their own within their immediate family. For these children, a book can become more than a story; it can be one of the first places where they recognize themselves. Seeing a character who wears hearing aids, uses a cochlear implant, communicates in ASL, has another disability, or simply experiences the world differently can provide something every child deserves: the reassurance that their life is not an exception to the story, but worthy of being part of the story itself.
A few upper-level elementary books that interested me were:
El Deafo
Show Me a Sign
Song for a Whale
Deaf Children Crossing
This was one of my favorite sessions because it connected my own experience with hearing loss to how I support diverse learners. Deaf and hard of hearing children may also have other disabilities, and many are born to hearing parents, making it especially important for them to see experiences like their own reflected in books.