聽於無形．覺於有情~~三名有聾父母之聽子女的經驗敘說

Abstract

本研究透過三名聽子女-雨、晴和風的敘說，瞭解她們在聾父母家庭中成長的生命經驗與感受。在與她們頻繁互動下，進行多次訪談並蒐集相關文件資料，為期約六個月。資料經分析與詮釋後，先呈現她們個別的生命故事，再提出一些核心議題。本研究的主要發現如下： 一、她們因父母是聾人而在別人異樣的眼光下成長，所需的知識和情感較少從 聾父母處得到滿足。 二、父母的聾讓她們淬煉出獨立自主的個性和具包容心；並因接觸聾與聽兩個 世界，獲致特別的生命經驗，但也對她們在婚姻和生育之路上造成阻礙。 三、有聾父母的她們早期經歷較疏離的親子和手足關係，而聽祖父母的介入則 同時是影響親子關係的助力與阻力。 四、聾父母常成聽子女心中永遠無法卸下的重責，尤其對手語最佳者更是如 此，因而需要與其他手足共同分擔責任。 五、手語不僅是親子溝通的方式，更是讓聽子女深入聾父母生活及傳遞「聽祖父母-聾父母-聽子女」三代情感的媒介。

整體而言，父母的聾雖讓聽子女有獨特的經驗和感受，但未必是形構家中問題的根源，「家庭成員間有無傳遞想法與情感的良好管道」才是關鍵，而讓聽子女從小接受雙語教育，將能助益其在各方面的適應。

This narrative case study aimed to explore the life experience of three hearing adults, Yu, Qing, and Fong, who have deaf parents. The data was collected in about six months through series of interviews and documents. After integrating and interpreting the data, individual life stories are presented and issues are discussed. The main findings of this study were as follows: (1)In the early years of life, Yu, Qing, and Fong frequently received peculiar looks of others and learned insufficient knowledge and emotional supports from their parents. (2)To be both in the hearing and deaf worlds, they had experienced different life than those with hearing parents and were cultivated to be independent and tolerant. (3)Having deaf parents was reported to have impacts on their marriage and childbirth decision, for instance, and on the parent-child and sibling relationships as well in the cases. Grandparents’ involvement also affected their life in terms of caring and parent-child relationship. (4)Taking care of deaf parents had become a dischargeable responsibility for hearing children in the family, particularly for those who mastered sign language well, and siblings’ supports to each others were needed. (5)Sign language was a medium for them to communicate with deaf parents, get into parents’ world, and also connect affection among three generations. In conclusion, having deaf parents did affect the life of Yu, Qing, and Fong, however, it was apparently not the reason to be blamed for regarding family problems and, instead, whether family members communicate and express thoughts and affection toward each others mattered. It is suggested that hearing children in the family with deaf parents need to be trained early with sign language to allow them to adapt better in later life.