Character Analysis: Switched At Birth

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Recommended: Deaf culture and its impact

The TV Show I have chosen to analyze for this Media Appraisal is an ABC Family series Switched at Birth. One of the main characters in the story has been deaf since she was 3 years old, and two other characters are part of a deaf family. I chose to watch this show because I am currently in my second semester of ASL courses at Pitt, and thought it would be interesting to see how the characters portrayed this communication disorder. Switched at Birth is an American television series on Netflix set in Kansas City. The show is about two teenage girls and their families who have found out that the daughters were switched at the hospital when they were born. The girls are 16 years old when they find out, and have been raised by the other’s biological families since. The daughters, Bay Kennish and Daphne Vasquez, are very different in personality and family life. Bay Kennish is a privileged teen with one brother who attends a private high school and is into art, while Daphne Vasquez is the deaf daughter of a single mother who attends Carlton School for the Deaf and is into sports. …show more content…

The doctors provided her with antibiotics that caused her deafness. Daphne speaks English, but feels more comfortable using American Sign Language and reading lips to communicate. She has gone to speech therapy her whole life to be able to communicate effectively with hearing people, but decided to stay at a deaf school to have a supportive community around her. She uses a hearing aid to pick up on loud sounds, and does not have a cochlear implant. The first season of the show, which I am currently watching, shows how the two families learn to live together and get to know their daughters. After learning about the switch, Daphne and her “mother” move into the Kennish’s house, and the show has nonstop drama about boys, work, and procedures for

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