This study aims at understanding the meanings attributed to adolescence and to life experiences in the context of deafness, analyzing deaf adolescents’ narratives. Narrative interviews were made with three deaf adolescents whose parents are hearing, fluent users of Brazilian Sign Language, who have attended an elementary special school for the deaf. The interviews were made in sign language by a deaf mediator in a room with a one-way mirror, with simultaneous translation made by an interpreter. Data were analyzed using Ricoeur’s hermeneutics and discussed with contributions from psychology and psychoanalysis. Results indicate that many conflicts experienced by the deaf adolescents are similar to those experienced by the hearing adolescents. Specificities regarding deafness refer to reevaluations of the decisions made by their parents and to levels of dependence from hearing people. Differences among teenagers and their family contexts could also be noticed regarding communication, emotional development and participation in the deaf community.
Deaf adolescents; Identity; Deafness; Narratives
