For decades, researchers have studied child language brokering—the phenomenon where children translate adult conversations, documents, and decisions for their families. Most of this research focuses on immigrant households, where children translate for parents navigating systems in a new language.
But there is a population hiding in plain sight.
Codas—Children of Deaf Adults—have been doing this work all along.
The difference is not whether Codas broker language.
The difference is that Codas do it because systems fail to provide access, not because families are new to a country.
And that distinction matters deeply for mental health.
What the Research Shows (Even Without Naming Codas)
A landmark study by Rainey et al. examined the long-term mental-health impact of childhood language brokering. Their findings were clear:
- Adults who served as child language brokers showed higher levels of anxiety and depression
- Anxiety risk was especially high when brokering began between the ages of 9 and 13
- Depression was elevated regardless of when brokering began
- These effects persisted even after accounting for socioeconomic status Rainey_etal_2014
In other words:
Early responsibility for adult communication has lasting psychological consequences.
Even though Codas were not included in the sample, the mechanisms described in this study map almost perfectly onto the Coda experience.
Why the 9–13 Window Matters for Codas
The research identifies ages 9–13 as a particularly vulnerable developmental window. This is when children:
- Are still developing emotionally and cognitively
- Are entering puberty
- Are learning how identity, responsibility, and belonging work
For many Codas, this is also the age when:
- Expectations around “interpreting correctly” suddenly increase
- Interpreting shifts from casual family communication to high-stakes settings (medical, school, legal)
- Awareness of audism, stigma, and public discomfort with Deafness becomes unavoidable
- The child realizes: “If I don’t do this well, my parent could be harmed.”
This is not just language work.
It is hypervigilance training.
The study frames this as “role reversal.” Codas often experience it as premature adulthood.
Depression as a Legacy Burden
One of the most striking findings in the literature is that depression remains elevated regardless of when brokering starts.
This suggests something important:
Depression may not come from a single moment of responsibility, but from years of being needed more than being protected.
For Codas, this often looks like:
- Chronic responsibility without authority
- Suppressed anger, grief, or resentment to keep family systems stable
- Difficulty asking for help later in life
- Feeling valuable for usefulness, not for being
This aligns closely with what trauma frameworks call legacy burdens—emotional weights passed down through generations and reinforced by systems, not by individual failure.
What the Literature Misses (And Why Codas Likely Carry More Impact)
Most child language brokering studies do not measure:
- Audism
- Disability-based discrimination
- Institutional refusal to provide interpreters
- Language deprivation experienced by Deaf parents
- The emotional labor of protecting a marginalized identity
Yet Codas routinely broker more than words:
- Tone
- Intent
- Social threat
- Respect
- Safety
This means the mental-health impact described in the research is likely underestimated for Codas.
Not because Codas are weaker—but because they are asked to carry more.
This Is Not About Resilience—It’s About Responsibility
The child language brokering literature is often framed as “mixed”—some positive outcomes, some negative.
From a Coda lens, this framing misses the point.
Yes, Codas develop:
- Strong communication skills
- Cultural fluency
- Leadership
- Empathy
But strength developed through necessity is not the same as strength developed through choice.
When children are required to be the bridge because systems refuse to meet parents halfway, that is not resilience—it is structural neglect.
Clinical, Educational, and Policy Implications
This body of research supports several critical shifts:
For clinicians
- Screen Codas for anxiety and depression even when they appear “high functioning”
- Understand symptoms as adaptive responses to chronic responsibility
- Address parentification/adultification, hypervigilance, and legacy burdens—not just coping skills
For educators and providers
- Recognize that using children as interpreters is not benign
- Treat professional interpreting services as mental-health prevention
- Stop framing child interpreting as “helping” when it is actually replacing access
For systems and policy
- Enforce language-access laws consistently
- Name child interpreting in Deaf families as a systemic failure, not a family choice
- Include Codas explicitly in future language-brokering research
Final Thoughts
The research on child language brokering confirms what many Codas have always known:
When children are required to manage adult communication, especially during critical developmental years, the cost is often paid later—in anxiety, depression, and identity confusion.
Codas are not an exception to this research.
They are its missing chapter.
And until systems stop relying on children to fix access barriers they did not create, the burden will continue to pass quietly from one generation to the next.
There is more work to be done.
Brokering Articles to Explore:
Morales, A., & Hanson, W. E. (2005).
Language Brokering: An Integrative Review of the Literature.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 27(4), 471–503.
Rainey, V. R., Flores, V., Morrison, R. G., David, E. J. R., & Silton, R. L. (2014).
Mental health risk factors associated with childhood language brokering.
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 35(5), 463–478.
Weisskirch, R. S., & Alva, S. A. (2002).
Language brokering and the acculturation of Latino children.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 24(4), 369–378.
Wu, N. H., & Kim, S. Y. (2009).
Chinese American Adolescents’ Perceptions of Language Brokering as Burden vs. Efficacy.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(5), 703–718.
Martinez, C. R., McClure, H. H., & Eddy, J. M. (2009).
Language brokering contexts and behavioral/emotional adjustment.
Journal of Early Adolescence, 29(1), 71–98.
Love, J. A., & Buriel, R. (2007).
Language brokering, autonomy, parent–child bonding, and depression.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 29(4), 472–491.
McQuillan, J., & Tse, L. (1995).
Child language brokering in minority communities.
Language and Education, 9(3), 195–215.
Dorner, L. M., Orellana, M. F., & Li-Grining, C. P. (2007).
“I helped my mom,” and it helped me: Brokering and test scores.
American Journal of Education, 113(3), 451–478.
Shen, Y., Kim, S. Y., & Benner, A. D. (2019).
Burdened or efficacious? Subgroups of language brokers and outcomes.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(1), 154–169.
Weisskirch, R. S. (2020).
The Role of Attachment in Language Brokering and Adjustment.
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