When “CODA” won the Oscar for best picture in Los Angeles, movie stars from Samuel L. Jackson to Nicole Kidman waved their hands instead of clapping in recognition of the Deaf community. At home in suburban New York, Laurie Ann Barish cried, overcome by what she said was a long overdue feeling of acceptance.
Like the film’s acronymic title, Barish was raised by a deaf parent, her mother, now 85. She said she saw her own life in the story about a Massachusetts family “that wants to be heard” and to be seen as no different from anyone else.
