Switched at Birth
Switched at Birth (broadcast 2011–2017 with a total of 103 episodes) had a considerable impact in terms of how Deaf culture and American Sign Language (ASL) were represented on prime time television. Unlike many earlier TV portrayals, Switched at Birth cast Deaf actors in Deaf roles — most notably Katie Leclerc as Daphne Vasquez and Sean Berdy as Emmett Bledsoe. The story revolves around two Kansas siblings misplaced at birth and they discover their true parents later in life. One is hearing and the other is Deaf – hence the reason for a substantial Deaf presence in the series.
The much applauded series has some great storylines, and it also came up with quotes related to the Deaf struggle that many of us could only envy at having not thought of before! At times there’s the inevitable cheesy script – a quality that is to be expected of American dramas. But given how well the series did in terms of Deaf culture and awareness, there’s no doubt more positivity to it than is usually expected. Upon release Switched at Birth was received with great applause among the Deaf community.
The series gave audiences a realistic glimpse into the lives, communication styles, and experiences of Deaf individuals and avoided the ‘hearing actor as deaf’ criticism that had annoyed the Deaf community. Sign Language – in this case, ASL, was a centre piece of the series. Many scenes were conducted entirely in ASL. The surprise is Deaf culture was not originally considered as a part of the show.
Switched at Birth is indeed based upon a true story. When creator Lizzy Weiss was expecting her second child she heard of a story where two girls had been accidentally swapped at birth. (See below). ABC loved the scripts for the series that Weiss had pitched, however ABC Family’s Vice President Brooke Bowman thought the proposed series would be even better if a more unexpected conflict point was introduced. After some discussion Weiss and Bowman agreed this should feature a Deaf character as one of the two siblings who had been wrongly given to different parents. Weiss went to Marlton School in Los Angeles. Script ideas were drawn up with the help of the pupils at Marlton School – thus the school is what inspired the series’ fictional Carlton School for the Deaf.
In terms of the story of being swapped at birth, the genre appears to have started in the 1980s with ‘He’s not Your Son’ (1984). It starred Donna Mills, Ken Howard and Ann Dusenberry. In 1988 there was the big screen movie ‘Big Business’ starring Bette Milder and Lily Tomlin, again featuring sibling displacement (this time twins) as the story. Following that a mini-TV series based upon a true event that had occurred in Florida was made – called Switched at Birth. It starred Bonnie Bedelia, Ed Asner, Brian Kerwin and Ariana Richards. It was so popular a second series was made in 1999 with Melissa Gilbert, Rosanna Arquette and David Andrews! Evidently sibling displacement appears to be a popular subject for film or television!
Ernest and Regina Twigg’s story was made into a TV mini-series. (Irish Independent 30 April 1992 P32). Its possible the Regina in this particular case was the inspiration for Regina in the ABC Series. Anyway, there have been quite a number of these accidental at birth switches which have occurred in the States and these have no doubt inspired the creating of dramas specially based upon the subject.
The locations for Switched at Birth are intended to be at Mission Hills in Johnson County, Kansas City. One wonders whether the location was chosen because it is fairly near what can be deemed the centre of the USA! After some investigation it was found that by measuring the distance between Los Angeles and Martha’s Vineyard at 4222km, Kansas City happened to be the only built up area mid-way along that axis. Maybe someone had drawn a ruler across the states to see where the series could conceivably be located! Thus Kansas is merely a descriptive location for the series more than anything else. A few scenes were filmed in Kansas City for the purpose of establishing a setting for the various scenes, however most of Switched at Birth was filmed largely around Los Angeles as well as at studios in the locality.
Marlton school in Los Angleles was the model for Switched at Birth’s Carlton School for the Deaf and need just one letter to change the name! Image cleaned and upscaled from a Switched at Birth screenshot.
Another Los Angeles factor no doubt influenced the series’ outlay. The first episode ‘This is Not a Pipe’ is clearly named after the famous artwork by Rene Magritte which is to be found in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Every one of the series episodes have too been named after artworks and this does in a way explain some of the odd titles used for certain episodes.
Many of the outdoor scenes especially around the Kennish home (in what is meant to be Kansas City) are actually filmed in the studio because it would be hard to actually film scenes of such complexity on location. The actual house used in the series is located at North Alpine Drive in Beverly Hills, just a short distance from Sunset Boulevard. The scenes of the outside of the house often consist of what are establishing shots, such as cars and people arriving and so on. These scenes then take the viewer to the other scenes with the house’s gardens, the courtyard and the sets inside the house itself – which are all studio filmed.
An introduction to Switched at Birth
The following video by nysclips is perhaps the best review of Switched at Birth. Nya gives a really good overview of the series and the various characters that are featured, including the relationships, the inter family conflicts and so on, not forgetting the important aspects of Deaf culture plus the conflicts between that and the hearing world. She also describes the tensions between Bay and Emmett and picks up on the various threads which show Emmett is at best one who takes a liberty with Bay’s sincerity. In terms of the other sibling, Daphne is one who goes from being a sweet kid to one that can be quite hard to get on with. Then there’s the context of how Bay tries to find out who her real biological dad and how her mom, Regina, keeps a lot of things under wraps in order not to upset anyone. Nya’s presentation is so well done that it can be said to be the most comprehensive understanding of the series. You can watch Nya’s review below – or if you prefer – watch it on Youtube.
Switched at Birth as a successful portrayal of Deaf Culture and Identity
Switched at Birth wasn’t just a family drama — it was very clearly a milestone in Deaf representation and awareness, while also enabling Deaf viewers to see their culture represented authentically on screen.
Deaf culture is no doubt a dominant part of the series. Topics like cochlear implants, Deaf education, and hearing privilege are considerably highlighted and the pros and cons of both are also debated. It is clear there are many tensions between the Deaf and hearing worlds and these are highlighted in the various relationships, as well as between the Vasquez and Kennish families. The Carlton school, the fictional Deaf school in the series also forms a part of the struggles between the Deaf and the hearing, with the school’s governors eventually demanding that the school take in 50% hearing students or they will close the school down. Even though there is a strong representation of Deaf culture and identity it still faces a hearing world which shows basically little concern for Deaf rights.
The show’s commitment to representation had a number of considerable and lasting effects. Enrolment for ASL beginner classes reportedly rose rapidly after Switched at Birth had aired. Deaf advocacy groups applauded the series for broadening a public understanding of Deaf culture. The series was widely seen as an educational resource for Deaf Studies and both the learning and study of ASL.
Regina (Daphne’s mum) and John (Bay’s dad) are two of the parents whose lives come together after learning their daughters had been accidently swapped at birth.
Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of the show is how the parents and the hearing siblings end up learning ASL quite comprehensively. It does show a large Deaf presence that encourages hearing people to go beyond the realm and learn ASL. As well as familiarising ASL among the series’ hearing viewers, it also sparked a great interest in the learning of ASL and sign language classes around the US saw a spike in demand for ASL learning.
Even though Switched at Birth was first shown in 2011 some of the technology used is clearly outdated such as this Blackberry Daphne is using.
In some parts of the series one can see how sloppy editing actually cuts out some of the signing. Hence its not a full ASL rendering but rather one that has been made to render the scenes for a hearing, rather than a Deaf audience. See this clip where Bay and Emmett are arguing. Its a small thing yes – but it still shows us who calls the shots even in terms of productions that feature Deaf culture as a substantial part of the story. Even though the hearing world was the series’ main audience target, one episode in particular – Uprising – was created for the series’ Deaf viewers. This is discussed next.
Uprising (Season 2, Episode 9)
Particular mention must be made of this episode broadcast in 2013. It set new standards for being entirely in ASL and no doubt and the first of its kind on a major U.S. network. It was entirely done in signing and subtitles and was essentially a tribute to the Deaf President Now protest of 1988.
Daphne and Bay warn viewers there’ll be no aural communication in the episode. Non vocalization being another way of putting it!
Interestingly it too entailed a certain amount of hearing input (or support rather) to ensure the school’s takeover for their protest would work. Invariably some Deaf saw it (eg Bay) as a hearing imposition upon the Deaf. The debate between hearing intervention and the need for a full Deaf representation continues after the protest is ended by the police.
The one problem with this particular broadcast is the viewing stats were somewhat lower than they had generally been. Its quite well known anything ‘Deaf’ tends to attract less interest from the hearing world and that for a very good reason. Well not a ‘good’ reason but a glaringly obvious reason. Attitude. Discrimination. Indifference. They say actions speak louder than words and in this case that inevitability showed up.
If anyone wants to watch the ‘full episodes’ of Switched at Birth, more than half are available on this Youtube channel. These consist of an omnibus of up to three episodes. I think its around 72 episodes (basically that’s Seasons 1 – 3 from 2011 to 2014). Some parts of these episodes have been edited hence they’re not exactly 100% full episodes. Also the episodes titles are somewhat confusing because its three episodes under one title and these are recycled at least twice under the different names they are titled. But nevertheless these are the most complete works apart from watching then on ABC/Freeform.
Freeform does have a number of short Switched at Birth clips on Youtube. By way of those one can see parts of the later series including the final. Here’s the playlist for Series 4. Its not a comprehensive collection however and to see the full works one still needs to use ABC/Freeform. The very last scene to the series can be seen in this Freeform playlist and it features the cast laying on the ground outside the Kennish house, looking up at the stars.
Youtube plus Daily Motion are generally the only way to view the series outside of the USA. What follows is a run down of some of those episodes that can be seen on Youtube.
Switched at Birth was ABC’s most popular show. When it was taken over by Freeform it was their most popular show too! Unfortunately it was also Freeform who decided the series should end suddenly. Switched at Birth was cancelled after a few months under the stewardship of Freeform. The following pictures are from the final episode of Switched at Birth.
The final script from the series’ creator Lizzy Weiss. Twitter/X.
Switched at Birth’s finale – broadcast 11 April 2017. In that it was said it had been ‘an amazing five years’. Screenshot of the final scene – from Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 1: This Is Not a Pipe
The episode’s title is curious as are those for several of the other episodes too – and that because it alludes to a state of not being real. The names for each of the 105 episodes come from many artworks, and some of those artworks question reality – which is why the series has some obtuse titles for its episodes. This, the first episode, is called ‘This is not a pipe’ – it refers to Rene Magritte’s famous artwork which questions how reality is perceived through words and descriptions. Another use of the inter-relation between art and the question of reality can be seen in Bay’s bedroom which has the following words painted across one wall:
I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality. Frida Kahlo.
Bay’s bedroom with the words ‘I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality.’ Screencap from Switched at Birth.
One’s position of being in a state of questionable reality does emerge in the series’ first episode. This was in fact the existent situation between Bay and Daphne, where upon taking a blood test for fun, Bay suddenly found her parents were not the real ones and investigation eventually led to Daphne and her Puerto Rican mother. The episode does explore the existential issues of such circumstances and indeed it must be very hard after so many years of having been reared by whom one had thought was their real mom and dad, the parents were not even the real ones. This episode is the one that basically sets the scene for ‘Switched at Birth’ – because that is what it was – the two sets of parents had been given the wrong babies!
This is Not a Pipe also examines the issue of Deaf/hearing relationships. This arises when Daphne discovers Emmett is going out with Bay.
Essentially Switched at Birth examines the question of which is the real world – the Deaf or the hearing one? Ultimately I think its up the the viewer to decide.
🌟This Is Not a Pipe episode at Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 2: American Gothic
This episode has the main introduction to Deaf culture and signing. Daphne’s life can be seen in the context of Carlton Deaf school. It contrasts quite strongly with Bay’s hearing world. This episode is where Emmett appears for the first time – he’s a favourite among the show’s fans.
🌟American Gothic episode at Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 3: Portrait of My Father
This is the episode that introduces Marlee Matlin as Melody, Emmett’s mom. Melody is also a sports teacher and counsellor at Carlton school. The episode shows that Melody already knows a fair bit about the switch at birth – something the Kennishes have been trying to keep quiet.
🌟Portrait of My Father at Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 4: Dance Amongst Daggers
It highlights the show’s first major social event with both Deaf and hearing intermingling. The communication barriers between both worlds are teased out quite well and shows how difficult it can be for the different worlds to exist comfortably. It revolves largely around a social event set up by the Kennishes in which so many intricacies and conflicts emerge. Not only that everyone seems to be getting worried about their own relationships – or even other people’s relationships! And people start warning each other not to over step the line. There’s a ‘Silent Auction’ which adds to the evening’s fun!
Warning! This version on Youtube doesn’t have subtitles/captions for the hearing bits!
🌟Dance Amongst Daggers episode on Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 9: Paradise Lost
Emmett’s Deaf identity and his world view takes centre stage by way of exploring the various family dynamics that existed between the Deaf and their hearing parents.
🌟Paradise Lost episode at Youtube.
🟢 Season 1, Episode 10: The Homecoming
This is the episode where Daphne finds out Emmett is going out with Bay. She had assumed Emmett had never wanted to go out with hearing girls.
🌟The Homecoming episode at Youtube.
🔵 Season 2, Episode 9: Uprising
The entire episode is in ASL without any spoken dialogue and it centres on a Deaf students’ protest at Carlton School for the Deaf. The school was under threat of closure and so a protest was decided upon in order to save it. This episode was no doubt inspired by the real events that took place at Gallaudet University during 1988 when the Deaf President Now! protest took place and captured the world’s attention. Uprising is seen as one of the series best episodes.
Uprising had 1.6 million overnight viewers, which was slightly below the season average of 1.7 million. While the overnight numbers were down, the episode generated significant online discussion, and the final ratings were expected to be higher after delayed viewing, according to The New York Times. The episode drew 748,000 viewers in the target demographic (women aged 12-34), below the season average of 777,000. Despite the dip in overnight ratings, Uprising was praised for its all-ASL format and generated significant online interest.
🔵 Season 2, Episode 10: Introducing the Miracle
Following the uprising, Daphne is annoyed to discover the newspapers have quoted Bay. Daphne, quite frustrating, says ‘We didn’t take over the school so a hearing person could speak for us.’
Unfortunately, the school board, in its desire to keep Carlton open, has decided that its intake should be 50% hearing in future. Otherwise the board deemed the school not financially sustainable.
The Carlton school guys debate whether having 50% hearing students is a good thing or not.
Warning! This version on Youtube doesn’t have subtitles/captions for the hearing bits!
🌟Introducing the Miracle at Youtube.
As a reminder – the most the Youtube episodes cover is up to Series three. Some of the episodes from Series 4 and 5 can be seen on Daily Motion – however the episodes’ quality and presentation on Daily Motion is poor. To watch the entire series one has to be in the USA and use ABC/Freeform.
Episode shorts (quotes, controversies and impact on Deaf issues etc:
🌟Portrait of My Father: Marlee Matlin is seen for the first time in the series. And she, as Melody, gives Daphne’s father, John, quite a shock! (June 2011).
🌟Portrait of My Father: ‘So you would never date anyone hearing, no matter what?’ (June 2011).
🌟Portrait of My Father: Bay is given a photograph of Regina when she was pregnant – and Daphne says ‘That’s you in there’.
🌟Dance Amongst Daggers: ‘Ready to show these snobs how girls from the wrong side of the tracks can cut loose?’ (June 2011).
🌟Dance Amongst Daggers: ‘This place sucks’ / ‘You’re trying to be like them’. (June 2011)
🌟Paradise Lost: Emmett and Bay argue over Deaf ethics and representation. (August 2011).
🌟The Homecoming: ‘You’ve never been interested in a hearing girl. And now Bay, of all people?’ (August 2011).
🌟The Homecoming: ‘85% of Deaf/hearing relationships don’t work out’. (August 2011).
🌟The Homecoming: ‘I can only be myself with people who speak my language’. (August 2011).
🌟Write a Lonely Soldier: ‘Joan of Arc with a jump shot’. (February 2012).
🌟Write a Lonely Soldier: ‘You’re kind of a loser with a crap shot and bad taste in music’. (February 2012).
🌟Write a Lonely Soldier: ‘You are fired!’ (February 2012).
🌟Uprising: ‘And that is what I’m fighting for’. (March 2013).
🌟Uprising: ‘Until hearing people walk a day in our shoes they will never understand’. (March 2013).
🌟He Did What He Wanted: Cochlear Implant debate. (July 2013).
🌟As the Shadows Deepen: ‘What if I lose my identity as a Deaf person?’ (July 2013).
🌟And Life Begins Right Away: ‘They’re closing Carlton for good’. (August 2014).
🌟And Life Begins Right Away: ‘Thank you for getting switched at birth. If you hadn’t I would have never met Bay’. (August 2014).
Anthony Natale as Emmett’s dad in ‘And Life Begins Right Away.’ Screencap from the graduation ceremony at Carlton school.
The series also incorporated in-vision subtitles in an attempt to treat signing as a valid mode of communication. This was great. One aspect of Switched at Birth however was when the Deaf are signing and the hearing are watching, they’re also speaking what the Deaf is singing. This is just crap and sucks up to audism! This method, known as Sim-Com (or simultaneous communication) was first used in Children of a Lesser God and is a considerably dated and outlandish technique. Quite why the producers did not have a voice over in the background is not known. There’s no doubt this mode of interpretation would have been more preferable than Sim-Com.
Switched at Birth is incredibly good at times when it comes to Deaf things and notions of Deaf identity, rights and culture. But it can be somewhat dire too at times. The romance no doubt enthrals many as do the Deaf storylines – and for me (as would no doubt be for others too) these were the main reason I decided to watch the series. Romance is no doubt a strong element in the series too and that would attract those with an interest in that. However when it came to the Deaf/hearing romance/relationships, it became interesting to see how the scriptwriters depicted these and how well the issues of being Deaf in a hearing world were highlighted. A good amount of the time the issues were done very well, and there’s no doubt hearing viewers must have garnered an idea of sorts on what it is like to be Deaf, but not only that – to respect the Deaf and their spaces and not to assume for one minute, that any hearing person had any rights or say in how the Deaf chose to live their lives. And not for the Deaf to be subsumed by hearing society.
In a sense it can be agreed Switched at Birth did at least put its hearing audiences in the shoes of the Deaf, although as Melody put it in the episode ‘Uprising’ – things would not ever improve until the hearing had actually spent a whole day in Deaf shoes. Quite clearly, throughout the totality of the series showing, hearing people would have acquired a good idea of the Deaf world. But its not what Melody had meant! Watching a TV series and actually experiencing the difficulties in real life that the Deaf face are completely different things. Armchair viewing isn’t actually the best way to experience Deaf culture even though it can be seen as a good start!
One regret is that the UK’s TV channels have never put out a series like Switched at Birth. In the last few years the UK has detailed some great Deaf characters such as in Coronation Street, Eastenders and currently Waterloo Road. Then there’s Strictly Come Dancing (with Tasha Ghouri and Rose Ayling-Ellis), not forgetting 2025’s Reunion – which is a full series covering the lives and struggles of the Deaf. However these are not comparable to the magnum opus which is Switched at Birth.
The cast and the characters played:
- Sean Berdy as Emmett Bledsoe (regular seasons 1–4, recurring season 5), Daphne’s best friend who is also deaf. He later dates Bay.
- Lucas Grabeel as Toby Kennish: Bay and Daphne’s older brother.
- Katie Leclerc as Daphne Paloma Vasquez: the biological daughter of John and Kathryn Kennish.
- Vanessa Marano as Bay Madeline Kennish: the biological daughter of Regina Vasquez and Angelo Sorrento.
- Constance Marie as Regina Vasquez: Bay’s biological mother and Daphne’s legal mother.
- Gilles Marini as Angelo Sorrento – Bay’s biological father and Daphne’s legal father.
- Donald Moffett as John Kennish: Bay’s legal father and Daphne’s biological father.
- Lea Thompson as Kathryn Kennish: Bay’s legal mother and Daphne’s biological mother.
Some of the series’ notable cast of Deaf actors (besides Katie Leclerc and Sean Berdy) include:
Marlee Matlin as Melody Bledsoe, Emmett’s mother and Regina’s friend who is also deaf.
Nyle DiMarco as Garrett Banducci, a Carlton student and co-worker of Travis’ who takes an interest in Bay.
Ryan Lane as Travis Barnes, Daphne’s deaf friend.
There’s also Daniel Durant and Anthony Natale (as Emmett’s dad). Both featured in a number of episodes.
As the Shadows Deepen featured Daniel Durant (of CODA fame) in one of his appearances in the series. Other instances included Graduation Day and Prom Day at Carlton School, as well as the important ‘Uprising’ episode.
I believe this is the first UK review of Switched at Birth. Search engines have not brought up any possible UK sites that reviewed the series, not even Youtubers or See Hear or chickens with a limp. Very few newspapers in the UK reported on the series. The Metro did at least one report. That brief report was written because Hollyoaks star Rachel Shenton is the only UK actor to have been part of the Switched at Birth cast, playing Lilly Summers – later the wife of Toby Kennish (Lucas Grabeel). Both feature in the final scene of the series with Rachel holding their TV baby. Correct this if any of this is wrong in the comments please. There are Deaf/hearing Reddits that discussed the series so there might have been some UK input from Deaf.
The feature image for this post was specially created by Deaf21.
