Apple TV+ is streaming a new three-part animated series for kids and families called “El Deafo,” based on the autobiographical best-selling graphic memoir of Cece Bell. The story tells Bell’s experiences learning to cope with being hard of hearing.
El Deafo follows young Cece as she loses her hearing but finds her inner superhero. Going to school and making new friends can be tough. Doing both while wearing bulky hearing aids takes superpowers. With a little help from her superhero alter ego El Deafo, Cece learns to she’s really quite special.
Some parents of deaf children have commented the series isn’t accessible to their children who use ASL, a shortcoming that could have been easily overcome if a PiP format had been used with an ASL interpreter.