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Cued Speech for Young and Not So Young
By Pamela H. Beck, M.E.D./CICS, and Amy Ruberl, M.ED.
As printed in Hearing Health, volume 21:1, Spring 2005
Can you relate? Cued Speech can come to the rescue in each of these situations by eliminating the ambiguity of speech reading.
It was the search to solve the problem of the low literacy levels of many Deaf children that led to the creation of Cued Speech in 1966 by R. Orin Cornett, Ph.D. Forty years later, experience and research have proven that individuals who receive language consistently through Cued Speech are able to reach the same language and literacy levels as they would without a hearing loss. Cueing provides dynamic visual access to the phonemic base of language, making learning to read easier (see “An Aid to Literacy,”). In addition, many late-deafened adults are finding Cued Speech an essential tool in maintaining fluid communication with their mates, friends and family.
Cued Speech is a perfect companion to cochlear implants, accelerating the process of identifying newly-heard sounds while remaining available for sound-based clarification as needed. This visible “access” to spoken language has enabled Cued Speech to be used by individuals with a variety of language, speech and communication needs, including learning disabilities, autism and auditory processing disabilities. A growing number of children and adults who use sign languages are adding Cued Speech to their communication skills. Cued Speech also helps individuals with or without hearing impairment to learn foreign languages because cues give visual information on how to pronounce foreign words.
Although entire families often learn to cue, not everyone in the neighborhood, school or workplace can, though the basics are very easy to learn. Therefore, Cued Speech is often used in conjunction with amplification such as a hearing aid or cochlear implant, as well as with speech therapy, encouraging the development of listening and speech skills.
Though Cued Speech is a great help in showing children with hearing loss how to pronounce a word, it does not help them figure out how to make the sounds they cannot hear or see on the mouth. Speech therapists can teach a child how to form individual speech sounds and using Cued Speech allows the child to know when to use those sounds appropriately within words and sentences.
Essential in mainstream educational settings are the services of a transliterator, someone fluent in Cued Speech who can cue what the teacher and other students are saying. Michelle Ayers of Virginia, whose family began using Cued Speech when she was four years old, says, “I love Cued Speech. I attended schools with hearing students all my life, kindergarten through college, using the services of a Cued Speech transliterator. Now I work in a law office as a title specialist, a job I really enjoy. When I went to my family reunion, where most people do not cue, I could lipread almost everything that was said. I give Cued Speech the credit for that!”
Christine Hartman’s Ohio family began with signs then added Cued Speech when Christine was two years old. Additionally, she has had a Cued Speech transliterator since age four, beginning in pre-school. Now 15 and a sophomore in high school, Christine excels academically.
Christine received a cochlear implant in the summer of 2004. Eight months later she says, “At school, the cochlear implant helps when someone is reading aloud from a book because I can follow along with them and I don’t need my transliterator. But I am still getting used to the implant, so there are other sounds that I am unable to understand. My transliterator helps me to keep up in class.”
Though many families start teaching their children with hearing loss Cued Speech as they are learning to speak, Cued Speech is growing in popularity among persons who are late-deafened or have age-related hearing loss as well.
Mary and Herman Diesel, an older couple with acquired hearing loss, epitomized the success of Cued Speech in facilitating communication. Together, Mary and Herman attended classes and cue camps and used videotapes to learn to cue and “cue-read.” A decade ago, Mary wrote:
“I tell every hearing-impaired adult how much I like Cued Speech and how easy it is to learn. … It keeps one in the hearing world. It also helps me lipread better, which is most helpful with those who don’t cue. I don’t need every word cued to me, sometimes only a few words need to be cued — words you can’t read on the lips, proper names or a complicated word. I really don’t know what my life would be like without Cued Speech. It has helped me that much.”
After Mary’s death, the Mary Diesel Fund was created to support the National Cued Speech Association’s services for late-deafened adults. Later, after Herman’s death, his family wrote:
“Dad was fluent in German and English. He learned his third and most important [communication mode], Cued Speech, to help Mom live in the hearing world. Even after she passed, he continued to cue to us out of habit.”
It’s never too soon or too late to add a simple yet effective tool to improve communication and improve your life.
Pamela H. Beck, M.Ed./CICS, manages the NCSA Information Services and Cued Speech Discovery Bookstore and is president of Cued Speech for Integrated Communication, Inc.
Amy Ruberl, M.Ed., is co-owner of Cuemunication Resources & Services, a NCSA regional director and certified instructor of Cued Speech.
Related Articles:
What Is Cued Speech?
An Aid to Literacy
By Pamela H. Beck, M.E.D./CICS, and Amy Ruberl, M.ED.
As printed in Hearing Health, volume 21:1, Spring 2005
Can you relate? Cued Speech can come to the rescue in each of these situations by eliminating the ambiguity of speech reading.
It was the search to solve the problem of the low literacy levels of many Deaf children that led to the creation of Cued Speech in 1966 by R. Orin Cornett, Ph.D. Forty years later, experience and research have proven that individuals who receive language consistently through Cued Speech are able to reach the same language and literacy levels as they would without a hearing loss. Cueing provides dynamic visual access to the phonemic base of language, making learning to read easier (see “An Aid to Literacy,”). In addition, many late-deafened adults are finding Cued Speech an essential tool in maintaining fluid communication with their mates, friends and family.
Cued Speech is a perfect companion to cochlear implants, accelerating the process of identifying newly-heard sounds while remaining available for sound-based clarification as needed. This visible “access” to spoken language has enabled Cued Speech to be used by individuals with a variety of language, speech and communication needs, including learning disabilities, autism and auditory processing disabilities. A growing number of children and adults who use sign languages are adding Cued Speech to their communication skills. Cued Speech also helps individuals with or without hearing impairment to learn foreign languages because cues give visual information on how to pronounce foreign words.
Although entire families often learn to cue, not everyone in the neighborhood, school or workplace can, though the basics are very easy to learn. Therefore, Cued Speech is often used in conjunction with amplification such as a hearing aid or cochlear implant, as well as with speech therapy, encouraging the development of listening and speech skills.
Though Cued Speech is a great help in showing children with hearing loss how to pronounce a word, it does not help them figure out how to make the sounds they cannot hear or see on the mouth. Speech therapists can teach a child how to form individual speech sounds and using Cued Speech allows the child to know when to use those sounds appropriately within words and sentences.
Essential in mainstream educational settings are the services of a transliterator, someone fluent in Cued Speech who can cue what the teacher and other students are saying. Michelle Ayers of Virginia, whose family began using Cued Speech when she was four years old, says, “I love Cued Speech. I attended schools with hearing students all my life, kindergarten through college, using the services of a Cued Speech transliterator. Now I work in a law office as a title specialist, a job I really enjoy. When I went to my family reunion, where most people do not cue, I could lipread almost everything that was said. I give Cued Speech the credit for that!”
Christine Hartman’s Ohio family began with signs then added Cued Speech when Christine was two years old. Additionally, she has had a Cued Speech transliterator since age four, beginning in pre-school. Now 15 and a sophomore in high school, Christine excels academically.
Christine received a cochlear implant in the summer of 2004. Eight months later she says, “At school, the cochlear implant helps when someone is reading aloud from a book because I can follow along with them and I don’t need my transliterator. But I am still getting used to the implant, so there are other sounds that I am unable to understand. My transliterator helps me to keep up in class.”
Though many families start teaching their children with hearing loss Cued Speech as they are learning to speak, Cued Speech is growing in popularity among persons who are late-deafened or have age-related hearing loss as well.
Mary and Herman Diesel, an older couple with acquired hearing loss, epitomized the success of Cued Speech in facilitating communication. Together, Mary and Herman attended classes and cue camps and used videotapes to learn to cue and “cue-read.” A decade ago, Mary wrote:
“I tell every hearing-impaired adult how much I like Cued Speech and how easy it is to learn. … It keeps one in the hearing world. It also helps me lipread better, which is most helpful with those who don’t cue. I don’t need every word cued to me, sometimes only a few words need to be cued — words you can’t read on the lips, proper names or a complicated word. I really don’t know what my life would be like without Cued Speech. It has helped me that much.”
After Mary’s death, the Mary Diesel Fund was created to support the National Cued Speech Association’s services for late-deafened adults. Later, after Herman’s death, his family wrote:
“Dad was fluent in German and English. He learned his third and most important [communication mode], Cued Speech, to help Mom live in the hearing world. Even after she passed, he continued to cue to us out of habit.”
It’s never too soon or too late to add a simple yet effective tool to improve communication and improve your life.
Pamela H. Beck, M.Ed./CICS, manages the NCSA Information Services and Cued Speech Discovery Bookstore and is president of Cued Speech for Integrated Communication, Inc.
Amy Ruberl, M.Ed., is co-owner of Cuemunication Resources & Services, a NCSA regional director and certified instructor of Cued Speech.
Related Articles:
What Is Cued Speech?
An Aid to Literacy
