Report by: Cate Calder, Cued Speech tutor; Gill Banham, Speech and Language Therapist (both of ERADE); including excerpts (in italics) from research ‘Can Limited and Late Exposure to Cued Speech Impact the English Skills of Signing deaf Pupils?’ by Laura Hayley Jayne Gratton and with additional input from Anne Worsfold, Executive Director of the Cued Speech
Association UK (CSAUK).
Introduction
The use of Cued Speech at the newly named Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education (ERADE), formerly the Royal West of England School for the Deaf, continues to grow with innovative work by Cate Calder and Academy staff. Policy at the Academy is to aim for excellence in both English and British Sign Language. To support the English access within this bi-lingual vision, 16 of their 38 students are currently using Cued Speech with adapted ‘Synthetic Phonics’ materials as part of their literacy learning.
This report will look at signing deaf children’s access to literacy through the use of Cued Speech and Synthetic Phonics.
