http://www.cuedspeech.org/PDF/Cueing_with_Babies.pdfMany people question whether Cued Speech can be used with infants and toddlers. It can! Cued Speech can provide an avenue for parents to convey the language of their home to their child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing as soon as a hearing loss has been identified.
How and when should they introduce cued English to their very young child?
The short answer is immediately. Once a hearing loss has been identified, you can learn how to cue and begin cueing just as you would speak to a hearing baby. As a baby is cooed over and cuddled, parents can begin the process of teaching language to their child simply by cueing all they say. Parents who are deaf and already know how to cue are at an advantage as they will naturally begin cueing immediately on the birth of their child, whether the baby is hearing or deaf. Any child can acquire the language of the home from the parents using Cued Speech. The sooner and more consistently your child is cued to, the more likely she will begin imitating cues and start cueing and communicating with you and others.
Why should I cue with my baby?
For many parents, the natural language of the home is spoken. Cueing is a way for parents to visually convey their natural “family” language to their child who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. Cueing enables them to communicate with all members of the family simultaneously, without switching between languages.
Literacy development is also important to all parents. Early cueing allows children to absorb and understand the different phonemes, or sounds, that make up their native language. They will naturally develop one critical factor of “emergent literacy,” or reading readiness: phonemic awareness. With Cued Speech, you can provide your baby or toddler with a language-rich environment that makes it easier to communicate all the things in their world.
How old does a child need to be in order to cue to her?
You can cue to your child from birth, just as you would speak or sign to her from birth.
Does my child need hearing in order to cue? Can I cue to a child who is profoundly deaf?
Cued Speech was originally intended for use with children who are profoundly deaf or have no usable residual hearing. These children thrive on the visual access to language that cueing can provide. In addition, cueing has proved to be effective for children who are hard-of-hearing, helping to clarify auditory information in noisy situations. Hearing children with speech, language, and/or auditory processing problems can also gain tremendous benefit from cueing.
What/when should I cue to my baby?
Ideally, you would cue everything that you say during the normal course of your day. Great times to cue to your baby are all the “routine” parts of your day—during mealtimes, diaper-changing or toilet training, running errands, bath time, bedtime, and at the grocery store, as well as during playtime or other special family occasions/outings. Whenever you talk, cue. Don’t worry if your baby is not looking directly at you at first; she will eventually realize that what you’re doing is communicating and start paying attention.
Research in language development shows that babies learn words used in isolation first. This is good news for parents new to cueing. Cueing one word (such as ball) and building upon it (red ball or little red ball) is helpful and a natural process for language development in young children.
How can I become fluent so that I can cue to my baby quickly?
The short answer is—practice, practice, practice! One way to increase your speed is to write down a list of some things that you say to your baby each day and practice those until you can cue them easily and quickly.
For example, you can cue the words mother, father, grandma, grandpa, as well as the names of other family members, including brothers, sisters and family pets, and close friends and relatives that the child interacts with regularly. You can also cue the names of common foods and household items (milk, juice, cereals, water, eggs, cheese, chicken, apples, coat/jacket, bottles, cup, spoon, etc.), as well as, favorite toys (ball, bear, baby) and so forth.
Words and phrases in your repertoire that are quick and easy to cue will increase your overall speed as you add “unfamiliar” words to your child’s language. Common phrases might include the following:
“It’s time for…” (bed, nap, lunch, dinner)
“Do you want…” (juice, blankie)
“Go get the...” (ball, bear, book)
“Give (me/her/him) the …” (toy, bottle)
“Where is…” (Dad? Mom? the kitty?)
“Please, ...” (come here, sit down)
“I love you!”
Can the baby cue back to me? When?
Yes, your baby should be able to approximate some cues back to you after a while. The time frame of when a baby might begin to cue has not yet been definitively established. There is some research in progress now that seems to suggest that a baby might develop some cue approximations or baby cues at the same time that hearing babies begin to speak or deaf babies begin to sign back to their parents, which is typically between 9 and 18 months of age.
Cueing, just like signing, requires some manual dexterity and fine motor skills, which may impact your baby’s ability to perfectly convey the entire system. Children who are hearing often have approximations or mispronunciations in their speech for difficult-to-produce sounds through the age of six or seven.
Cueing with Babies • Page 3 of 3
Funded by the US Department of Education • Grant H324E050024
Cueing children will experience the same need to offer an approximation for a cue and develop expressive skills over time as you encourage them to cue.
Parents should encourage expressive cueing in their young children by looking for approximations and reinforcing the use of them. For example, a child might tap her throat or chest area with her pointer finger to indicate daddy and use an open hand at the throat to indicate mommy. All babies offer approximations of speech; observant parents will be able to identify cue babbling and attempts and can encourage their use as the baby’s skills develop. Anecdotal evidence shows that babies will likely cue words with the easiest handshapes (5, 1, 6) and/or use one or two primary locations before correctly moving from one location to another.
To provide clear and consistent exposure to language, parents should cue as often as possible to their child as soon as they are able to do so. This will allow the child to acquire language as soon as possible, thereby also providing the best foundation for their child’s literacy development. Parents should encourage their child to cue as soon as possible. Parents can visually provide the language of their home to their baby who is deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Resources
Cornett, R.O., & Daisey, M.E. (Eds.). (2000). The Cued Speech resource book for parents of deaf children (2nd ed.). Cleveland: National Cued Speech Association.
Ling, D. (1989). Foundations of spoken language for hearing-impaired children. Washington, DC: Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.
Paul, P.V. (1998). Literacy and deafness: The development of reading, writing, and literate thought. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Schwartz, S. (1996). Choices in deafness: A parents’ guide to communication options. (2nd ed.). Rockville: Woodbine House.
Sheetz, N.A. (2001). Orientation to deafness (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
© National Cued Speech Association 2006
No time Like the Present
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jillio
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Ideally, you should start signing to infants and toddlers who are deaf, and sign everything you communicate to that child. Concept is transmitted inthat way, rather than phonics.
And, on expressive language....babies cannot respond in cueing until they have reached the developmental stage allowing for all of the fine motor skills to be utilized that are necessary. Babies can, however, and do, respond expressively in sign as young as six months. And, as communication is dyadic, it needs to be both receptive and expressive to accomplish the purpose.
And, on expressive language....babies cannot respond in cueing until they have reached the developmental stage allowing for all of the fine motor skills to be utilized that are necessary. Babies can, however, and do, respond expressively in sign as young as six months. And, as communication is dyadic, it needs to be both receptive and expressive to accomplish the purpose.
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Exactly..my son is able to tell me his needs or interests using ASL...I cant imagine him being able to do that in cued speech right now when his fine motor skills arent ready...
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My son is hearing and he will be exposed to ASL and English only. Thanks
With all due respect she90, cueing Enlgish to your hearing son is providing him English, visually, kinesthetically and auditorally.
jillio
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A child cannot do what a child is not developmentally able to do. Trying doesn't have anything to do with it. BTW, shel's child is hearing.
jillio
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And a six month old child can achieve a more accurate approximation using gross motor skills to sign than they can using fine motor skills to cue. Likewise, a six month old cannot achieve even close to an approximation of a spoken word to communicate. So what's your point?
jillio
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Why would she need to provide a hearing child with cued English. He is learning English through his auditory channels. He is learning ASL through his visual channels. What are you talking about?
You have experience cueing with a six month old?
Learning kinesthetically.
If shel90 husband is hearing, which I do not know one way or the other, BUT if he is, her husband cueing could enhance her lipreading skills. Everyone cueing, signing and speaking, a very full toolbox.
Shel90, I am not by any means placing judgement on your family.
3s5s5t6sBearBeauty
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while it would be a full toolbox, Cueing would probubly fall by the wayside since both Shel and her husband use English and ASL.
I used to cue when I was younger, but with the aquistition(sp?) of sign language, cueing fell by the wayside for me since i was already using English, Lipreading, speaking and sign. So while It can be helpful, it's really up to shel and her husband if they want to use it.
I used to cue when I was younger, but with the aquistition(sp?) of sign language, cueing fell by the wayside for me since i was already using English, Lipreading, speaking and sign. So while It can be helpful, it's really up to shel and her husband if they want to use it.
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Learning kinesthetically.
If shel90 husband is hearing, which I do not know one way or the other, BUT if he is, her husband cueing could enhance her lipreading skills. Everyone cueing, signing and speaking, a very full toolbox.
Shel90, I am not by any means placing judgement on your family.
Thanks for the suggestions but my husband is semi-fluent in ASL. He is having a hard time with his receptive skills but his expressive skills are better in ASL so I use spoken English to meet his auditory needs and he uses signing to meet my visual needs and it works out great.
Funny thing is that my son's speech therapist started cueing to him today without realizing it. She keeps thinking my son is deaf cuz of his fluency in ASL for a 22 month old. LOL!
We are happy with just using both languages the way they are.
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Learning kinesthetically.
If shel90 husband is hearing, which I do not know one way or the other, BUT if he is, her husband cueing could enhance her lipreading skills. Everyone cueing, signing and speaking, a very full toolbox.
Shel90, I am not by any means placing judgement on your family.
Another note..I am so turned off by lipreading that I no longer want to do it anymore. It was hell for me growing up constantly lipreading everyone 24/7 and being so exhausted. It killed whatever motivation I have for lipreading after all those years of being frustrated and depressed. I dont want to lipread anymore and I could care less if my skills deteriorate. It was one of the worst tasks for me in my life.