Slow — and Successful!
By Imelda Goedecke
Plymouth, MA
In 1999, my husband Paul and I adopted Bradley, one of Paul’s family member’s sons, who is a profoundly deaf nine years old. Severely educationally delayed due to low expectations from the school he was placed in, Bradley also has a slight retardation from CMV (Cytomegalovirus).
Five years ago, my son knew only twenty-five signs, some of which were home signs. He could only count to two. He could not do basic things you would expect a six year old to do, like tie his shoes or button a shirt. Children’s Hospital’s Boston Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children (BCDC) clinic tested Brad and they were not too promising as to his educational potential. That of course got my creative juices flowing!
Being an interpreter for the deaf for twenty eight years and also an educator knowing the educational status of most deaf who exclusively sign A.S.L., I naturally wanted to find some method that would help my son learn English. I had done some research in the past on Alexander Graham Bells’ Visual Speech. I knew that it would be a key to helping my adopted son and other children who are deaf. The only problem I had was finding someone to teach me. One day, as I was expressing my concerns to one of my relatives, they told me about Cued Speech. From what they described it sounded like visual speech, and to my delight, it was. Now I was in business.
I have used Cued Speech for three of the five years I have been teaching my son. It has been a slow but successful process.
During the regular course of the day, we are sandwiching cued speech with sign language that has been less frustrating for him. We are slowing down and doing more cue and less signs now as we see his cue vocabulary grow. In school, we do a lot more cue. At this point, Bradley can now read and understand basic kindergarten books in cue and is learning to spell using the Ares list and good spelling rules. Not only has my son started to read and spell, he is developing speech and lip-reading skills!
I try to use the same books our private school uses. I use a phonemic based program to teach reading and spelling, since the rudiments of language are sounds and symbols. It is the best way that I have seen children learn to read. My basic philosophy is “you can teach a child to memorize words, which is giving him a fish to eat, and limits their vocabulary. However, if you teach them to read phonically, you are teaching them to fish, and they will then have more liberty to read on their own.”
Obviously, I have found Cued Speech to be an excellent way to teach phonics and build vocabulary for the deaf child. Now when I say beautiful, pretty, lovely, or any word pertaining to that definition, my son will know the precise word I, or someone else is using making it more clear as to how they want to convey their message as opposed to having one sign to convey many words.
Brad has a long way to go but we are seeing fruit. BCDC again tested Brad last summer and he amazed the staff there at his progress in the last four years! Though he is still at the kindergarten level, it just shows what sweat, tears and prayers can do!
Cued Speech has been God’s answer to my prayers for my son and my tutoring.
www.cuedspeech.org/PDF/_OnQ2005-1.pdf
By Imelda Goedecke
Plymouth, MA
In 1999, my husband Paul and I adopted Bradley, one of Paul’s family member’s sons, who is a profoundly deaf nine years old. Severely educationally delayed due to low expectations from the school he was placed in, Bradley also has a slight retardation from CMV (Cytomegalovirus).
Five years ago, my son knew only twenty-five signs, some of which were home signs. He could only count to two. He could not do basic things you would expect a six year old to do, like tie his shoes or button a shirt. Children’s Hospital’s Boston Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children (BCDC) clinic tested Brad and they were not too promising as to his educational potential. That of course got my creative juices flowing!
Being an interpreter for the deaf for twenty eight years and also an educator knowing the educational status of most deaf who exclusively sign A.S.L., I naturally wanted to find some method that would help my son learn English. I had done some research in the past on Alexander Graham Bells’ Visual Speech. I knew that it would be a key to helping my adopted son and other children who are deaf. The only problem I had was finding someone to teach me. One day, as I was expressing my concerns to one of my relatives, they told me about Cued Speech. From what they described it sounded like visual speech, and to my delight, it was. Now I was in business.
I have used Cued Speech for three of the five years I have been teaching my son. It has been a slow but successful process.
During the regular course of the day, we are sandwiching cued speech with sign language that has been less frustrating for him. We are slowing down and doing more cue and less signs now as we see his cue vocabulary grow. In school, we do a lot more cue. At this point, Bradley can now read and understand basic kindergarten books in cue and is learning to spell using the Ares list and good spelling rules. Not only has my son started to read and spell, he is developing speech and lip-reading skills!
I try to use the same books our private school uses. I use a phonemic based program to teach reading and spelling, since the rudiments of language are sounds and symbols. It is the best way that I have seen children learn to read. My basic philosophy is “you can teach a child to memorize words, which is giving him a fish to eat, and limits their vocabulary. However, if you teach them to read phonically, you are teaching them to fish, and they will then have more liberty to read on their own.”
Obviously, I have found Cued Speech to be an excellent way to teach phonics and build vocabulary for the deaf child. Now when I say beautiful, pretty, lovely, or any word pertaining to that definition, my son will know the precise word I, or someone else is using making it more clear as to how they want to convey their message as opposed to having one sign to convey many words.
Brad has a long way to go but we are seeing fruit. BCDC again tested Brad last summer and he amazed the staff there at his progress in the last four years! Though he is still at the kindergarten level, it just shows what sweat, tears and prayers can do!
Cued Speech has been God’s answer to my prayers for my son and my tutoring.
www.cuedspeech.org/PDF/_OnQ2005-1.pdf
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