As printed in Hearing Health, volume 21:1, Spring 2005
Cued Speech
Makes spoken languages visually accessible
Provides building blocks for literacy
Integrates vision and hearing
Adapts to almost 60 languages and dialects
Cued Speech is a phonemic-based, visual communication system that, in English, uses eight handshapes in four different locations to make cues for consonant-vowel syllables.
Handshapes represent groups of consonants, and placements and movements of the hand around the face represent groups of vowels. These combinations, along with the mouth movements of speech, provide a visual cue as to which consonants and vowels are being spoken. By adding facial expressions and changing the force and speed of cues, people who are Deaf or hard of hearing can experience a rich and complex visual language similar to spoken language.
