About Cued Speech
Why is Cued Speech needed?
Without hearing or with imperfect hearing it is hard to understand spoken language – even with modern hearing aids or cochlear implants. It is estimated that people lipread as little as 30% of what is said – the rest is guesswork.
This makes it very difficult for born-deaf children to understand or think in English. With an incomplete understanding of spoken language it is hard for them to use spoken language, lipread, or read and write. Also when a deaf child is born into a hearing family there is no easy, everyday method of communication.
Cued Speech solves these problems
Research shows that, with Cued Speech, 96% of spoken language can be lipread accurately.
It clarifies the lip patterns of normal speech by using eight hand-shapes in four positions near the mouth.
In this way every sound uttered looks clearly different.
It can be learnt in about 20 hours.
Once sound-based language is made visible deaf children can acquire an understanding of spoken language, in the home and from an early age, at the same rate as hearing children.
With the vocabulary and structure of spoken language in place deaf children are in a strong position to become fully literate, to use spoken language and to lipread the general public.
Cued Speech is compatible with both oral/aural approaches (amplifying any residual hearing or using a cochlear implant) and with the use of sign language