Frequently Asked Questions
- How early can I use Cued Speech with a deaf baby?
- How will my child communicate?
- How much will my child continue to need Cued Speech?
- Does it matter that the general public does not cue?'
- Why is lipreading so hard?
CUED SPEECH TO HELP LISTENING AND SPEECH
- How does Cued Speech help speech?
- What about residual hearing?
- Cued Speech and Cochlear Implants?
- What’s the difference between BSL and Cued Speech
- Can Cued Speech be used with British Sign Language?
- Cued Speech and Auditory Neuropathy?
- How can I learn Cued Speech and how long will it take?
CUED SPEECH OUTSIDE THE HOME
- How can Cued Speech help at school?
- What if my child’s school does not use it?
- Can older children be helped by Cued Speech?
- What is a Cued Speech Transliterator?
- Can foreign languages be learned through Cued Speech?
- How does Cued Speech help literacy?
How early can I use Cued Speech with a deaf baby?
The earlier you use Cued Speech the better. A baby or young deaf child will learn by imitation as hearing babies do – they are not specifically taught. Early and consistent use of Cued Speech should enable a deaf child to develop an understanding of the English language which mirrors that of hearing children. On the other hand, it is never too late to start to cue with a deaf child and older children benefit from being directly taught.
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How will my child communicate?
Hearing children always have to understand language before they start to speak. Quite often there is a considerable gap between their internal language and their expressive language (speech). Cued Speech children are the same. Almost all Cued Speech children with some residual hearing and good use of hearing aids or cochlear implants, express themselves through speech (although their diction may be poor, particularly in the early stages) and do not cue themselves. Some children, usually those with no useful hearing, will use Cued Speech as a method of communication. Children who use Cued Speech as a method of communication in the early years may move to spoken communication later.
How much will my child continue to need Cued Speech?
This varies but most families find that their child needs Cued Speech continually in the early years to acquire a thorough knowledge of spoken language. Later, most children understand some spoken language without the support of Cued Speech and families often use it less at this point. Many cochlear implanted children need Cued Speech less after they have learnt to listen with their implant. However, if a child cannot hear all the sounds of speech, families must continue to cue sufficiently to allow the child to see the full pattern of the English language. Regular cueing is sometimes dropped once full language has been established but Cued Speech continues to be useful for new vocabulary, to correct mispronunciation and when lipreading is insufficient.
Does it matter that the general public don’t Cue?
No, Cued Speech is designed to help deaf children to learn and understand English. Its use will help the child lipread and communicate with those who do not cue. As a clear and reliable support for spoken language Cued Speech removes confusion and misunderstandings and promotes equal, stress-free communication in the family.
This lipshape could be either f or v
Look in the mirror and say: “It’s hidden in the tin, isn’t it?” Or try to tell the difference between: mat, pat, bat, or: shoe, school, chew.
Lipreading involves a great deal of guesswork. Deaf people with a good understanding of spoken language can call on this inner knowledge to make educated guesses. However, a young deaf child is unlikely to learn complete language in this way. There are simply too many ‘gaps’ in the information to understand the whole of the vocabulary and structure of the language.
Lipreading is also very tiring. If the word ‘met’ is spoken without cues there are 71 other words (or word-like combinations of sounds) that look the same on the mouth. The lipreader must guess which is right - and then do the same for the next word, and the next. This is exhausting and stressful!
On the other hand a child who sees spoken language with the accompaniment of Cued Speech can understand the whole of spoken language without guesswork. As their understanding of language grows they become more easily able to make the educated guesses on which lipreading relies. They can thus lipread with greater ease and accuracy those who do not cue. They can also use their understanding of spoken language to help with their own speech and with literacy.
How does Cued Speech help speech?
Speech is much more complex than the ability to make speech sounds. It is necessary to know how sounds combine to make words and phrases and also to understand the grammatical structure of a sentence. The consistent use of Cued Speech will allow a deaf child to acquire an understanding of spoken language – sound by sound. This understanding, which includes knowledge of grammar and vocabulary, can be used as a base for speech. Also, although Cued Speech does not teach a child how to say speech sounds, it is very useful in speech correction and speech therapy. It can also be used with hearing children with speech and language difficulties.
What about residual hearing?
Most deaf people have some hearing which can be enhanced by hearing aids. All children should have the opportunity to reach their full listening potential and therefore it is recommended that children brought up with Cued Speech have every means available to make best use of their hearing.
Unfortunately this is often not enough to allow a deaf child to hear all the sounds of speech. Some children hear very little, even with aids. Others may hear most speech sounds in perfect listening conditions but very little in noisy situations or when they are not close to the speaker. This will cause problems with communication and language development.
With Cued Speech deaf children can see every phoneme of speech so resolving the problems of communication and language development. Furthermore researchers have found that children who were supported by Cued Speech made better use of their residual hearing.
(BL Charlier & D Paulissen, 1986).
Cued Speech and Cochlear Implants?
All children respond differently to their implants with some achieving greater benefits than others. What are the problems? Prior to an implant it is very hard for your baby or child to communicate and to learn language. Using sign may solve the communication problem – but you have to learn it first and it is a very different language from the one your child will later hear through the implant. After the implant the problems of distance and background noise remain…
Cued Speech helps cochlear implanted children in several ways. Since it only takes about 20 hours to learn to cue the twin problems of early communication and language development can be immediately solved. In addition Cued Speech allows deaf children (even those with no hearing) to understand the same sound-based language that they can access later through their implant. Also, if your child thrives with their implant and you no longer need Cued Speech for everyday use, it will still be useful to overcome problems of background noise and distance – and, of course when the processor cannot be worn.
What’s the difference between British Sign Language (BSL) and Cued Speech?
Cued Speech totally clarifies the lip patterns of normal speech by using eight hand shapes in four positions together with the lip patterns of normal speech. In this way every sound uttered looks clearly different.
It allows hearing parents to use their own language in a visual form and in its entirety - and therefore it gives deaf children full access to the English language from a very early age. This has huge advantages: children see a complete, grammatically correct language and can use it to communicate. Their full understanding can then be used to learn to read and write, and to help with speech and lip reading.
British Sign Language (BSL) is a totally different language from English or other spoken languages, with a very different structure and grammar. It is therefore not an easy or direct route to literacy. Also, because Cued Speech is just a different way for people to express their own spoken language, it can be learnt in just a few hours, whereas it takes years of study to be fully fluent in BSL.
Can Cued Speech be used with British Sign Language?
Yes, British Sign Language (BSL) is a beautiful and expressive language and its use is part of the deaf community’s identity. It is to be hoped that all deaf children will reach adulthood having had the opportunity to understand and use both BSL and English.
Children who are acquiring language need a full language from infancy and deaf parents fluent in BSL can give their children immediate access to full visual language.
However, 90% of deaf children are born into hearing families and most hearing parents cannot give their deaf babies a full ‘model’ of BSL in their early years, but they can ‘model’ their own spoken language through Cued Speech.
In order to give deaf children the best opportunity to be part of the deaf and hearing communities the following principles should be considered:
- Each language (English and BSL) should be learnt through every-day, face-to-face communication and play with a minimum amount of teaching.
- Each language should be learnt from people who are good models of it and the culture associated with it. BSL should be learned primarily from deaf people and English (at least in its spoken form) from hearing people.
- Each language should be learnt by receiving it in a clear form. This is not a problem for BSL. If English is to be learnt through natural, face-to-face communication it must be delivered through Cued Speech if aural/oral practices (learning language through the use of residual hearing alone) are not sufficient.
- The acquisition of each language should begin as early as possible.
- The child should have an adequate knowledge of English to serve as a base for reading development by the age of about six years.
Cued Speech and Auditory Neuropathy/ Dys-synchrony (AN/AD)?
It is now estimated that 10% of the deaf population may have AN/AD. It is widely recommended that Cued Speech is used with AN/AD babies and children for a number of reasons: one of which is that about 7% of the children with this diagnosis ultimately need NO intervention since they “get better” without any help. Therefore, one does not want to do harm with hearing aids or implants but can ensure language development, regardless of the outcome, by using Cued Speech.
How can I learn Cued Speech and how long will it take?
The Cued Speech Association UK organises regular, low-cost or free tuition either entirely on a ‘face-to-face’ basis or in conjunction with our ‘learn to cue' website. The Foundation Course is taught in easy stages and at the end of the course students are able to cue any word in the English language.
It takes about 20 hours to learn the basics. Initially you cue slowly. It will take several months to be able to cue at the speed of normal speech. Do not worry that your cueing is initially slow – there is no evidence that this is unhelpful to young deaf children who are learning language and there are some indications that slow cueing can be beneficial in the early stages.
The following quote might be useful in illustrating the difference between learning a sign language and Cued Speech:
‘With Cueing, you quickly learn to express anything, but at an extremely slow rate. With a sign language, you quickly learn to express a very limited set of ideas, at a reasonable speed. With cues, you add to the rate slowly, over a period of months. With signs, you add, slowly, over a period of years, to the number of ideas you can express.’
Parents who use Cued Speech consistently will steadily gain speed.
How can Cued Speech help at school?
Cued Speech can clarify spoken language wherever it is used in school. It is uniquely helpful with literacy. It can be used in different ways according to need. Sometimes a teacher of the deaf may use Cued Speech. Alternatively a learning support assistant may use Cued Speech to transliterate the speech of others (including the class teacher) within a mainstream school. It may be used 100% of the time or only occasionally to clarify sounds or to aid pronunciation. It can be very successful when used in a mainstream school where it allows a deaf child full access to the spoken language around them.
What if my child’s school does not use it?
Cued Speech is a tool which clarifies speech and helps communication. By using it at home deaf children can acquire the early language they need, which they can build on at school. If the school will allow it, we can train a learning support assistant to use Cued Speech to allow a deaf child full access to spoken language in school. Please contact us to talk about this.
Can older children be helped by Cued Speech?
It can help older children and adults to improve their English language skills. Also, for those familiar with the system, Cued Speech Transliterators can give full access to the spoken language within a classroom, lecture hall or elsewhere.
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What is a Cued Speech Transliterator?
Within a family, Cued Speech is usually used as an accompaniment to and clarification of normal speech. However, it is possible for an experienced user of Cued Speech to cue and mouth silently the speech of a third person. This is similar to translation but because it does not involve translating one language into another but represents the same language sound-for-sound in a different medium it is called transliteration. Family members can act as occasional informal Transliterators. They can be used in education, meetings, medical examinations, theatres, etc. Transliterators usually cue exactly what is said at the speed of normal speech but if appropriate they can cue simplified English for deaf children whose English is delayed.
See an example of different types of Cued Speech Transliteration (including simplified Cued Speech for children who are unfamiliar with English and Cued Speech in French for deaf French children) by clicking here.
Can foreign languages be learned through Cued Speech?
Yes, Cued Speech has been adapted into over 60 languages and dialects. These adaptations can also help families with deaf children whose first language is not English to communicate in their home language and English. This can lead to better literacy skills, social development and awareness of their own culture for their children.
How does Cued Speech help literacy?
Research shows that profoundly deaf children brought up with Cued Speech achieve literacy levels equivalent to hearing children of the same age and are able to read by applying their knowledge of the sounds of spoken language to written language (e.g. d o g spells ‘dog’). There is much evidence that this phonological awareness is crucial to reading success. Deaf children who are not aware of the sounds of spoken language cannot learn to read in this way. However, a wide body of international research shows that deaf children brought up with Cued Speech have an understanding of sound-based language and use phonetic techniques when they learn to read just as hearing children do. This means that deaf children who are familiar with Cued Speech can ‘sound out’ words they do not know, and also work out how to spell new words that they have seen cued. The teaching of literacy through phonics is part of the national curriculum. Cued Speech use allows deaf children to learn in this way alongside hearing children.