Cued Speech: Guide

Cate Calder | View as single page | Feedback/Impact

Hearing families with a deaf child

90-96% of deaf babies are born into hearing families, these families need and deserve a way to enable their deaf child to access the language of the home as soon as possible.

If a deaf child cannot hear all the sounds of speech, it does not make sense to communicate using the hearing route alone.  Signing can provide a means of communication but most hearing parents of deaf babies cannot use sign language which is of good quality – because they have not yet learnt it – and signing will never give direct access to complete spoken English.

The use of CS in the home from an early age will give access to language in good quantity, quality and variety.  The addition of aural/oral methods to encourage the maximum use of residual hearing will give the best environment for spoken language to flourish.  With CS hearing parents can cue rhymes, stories, nonsense words, animal noises - anything you say can be cued.  All spoken language and its culture is available in an easily accessible form. 

 A parent explains her journey with her profoundly deaf son diagnosed at 8 days old. She describes how CS enabled her to give him access to fluent language and a phonological awareness that enabled him to learn to read at just 3 years old.

Parents of a profoundly deaf child describe how their family was able to give their deaf daughter full access to both English and French by cueing each language. Their daughter developed age appropriate language and literacy in both languages.

Film of the same family discussing their cueing journey.