Cued speech

Cued Speech is a system of communication used with and among deaf or hard of hearing people. It makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes (representing consonants) in different locations near the mouth (representing vowels), as a supplement to lipreading. It is now used with people with a variety of language, speech, communication and learning needs.

Cued Speech was invented in 1965-66 by Dr. R. Orin Cornett at Gallaudet College. After discovering that children with prelingual and profound hearing impairments typically have poor reading comprehension, he developed the system with the aim of improving the reading abilities of such children through better comprehension of the phonemes of spoken English. As many sounds look identical on the lips (such as and ), the hand signals introduce a visual contrast in place of the formerly acoustic contrast. Cued Speech may also help people hearing incomplete or distorted sound — according to the National Cued Speech Association at cuedspeech.org, "cochlear implants and Cued Speech are powerful partners".

Though to a layperson, Cued Speech may look similar to signing, Cued Speech is not a sign language; nor is it a Manually Coded Sign System for a spoken language. Rather Cued Speech is a manual modality of communication for representing English at the phonological level. Originally designed to represent American English, the system was adapted to French in 1977. As of 2005, Cued Speech has been adapted to approximately 60 languages and dialects, including six dialects of English. For tonal languages such as Thai, the tone is indicated by inclination and movement of the hand.

Within the United States, proponents of Cued Speech often discuss the system as an alternative to American Sign Language (ASL) and similar sign languages, although others note that it can be learned in addition to such languages.

Cued Speech and literacy
As noted above, Cued Speech was developed with the intent of improving literacy rates among children. Even today, one argument made by advocates of Cued Speech for English users is that literacy rates for reading English are significantly lower in those who learn American Sign Language than those who learn Cued Speech. This difference typically is attributed to ASL being a distinct language from English, with its own syntax and lexical patterns.

In her paper "The Relationship Between Phonological Coding And Reading Achievement In Deaf Children: Is Cued Speech A Special Case?" (1998), Ostrander notes, "Research has consistently shown a link between lack of phonological awareness and reading disorders (Jenkins & Bowen, 1994)" and discusses the research basis for teaching Cued Speech as an aid to phonological awareness and literacy. Ostrander concludes that further research into these areas is needed and well justified.

Cued Speech organizations

 * Cued Language Network of America (CLNA)
 * Language Matters (LMI)
 * National Cued Speech Association of the USA (NCSA)
 * Cued Speech Association UK
 * Testing, Evaluation, and Certification Unit (TECUnit) The cued language national testing body of the United States

Tutorials and general information

 * The Art of Cueing - extensive free course for cueing American dialects of English, containing Quicktime video samples.
 * Cued Speech Discovery - The NCSA bookstore. Some overview information.
 * Cued Speech INFO - Overview of Cued Speech, FAQs, Common Misconceptions.
 * DailyCues.com - News and learning resources, some free online.
 * NCSA Mini-Documentary - A 10 minute video explaining cued speech. Audio, ASL, sub-titles and some cueing.

Cued languages other than English

 * Cued Portuguese: Português Falado Complementado
 * Cued Spanish: Método Oral Complementado (MOC)
 * Cued French: Langage Parlé Complété (LPC)
 * Cued Polish: Fonogesty

Langage parlé complété (LPC)