Cued Speech for Speech, Language, and Communication

Cued speech is a phonetically-based visual communication system where lip reading is combined with simple handshapes. The movement of the articulators and the handshapes together form the "cue" and there is one cue for each sound. This makes 100% of spoken language accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who may have some diagnosis which makes auditory access to language difficult.

Cued speech is a very versatile system where one can work on speech, language, and communication issues. It can be broken down into cues for individual sounds and blends, or it can be used fluently for language and communication. Unlike sign language, which is often dropped by the user as approximations of words become more intelligible, cued speech can be used to that point and beyond, continuing to work further on speech and language issues.

Dr. R. Orin Cornett of Gallaudet University developed cued speech in 1966 in response to a study done showing deaf students to have very low reading levels, which was surprising because reading is a visual activity. It was believed that these individuals read poorly because they did not have full mastery of English, as it was their second language since American Sign Language was their primary language. It was realized that to read and write proficiently a person must be fluent in the use of the language, which begins with being able to distinguish phonemes. Dr. Cornett invented Cued Speech to assist individuals who cannot clearly hear English to see see each of its phonemic components. With this, they could increase their proficiency and improve their reading skills.

Research has shown that cued speech helps improve auditory discrimination, visual speech reception, speechreading, receptive language, expressive language, and literacy. There have been few studies done where cued speech has been used with other than deaf individuals, but there are more studies being done continually because people are seeing the benefits of cued speech firsthand.