top of page
Choices4_edited.jpg

Understanding Cued Speech

What is Cued Speech?

Cued Speech is a manual system that is used all over the world to enable deaf children to accurately lipread and learn spoken languages.

 

It was created in America in 1968 and has been used successfully in the UK since 1970.

 

Cuers (people who cue) make the cues as they speak.

 

They use 8 handshapes:

Screenshot 2024-09-18 at 09.39.51.png

In 4 places around the face: 

 

Using 3 simple rules.

 

Cue-readers listen with their eyes, they face the cuer and watch:

  • The shape of their hand

  • Where the hand is placed

  • The natural lip-patterns as they speak

  • And they may listen to the voice if possible

 

Most hearing people learn how to cue in 6 to 10 hours, after that they must practice at becoming fluent.

 

Most cue-readers are deaf and are exposed to cueing when they are very young, they never have to ‘learn it’ because their brains just absorb the language that is being cued to them.

Some of them like to cue themselves when they speak, others don’t, although nearly everyone finds that if they are struggling to pronounce a word, cueing it helps them say it.

Screenshot 2024-09-18 at 09.40.06.png
A deaf persons experience with the English Language

A deaf person's experience with Cued Speech
Pt. 3 A deaf person's experience with the English language pt3

Pt. 3 A deaf person's experience with the English language pt3

02:20
Play Video
Pt 1 - A deaf person's experience with the English language

Pt 1 - A deaf person's experience with the English language

02:01
Play Video
Pt.4 A deaf person's experience with the English language pt4 (1)

Pt.4 A deaf person's experience with the English language pt4 (1)

01:53
Play Video
Parents who use Cued Speech

Parents who use cued speech

Parents who use cued speech
Search video...
Parents who use Cued Speech 2 – Learning to Cue

Parents who use Cued Speech 2 – Learning to Cue

00:57
Play Video
Parents who use Cued Speech 4 – Not only for deaf kids

Parents who use Cued Speech 4 – Not only for deaf kids

00:48
Play Video
Parents who use Cued Speech 3 – How Cueing works for us

Parents who use Cued Speech 3 – How Cueing works for us

01:00
Play Video
Parents who use Cued Speech 5 – Communication Choices

Parents who use Cued Speech 5 – Communication Choices

02:06
Play Video
Cued speech and the impact it can have on communication
Screenshot 2024-07-25 at 09.27.54.png

A professional View:

Ruth Campbell, Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus, Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences Division of Psychology and Language Sciences University College London) writes in her Foreword to the book, Cued Speech and Cued Language for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children (edited by Carol J. La Sasso, Kelly Lamar Crain and Jacqueline Leybaert):

‘The importance of Cued Speech is that it opens up the world of spoken language to the deaf child in a clear and simple way, from the outset. This has, as Cornett envisioned, the potential to allow a form of the traditionally spoken language to develop naturally in a deaf child, via a communication modality that the child and the child’s caregiver can use easily, fluently, and collaboratively.

‘[Research] has shown conclusively that children exposed consistently to Cued Speech gained and maintained a head start over deaf children of similar intelligence and skill who did not have Cued Speech. Those who started using Cued Speech before school were even more likely to forge ahead, often with literacy levels and styles indistinguishable from hearing children. Because this understanding is sound-based it is uniquely beneficial for deaf children both pre- and post-cochlear implant.’

Research:
Cued Speech and the Development of Reading in English: Examining the Evidence
Beverly J. Trezek


The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Volume 22, Issue 4, 1 October 2017, Pages 349–364, https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enx026

Published: 06 June 2017

 

Deaf Choices UK is currently the only charity in the UK that gives training in Cued Speech and we are always happy to share more information about this amazing system.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at   info@deafchoicesuk.co.uk 

We look forward to hearing from you.

CONTACT US

Registered Charity: 279523

  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Instagram

The Boatshed, Steamer Quay

Steamer Quay Road, 

Totnes, Devon

TQ9 5AL

Phone: 01803 712 853

Company limited by guarantee: 1477997 

© 2024 Deaf Choices UK

BE THE FIRST TO KNOW

Sign up to our newsletter to stay informed

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page