F.A.Q

Cueing is a mode of communication developed at Gallaudet University in the mid-1960s by Dr. R. Orin Cornett to help children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to acquire complete language, become literate, and maximize their academic potential. Cueing is recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Virginia Guide for Teachers of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Cued Speech is a system of one-handed handshapes (representing consonant sounds) used in placements around the mouth (representing vowel sounds) and synchronized with the normal mouth movements of spoken languages. Cued Speech allows all the individual phonemes (sounds) of languages that are traditionally spoken to be made visually complete, unique and unambiguous. Cued Speech systems have been adapted for over 65 languages and dialects.

Cued American English uses combinations of 8 consonant handshapes in 4 vowel placements to represent 40 different phonemes (sounds) used in spoken English. Cueing is accomplished in consonant-vowel pairs (a consonant handshape cued at a vowel placement) to allow users to cue continuous speech at the same rate as they speak.

Cueing is not a new language that takes years to learn; cueing is a manual system that is applied to a language that you already know (similar to typing). Cueing proficiency is based on the muscle memory developed through practice.

The entire Cued American English system is taught in 12-16 classroom hours. Classes are offered virtually and in-person at workshops and camps.

Accuracy is the most important element of cueing to convey. As your child learns to read your cues and as you become more confident (through practice), you can build speed to develop greater fluency.

Intermediate and advanced level classes are available to reinforce developing skills and to prepare people to become Cued Language Transliterators. 

Cueing makes all the phonemes of traditionally spoken languages visually complete, unique, and unambiguous. This means that the cued representation of spoken phonemes does not require any access to sound to convey complete language.

Cueing can benefit children with hearing at all levels. (Even children with small degrees of hearing loss can miss small parts of words that are essential to meaning.) The degree to which children benefit from cueing correlates directly to the amount of consistent cueing they receive.

1. Cueing allows hearing parents to immediately provide visual access to the spoken language of the home, ensuring family bonding and access to the family's culture, values, history, and inside jokes.

2. Early and consistent access to complete language enables language acquisition at the rate of typically-hearing peers, providing the language base needed for literacy and the opportunity for full kindergarten readiness.

3. For families that use signed languages, cueing offers complete access to the traditionally-spoken languages that are required to be written and read in school. (American Sign Language does not have a written form. Additionally, it was developed by French speakers and its word order and grammar are not parallel to English. Using cueing to teach English keeps the two languages separate and intact, allowing access to both complete, correct languages.)

4. Use of Cued American English in school (either through direct instruction or via a Cued Language Transliterator) provides verbatim access to the language of the teacher, the curriculum, the books that are read, and the standardized tests that measure comprehension and eventually provide entry to college or other institutions.

5. Cueing pairs well with cochlear implants and other hearing technology. It can help a child to place the sounds of various phonemes on an internal language map, labeling sounds and facilitating their recognition through audition alone.

6. Cueing is a great resource for the times that a child is not using technology (bed, bath, water sports, dead battery, etc.).

7. Cueing can help with fine-tuning speech production by labeling target sounds and identifying sounds that are actually produced.

8. Because cueing is phonemically based, it allows access to the phonemes of other languages. Users of Cued American English can learn the same foreign languages as their hearing peers (with the same American accents!).