09 Mar
Read to Deaf Children with Cued Speech
The majority of brain development, for any child, occurs in the first three years of life. Reading to and sharing books with babies and young children, and giving them time to respond, feeds their brain, helps them learn new words and grows their vocabulary. This is true for deaf children too. Cued Speech is the perfect method to enable parents to show their deaf children the wonder of books, the magic of stories and the gift of language.
Reading to your child with Cued Speech will allow them to see what you’re saying. You will be able to talk about what you’re reading, your child will discover new words and you will be able to enjoy the storytelling together, all within one activity which helps to build important foundations for your deaf child’s language development.
The National Literacy Trust lists some of the key benefits of reading to your child:
- Talking and listening to young children develops their social and literacy skills and reading to children is a good way of encouraging two-way communication.
- Reading to children can be calming during times of distress or unease. The appearance of their favourite book and book characters can be a very soothing experience and help build a bond between parent and child.
- Books introduce children to the exciting world of stories and can help them learn how to express their own thoughts and emotions.
- Stories provide parents and carers with a structure to help them talk to children and to pay attention to their responses. They help you to be silly, overcome adult inhibitions and they are great topics for conversation.
- Books are an important source of new vocabulary.
- Songs and rhymes are especially good for children as the rhythms and repetitive language make it easier for babies to learn language structures and skills.
- Giving your child time to think about what is going to happen in the book, or reflect on what has just happened, builds their language and brain development.
Cued Speech UK’s CueTube page is a great place to find stories in Cued Speech, as well as information and advice for parents with deaf children.
You can find out how to use Cued Speech with your deaf child by visiting our website: www.cuedspeech.co.uk – We would love to see what you’re saying!
You can also donate to Cued Speech UK by using our Support Us website page.
07 Jan
2020 The year of Visible Spoken Language
Have you got 20/20 vision?
We at Cued Speech UK have! We’re declaring 2020 our year of Visible Spoken Language!
We understand that deaf people are profoundly visual and need spoken language that they can see – they need to see what people are saying!
Supporting deaf people with Cued Speech increases their ability to lip read from just 35% to at least 96% accuracy. It’s amazing! Families use Cued Speech to allow their deaf children to understand spoken language, become literate and positively thrive at school.
You too can support deaf people and learn how to make your speech visible, by studying our Online Foundation Course in Cued Speech. Just use this link: https://cuedspeechlearning.co.uk/
Or explore our website to learn more: https://www.cuedspeech.co.uk/
Share our 2020 vision, as a Year of Visible Spoken Language.
03 Oct
Poetry made truly visible
Today Cued Speech UK is celebrating National Poetry Day! This celebration of poetry takes place every October, generating an explosion of activity nationwide, with thousands of amazing events across the UK – in schools, libraries, bookshops and hospitals, on buses, trains and boats – all celebrating poetry’s power to bring people together.
2019 is the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Day and Cued Speech UK have created this short film to celebrate this event.
This year’s theme of ‘Truth’ is embodied in how the poem is performed using Cued Speech, which is a method that truly makes spoken language visible for deaf people. A combination of lip-patterns, handshapes and hand positions ensure that all the sounds of spoken language are there to see. Nothing is hidden or difficult to discern for deaf people, who use Cued Speech to support their understanding of spoken language. It is a true visualisation of speech and we think it is beautiful.
The poem that you are about to see and hear is called ‘Helen Keller’ – a powerful and beautiful poem, written by Langston Hughes and performed here by Cate Calder. Helen Keller was a famous American author, political activist, and lecturer, and the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. To watch the film, just click on the image above.
To find out more about Cued Speech you can visit our website: www.cuedspeech.co.uk
You can give a donation to Cued Speech UK by using our Support Us website page.
Why not learn to use Cued Speech yourself – We would love to see what you’re saying!