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9/09/2025  |   11:00 AM - 11:30 AM   |  Breakout 4   |  Thomas H. Swain

Early Access to Spoken Languages using Cued Speech

Abstract Summary

Early, consistent, visual access to an accurately modeled language of the home is critical for language acquisition, literacy development, cognitive development, and later academic success for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. When babies are born with CMV, they can have a range of hearing levels from mild to profound. Newborn hearing screenings and follow-up screenings usually lead to eventual diagnosis of hearing levels. Parents are then provided with a set of communication choices to choose from and decide which one to try that matches their needs and those of their baby. Hearing professionals typically include Listening and Spoken Language (LSL), hearing technology such as cochlear implants or hearing aids, and American Sign Language (ASL). There is one more system that is rarely mentioned to parents but proven to be effective for age appropriate language and literacy development. Cued Speech. This system should always be included as one of the choices for parents to explore. The presenter will explain the benefits of cueing to babies and provide a short demonstration of how the system of Cued Speech works. Cueing to your child visually clarifies speechreading/lipreading by showing the phonemes of spoken languages on the mouth and hand. This allows the child to develop a mental model of the spoken language(s) of the home. Results of studies on babies and young children worldwide have clearly shown that children who cue perform comparably to hearing peers on phonemic awareness, internal speech recoding, phonics, rhyming, and spelling. The presenter will explain how cues can be used easily by any family member or professional to allow infants and young children to see, even though they cannot clearly hear, and therefore acquire the spoken language(s) of their home from native speakers.

Learning Objectives

• Name two ways Cued Speech can support language and literacy development in babies with reduced hearing levels from CMV.
• Describe two reasons why cueing your babies early vocalizations back to them is important.
• Explain why including Cued Speech as a communication choice for parents of babies with CMV is urgently needed.

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