The Effects of Cued Speech on the Language Development of Three Deaf Children

The language development of three prelingually deaf children was studied in videotapes made monthly from the time of their enrollment in a Cued Speech program. Each child’s communication was analyzed in terms of the frequency of use of gestures, cues, and speech. Length and structure of multi-unit utterances and lexical development were also documented. The data were compared with data previously obtained from the same children while enrolled in an oral education program (Mohay 1982). With the introduction of Cued Speech the frequency with which the children used commuicative gestures dropped dramaticaly without a corresponding increase in speech production. Consequently the overall frequency of their communication was depressed. There was however a slight shift towards the production of longer spoken utterances. Spoken vocabulary showed a significant increase only in the child whose rapid vocabulary acquisition had commenced before her introduction to Cued Speech. The results suggest that the introduction of Cued Speech at an early age does not materially aid the spoken language development of profoundly deaf children.