|
Transcript
from the BBC Charity Appeal, August 2008, for and on behalf of
the Cued Speech Association UK:
Jonathan
Dimbleby: Why was it so important to you that you should
be able to communicate in English [using Cued Speech] rather
than by the other means that deaf children, their carers and
their families, often have to communicate by.
Mother:
I think, initially, it was just to feel connected with
him, because, like any parent, we wanted to use our own
language and sign language was a completely foreign language
to us. Neither of us had any competence in it. So that was,
initially, how it felt. And then, as we looked into it
further, it was an awful lot more than that. It was about his
access to reading and writing and literacy and everything that
leads on from that - his future life chances. Without that
help, from the Cued Speech, he wouldn’t have been able to go
to a mainstream school. He wouldn’t have been integrated
into the local community. He wouldn’t be literate in the way
that he is. He wouldn’t be watching TV, reading the
sub-titles. He wouldn’t be living the normal life he leads,
if he hadn’t had that help.
THRASS
Phoneme Machine
The
Phoneme Machine is a computer programme that uses moving human
lips to pronounce the sounds (phonemes) in hundreds of
frequently used English words. It is an excellent resource for
parents, teachers and assistants for learning about, and also
teaching, the fundamental building blocks of English in an
entertaining and fun way.
The Phoneme Machine
develops a good understanding of the 44 sounds and the 120
main spelling choices of English. This understanding is
largely achieved by ‘blending all the sounds through a
word’, a key recommendation of the British Government’s
report on Synthetic Phonics. The programme is suitable for
learners of all ages and abilities and has been found to be
particularly helpful to parents of children starting to
read, children finding reading difficult and those for whom
English is not their first language.
Corporate Social Responsibility
The aim of the THRASS UK's Corporate Social Responsibility
Programme (CSRP) is to improve the quality of life for the
local community and society at large (within the licensed
territory of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America,
Central America and the United States of America). With this
aim in mind, THRASS UK have responded to the request from
Cued
Speech Association UK to produce the Phoneme Machine with a
Cued Speech option (version V6-CS).
Cued Speech
On
the Cued Speech Association UK website, in
the Benefits of Cued Speech section,
it says:
Hearing
parents will find that when they use Cued Speech with their
young child the most obvious benefit, and one which will
become immediately apparent, is that they can express their
whole language as soon as they have learnt to cue.
Your deaf child will not immediately understand it, of course,
any more than a hearing baby would. But
Cued Speech gives hearing parents the tool to express their
own language in a way that is TOTALLY clear to their deaf
baby.
Soon
your deaf baby will make the association between the cues
(with the addition of any sounds that he or she can hear
through hearing aids) and names, objects, and ideas just as a
hearing baby would.
Language
development can take place in roughly the same way and at the
same pace as it would if he or she were hearing.
Once
spoken language is made fully accessible by the addition of
the cues, deaf children can begin to think using that same
spoken language – but accessed visually. They are developing
inner language.
In
Cued Speech, the 24 consonant sounds in spoken words are represented by different
handshapes. These handshapes are then placed by the head, mouth,
chin or throat, with or without movement, to
indicate the 20 vowel sounds.
In
combination with lip reading, the
shape, position and movement of the hands produces a unique
dynamic image for each of the 44
sounds in the English Language.
THRASS
Phoneme Machine V6-CS
In
Version 6 (V6-CS) of the Phoneme Machine there is a Cued Speech
option, where the shape, position and movement of the
hands are displayed alongside moving human lips. There is a
cueing clip (video clip) for each of the five-hundred basewords of English
- shown in the Cueing Box. It is possible to watch the cueing
for a word, again and again, by clicking on either the cueing
clip or the word. In the Phoneme Grid (PG) section, it is
possible to watch the cueing clips at almost full screen size.
The
software is suitable for independent learning at home and/or
it can be used to train groups in
clinics or schools. It is suitable for the training of
children and adults.
The
Phoneme Machine is a powerful learning tool. When combined
with the Cued Speech option, it will be much easier for parents
(grandparents and other family members), teachers and assistants
to master the skill of cueing.
It
is anticipated that, in using Phoneme Machine V6-CS, more children without
hearing, or with imperfect hearing, will reach a good or high
standard of literacy. It is also anticipated that more of
these children will successfully use speech as a form of
communication and more of them will successfully use lip
reading in their daily interactions with the
general public.
The THRASS (Teaching
Handwriting Reading And Spelling Skills) synthetic
phonics programme is currently being used
with remarkable success in thousands
of schools across Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle
East, the Caribbean and the USA to teach children of all ages
to read and spell.
THRASS UK are proud to be associated with Cued Speech
Association UK and other associated organisations. THRASS UK believe
that it is important to promote a culture of reading in deaf
education, especially as deafness in
children and adults is such a widespread problem in many
countries, especially Africa.
Courses and workshops are organised by the Cued Speech
Association UK and other organisations overseas. There is also
a Learn to cue
website.
Cued
Speech UK
Cued Speech
Association UK
http://www.cuedspeech.co.uk
Cued
Speech Association UK
9 Jawbone Hill
Dartmouth
Devon
TQ6 9RW
England
Tel. 01803 832 784
E-Mail. info@cuedspeech.co.uk
Cued Speech
Overseas
USA National Cued Speech Association (NCSA)
http://www.cuedspeech.org/
The
Cued Speech Initiative at the University of South Florida
http://www.cuedspeech.usf.edu/
FRANCE
L'Association pour la Promotion et le Développement du
Langage Parlé Complété (ALPC)
http://www.alpc.asso.fr/
SPAIN
- MOC (Método Oral Complementada - the Complemented Oral
Method) which uses Cued Speech to support oral/aural practices
http://www.uma.es/moc/
SWISS
- Association pour Le Langage Parlé Complété (ALPC)
http://www.alpc.ch/
Other Useful Sites
NDCS National Deaf Children's Society
http://www.ndcs.org.uk/
RNID
- Royal National Institute for Deaf People
http://www.rnid.org.uk/
RAD
- Royal Association in aid of Deaf People
http://www.royaldeaf.org.uk/
BECTA
- British Educational Communications
and Technology Agency
http://www.becta.org.uk/
UKCoD
- United Kingdom Council on Deafness
http://www.deafcouncil.org.uk/
Communications
Forum
http://www.communicationsforum.org.uk/
BATOD
- British Association for Teachers
of the Deaf
http://www.batod.org.uk/
I
CAN
http://www.ican.org.uk/
CACDP - Council for the Advancement of Communication with Deaf
People
http://www.cacdp.org.uk/
Return to TOP
| 
