Learn something new! The Olam Tikvah Membership Committee is proud to bring you fascinating stories and interesting ideas from our members. Enjoy a talk and moderated Q&A with Sandy Mosetick. Sandy is the founder and president of the non-profit "Cue College," which provides affordable online Cued Speech information, training, and resources for families and professionals.

What is Cued Speech?

Do you have a person in your life who is deaf or hard of hearing? If you are the parent or grandparent of an infant or young child with hearing loss -- or perhaps the spouse of an adult with hearing loss -- you may be interested in knowing about Cued Speech. Cued Speech is an easy-to-learn system of 8 different handshapes "cued" in 4 different placements around the mouth while you are speaking. When you cue a spoken language, you provide 100% visual clarification of every sound or "phoneme," in real time, as you speak. For deaf children, research shows that Cued Speech enables easy and effective communication from infancy through adulthood in the native language of the home and community, providing the basis for age-appropriate language and literacy skills and full educational and career opportunities. For those adults who are losing their hearing after already having acquired spoken language, cueing by their "significant other(s)" breaks down all barriers to easy and effective communication -- regardless of noise levels. Cueing works synergistically with hearing aids and cochlear implants -- and it can be used in conjunction with ASL in families where access to sign language and deaf culture is a goal. 

Sandy's daughter, Rachel, is deaf and was raised with Cued Speech -- actually cued English, Spanish and Hebrew! Sandy will speak briefly about what Cued Speech is and how easy it is to learn -- and will provide valuable information about free resources available for family members of deaf children of any age. She will be happy to answer questions about how cueing might be helpful to anyone in your life with hearing loss or other special communication needs.