After Franky had recovered from his surgery, he began speech therapy. His speech therapists used a strictly audio-verbal method. This meant that they required children to develop speech and comprehension independent of cues like lip-reading or hand signals.
For some children, this works successfully. However, for Franky, it was a frustrating and fruitless process. After many long therapy sessions, he could still only elicit minimal sounds and had almost no comprehension.
We found a new therapist. She tried the same methods, still with few results. And so, one day, she suggested that we consider Cued Speech.
Cued Speech is a series of a hand shapes and placements that indicate phonemes, or sounds. Cued Speech, unlike American Sign Language, is not a language at all. Theoretically, the same hand shapes could be used for a variety of different languages.
Cued Speech is used in conjunction with language to help listeners comprehend language. Cued Speech provides listeners with verbal cues, helping them distinguish between phonemes.
Cued Speech has been successfully used with profoundly deaf children, as well as children with autism or other disabilities. Through Cued Speech, children without hearing have learned to speak and understand English and have been successfully mainstreamed. The same system is also used to help the speech of children using hearing aids or cochlear implants.
Although Franky already had hearing, his ability to distinguish between different sounds was not well-developed. Cued Speech would provide him with clear signals, helping him to distinguish between phonemes.
And so, we began our journey with Cued Speech. Franky’s speech therapist taught Mom how to correctly use the hand signals. She began to use it with Franky during his speech therapy sessions. Meanwhile, we began to use it at home.
Franky began to progress slowly, but steadily. Franky had a wonderful affinity for lip-reading; Cued Speech allowed him to use it. Slowly, Franky began to learn to speak and comprehend.
When a job change forced us to move a state away, we once again began the search for a speech therapist. We found one who was willing to support our use of Cued Speech, although she was not personally familiar with the system. Franky’s speech and comprehension continued to improve.
Because Cued Speech is based on phonemes, Mom was able to teach him phonics, alongside of other elementary subjects. Soon, his reading ability surpassed his speech, and he began to use his reading ability as an aid to his speech comprehension.
Now, six years after he was implanted, Franky is rapidly acquiring language and comprehension. The journey is not over. Franky’s progress can still be frustrating and daunting. However, the child we live with today is far far different than the Franky of two or four or six years ago. When we look back, it is encouraging to see how far Franky has come. We can’t wait to see what is in store for him, thanks to the miracles of cochlear implants and Cued Speech.
