Read to Deaf Children with Cued Speech
The majority of brain development, for any child, occurs in the first three years of life. Reading to and sharing books with babies and young children, and giving them time to respond, feeds their brain, helps them learn new words and grows their vocabulary. This is true for deaf children too. Cued Speech is the perfect method to enable parents to show their deaf children the wonder of books, the magic of stories and the gift of language.
Reading to your child with Cued Speech will allow them to see what you’re saying. You will be able to talk about what you’re reading, your child will discover new words and you will be able to enjoy the storytelling together, all within one activity which helps to build important foundations for your deaf child’s language development.
The National Literacy Trust lists some of the key benefits of reading to your child:
- Talking and listening to young children develops their social and literacy skills and reading to children is a good way of encouraging two-way communication.
- Reading to children can be calming during times of distress or unease. The appearance of their favourite book and book characters can be a very soothing experience and help build a bond between parent and child.
- Books introduce children to the exciting world of stories and can help them learn how to express their own thoughts and emotions.
- Stories provide parents and carers with a structure to help them talk to children and to pay attention to their responses. They help you to be silly, overcome adult inhibitions and they are great topics for conversation.
- Books are an important source of new vocabulary.
- Songs and rhymes are especially good for children as the rhythms and repetitive language make it easier for babies to learn language structures and skills.
- Giving your child time to think about what is going to happen in the book, or reflect on what has just happened, builds their language and brain development.
Cued Speech UK’s CueTube page is a great place to find stories in Cued Speech, as well as information and advice for parents with deaf children.
You can find out how to use Cued Speech with your deaf child by visiting our website: www.cuedspeech.co.uk – We would love to see what you’re saying!
You can also donate to Cued Speech UK by using our Support Us website page.