Evaluation of the Effects of Prolonged Cued Speech Practice Upon the Reception of Spoken Language

It is widely recognized that, whatever educational method is utilized, whether oral or manual, the majority of profoundly deaf school leavers of today have not acquired adequate mastery of spoken and written language (Conrad, 1979). The cause for this unsatisfactory situation is often identified as the lack of adequate communication in the early period, reported to be the most favorable for language acquisition (Périer and Bochner-Wuidar 1981). There is evidence that brain plasticity is at its highest during these early years, and that the fundamental functions of language need to be established at that period in order to ensure normal development of later stages. When these functions are not well established, as is usually the case for profoundly deaf children, they enter primary school with not only a sensory impairment, but also a language handicap.