Evaluation of the 1970-71 ESEA, Title VI-A, Cued Speech Program for Aurally Handicapped Children.

Reported was program effectiveness for a cued speech program for aurally handicapped children in nursery and primary classes. Project objectives were explained to be training teachers and tutors (paraprofessionals) of the classes for the aurally handicapped and the parents of the pupils enrolled in the techniques of cued speech and to employ these techniques with children in nursery and primary levels. Participating were 15 teachers, 10 tutors, 60 children, and a limited number of parents. During the first year of the project, three areas of cued speech training were emphasized: development of vocabulary lists from which an instrument was designed to assess language acquisition by the children in receptive and expressive areas; training of all staff members in cued speech method of teaching language; and classes conducted for parents and other interested groups. The data regarding the language development of the children showed that receptive and expressive language acquisition could be measured with the test instrument developed and that these data clearly indicated the child's language growth. It was concluded that for cued speech to serve children to the greatest degree possible, more parents needed to participate in the program. (CB)