My approval letter came a week ago on Tuesday or Monday. I left it alone, too. I thought that they’d get a CC, too. The secretary said that the office gets things SLOWLY. She told me to just fax or mail the copy to her. Let’s see what happens now. Good luck to you, too.

Cued speech. I’ve heard of it, but never really looked it up. That looks interesting. Will look it up as soon as I post this comment.

ok, the quick version:

“Discovering Cued Speech” is also available in free online streaming at http://www.dcmp.org/Catalog/TitleDetail.aspx?TID=3312
While you’re there, search their online catalog for other cued speech materials.

There used to be a rule in American cueing that you had to cue some /ee/ sounds as /ih/ instead (ee as in T-shirt, ih as in mitt). Now, new cuers are taught to cue how the word is pronounced. Unless your accent is from a specific region of England or of the South, you’ll pronounce “happy” with the /ee/ sound at the end, not the /ih/ sound. Older materials, or materials made by people who learned to cue many years ago (like “Discovering Cued Speech” use the old “ih instead of ee” rule, but you don’t have to.

Other fun sites to help you learn and practice your cueing:

http://dailycues.com/activities.html

http://learntocue.co.uk/
–> this British site has some fun animated games, but ONLY use the consonant/handshape ones. British cueing has different vowel placements than American cueing – ignore the vowel stuff on that site so you don’t get confused.

You can contact the National Cued Speech Association for help in locating any cuers and/or cued speech instructors in your area of the country.

Good luck! Don’t give up on ASL, as it will open many social doors to you. But you and your husband may find cueing to be a great way to communicate in English visually.

You might be especially interested in the one called “Using Cued Speech to Maximize the Benefits of Cochlear Implants”

When you set up your auditory rehab for working with your new CI, maybe you can find speech therapists who can cue. Or ask them to learn to cue so you can use it in your sessions.

DCMP has some other cueing-related items in their media library, mostly CD-ROMs and a couple DVDs. Just do a subject search in their catalog for “cued speech.”

Also, try the “Art of Cueing” lessons online, though I’m not sure their site is still working. http://web7.mit.edu/CS/Art/

Keep in mind that when the older sources (including Discovering Cued Speech and The Art of Cuing) say to cue some /ee/ sounds as /ih/ that’s no longer necessary. Just cue syllables as *you* would pronounce them.

Do you say electricity as /ee lek trih cih tih/? Only if you’re from a specific region of England or the South. As for me, it ends in /tee/ as in T-shirt, not /tih/ as in tickle.

Old habits are hard to break, though, and many of the people who have been cueing for a long time have convinced themselves to cue some /ee/ as /ih/ even though that’s not how they actually pronounce them.

For some beginner cueing games, see http://dailycues.com/activities.html

There a neat site for people learning Cued British English at http://learntocue.co.uk/
Their vowels have different placements than ours, so ignore the vowel instruction. However, the handshape/consonant games are really fun and match perfectly with American cues.

If you want to try to find someone in your area who is a cued speech instructor, see the list at http://cuedspeech.org/sub/resources/findinstructor.asp
and contact the National Cued Speech Association to ask if there are any known cuers in your area.

Keep at it with the sign language learning, too, as this will open doors to more social circles. But since you and your husband are both English users, you may find that cueing really helps you communicate in English visually.

Good luck and keep learning!