The NCSA has legal contacts who may be able to help you with advocating for Cued Speech, whether as part of your child’s education or as a reasonable accommodation. To contact us, fill out this form.
There is another form at the bottom of this page with specific legal requests so if you have something already in mind, scroll down and fill out that form with your request.
Legal Recognition of Cued Speech
Cued Speech and Cued American English are recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and many State educational doctrines, which allows parents the right to request Cued Speech accommodations for their children. The ADA also protects the right of deaf cuers to request Cued Speech as a reasonable accommodation from non-religious organizations and businesses that serve the public. Federal employees can also request Cued Speech services under the Rehabilitation Act of 1974.
For families seeking to include Cued Speech, implemented as Cued American English, in their Individual Education Plans (IEP) or 504 plans, convincing arguments include that:
- Cued Speech is the family’s chosen modality and Cued American English is the language of the home,
- Cued Speech is recognized under IDEA as a legitimate mode of communication, and
- English is the language of the schools and the standardized tests, and is therefore the language the family desires to give their child the least restrictive environment.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Cued Speech
Specific IDEA references include 303.13(B)(12) which reads:
b. Types of early intervention services. Subject to paragraph (d) of this section, early intervention services include the following services defined in this paragraph:
(12) Sign language and cued language services include teaching sign language, cued language, and auditory/oral language, providing oral transliteration services (such as amplification), and providing sign and cued language interpretation.
Additionally, IDEA Section 1414(D)(3)(B)(iv) reads:
(B) Consideration of special factors – The IEP Team shall
(iv) consider the communication needs of the child and in the case of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing, consider the child’s language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communications with peers and professional personnel in the child’s language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the child’s language and communication mode;