One reason why I love cued speech is the ability to be mainstream as much as possible.

This is possible thanks to cued language transliterators (CLTs), as Beth blogged about earlier. What a great post – the CLTs are truly instrumental in the mainstream experience and the ability to get the exact same information, and we are left to make our own interpretation of the mood, tone, and feelings.

I’ve spent a lot of time with CLTs and ASL interpreters this summer to bring accessible audio tours to cultural institutions. I’ve learned so much about how material is presented through an interpreter or transliterator. We spent a great deal of time with the ASL interpreter to come up with the correct interpretation of an abstract term, to do it without altering the source meaning. We usually come up with the best possible interpretation to convey the best meaning possible, but it is a timely task. (Just as it is to translate a different language into English.) Fortunately, we did not run into this problem with cued speech, as the abstract concept was cued right out as it was spoken. Brilliant! The cuer has the ability to interpret it directly from the source, rather than interpreting from an interpretation. The stress of interpreting is eliminated on my part, because I know with cued speech, there is absolutely no risk of an incorrect interpretation.

I think this is such a key part in education. With cued speech, we can develop the appropriate logical and creative thinking directly from the source via an cued speech transliterator.

By the way, do you have weekend plans? I’m hoping to meet a group of cuers and families this Sunday, August 10th at the National Gallery of Art to provide you with the transliterated tour of the east building modern art collection. You’ll get to be the first to try it – cool, huh?

If you’re interested, please e-mail me (catharine (at) keenguides.org.) I’m planning on meeting between 2 and 4 p.m., but I’m willing to accomodate YOUR schedule if you’d like to check it out. This will be available in four videos: cued speech, captioned, spoken, and ASL to suit everyone involved in the experience — deaf or hearing. There will be upcoming opportunities later in August, if Sunday doesn’t suit your schedule. (August 30th and 31st are also other options – for those of you who need more advance planning! You can also e-mail me for other suggested dates.)

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I want to give a shout out to all the WONDERFUL CLTs out there! Thank you, thank you for making communication possible for us.

Catharine