SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - American Sign Language (ASL) is the common form of communication among members of the deaf community, but signing does not provide every component or "phoneme" of spoken language. In Illinois, some hearing-impaired students are improving their literacy through the use of Cued Speech. A.G. Bell Montessori-AEHI in Wheeling is the only Montessori school in the country that mainstreams both deaf and hearing children through Cued Speech.

Sandy Mosetick, board president of the school, explains that Cued Speech has eight hand shapes and four positions around the mouth to represent all phonemes of speech.

"It makes lip-reading into an exact science," she said. "It provides full visual access to spoken language, and the whole point is so that a deaf person can learn English and be literate, and reach their full potential academically."

Cued Speech was developed more than 30 years ago, but has faced challenges being accepted in the deaf community. Mosetick says it was never meant to replace traditional signing, and adds that Cued Speech can be learned in a few days and has been adapted to more than 60 languages.

Outside the classroom, Mosetick says, Cued Speech also allows those who don't know ASL to easily convey English to those who cannot hear.

"Ninty-three percent of deaf kids have hearing parents, who never had any experience before with deafness and don't know how to sign, and it would take them a long time to learn sign and then to be able to communicate with their own child."

Angela Kuhn, PreK-8 principal at the Illinois School for the Deaf, says American Sign Language is valuable in school, but has limitations in a learning environment because students have to translate ASL into English. She says they've seen great academic results since introducing Cued Speech into the curriculum a few years ago.

"The national average for deaf students is that they improve about two to three months in an entire school year," she noted. "So, we've seen some students who have been able to improve a grade level or more in one school year, which is amazing."

Kuhn says the school works to balance the use of sign and cuing in a bilingual environment, to help students become more fluent in English and have academic success. At an event Sunday night, A.G. Bell honored the Illinois School for the Deaf for its achievements in Cued Speech.




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New York disability-rights advocates are celebrating the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The 1990 legislation prohibits discrimination against people with physical or mental disabilities. Along with becoming a standard part of employment law, it bolsters accessibility in the public environment.

As seminal as the ADA is, said Dr. Sharon McLennon Wier, executive director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York, more work must be done to achieve true accessibility.

"Even though ADA has been around for many, many years," she said, "there is still ignorance regarding what is true accessibility and how new construction at times can still be put up without following the principles of ADA universal access."

Downstate New York's transportation systems lack ADA compliance. Only 31% of New York City's Subway system is accessible to people with disabilities. Funding has been allocated to make the system 95% compliant. The work would have been done by 2055, but since Gov. Kathy Hochul paused congestion pricing, these plans have been put on hold indefinitely.

A New York City Comptroller report finds only 40% of the city's disabled population is employed. Statewide reports show post-pandemic employment for people with disabilities is recovering much slower than the nation.

To change this, said McLennon Wier, classroom instructional materials need to be more accessible, "having more raised line drawings, having more Braille available, having more assistive technology that can read various types of charts and diagrams."

She said she thinks certain industries are siloed, but once they open up to better comprehend universal accessibility, more people with disabilities will join them. One place this can work is in STEM fields, as only 3% of that workforce includes people with disabilities.

July is Disability Pride Month, and today is the 34th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Federal data show that more than 42 million Americans have a disability affecting their cognition, mobility, hearing, vision or ability to provide self-care or live independently.

"Studies over and over demonstrate that people with disabilities are a very solid
part of our workforce," said Joe Xavier, director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, which helps people with disabilities thrive at work. "They stay in their jobs, they're committed to the work that they do, and so there's much less turnover with people with disabilities, thereby reducing the cost and all the work associated with that."

Advocates have said companies are responsible for providing accommodation in the same way they provide chairs and technology for all their workers. They encourage companies to follow principles of universal design when building new spaces, so access is not an afterthought.

Britanny Comegna, a member of the State Rehabilitation Council, runs a company called Deaf and Disability Mediation Services and said people shouldn't be shy about direct communication with disabled people.

"When you meet a new disabled person," she said, "you have to ask, 'How do you want to identify? What do you need? And what can I learn from you?' Ask those questions because we really do appreciate that you're making that effort to connect with me and understand me as a person."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to reduce health disparities among adults with disabilities, who have higher rates of smoking, obesity, heart disease and diabetes.


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Advocates for individuals with disabilities want the state of Nevada to further embrace what is known as the "independent living" model.

Dawn Lyons, executive director of the Nevada Statewide Independent Living Council, said the philosophy is centered around people with disabilities being their own experts on their needs and the services they require. Lyons acknowledged within the state's disability community, there exists what she called "inter-conflict," leading to a lack of a unified voice and sending mixed signals to policymakers.

"Even though we have these other voices interfering, saying different things, what it comes down to is 'We don't need to fight each other,'" Lyons emphasized. "I think the reason why we end up with that inter-conflict is because we've been put down so often and we've been told that we don't matter."

Lyons has been with the council for the last eight years and pointed out progress has been made but more needs to be done. She argued education related to independent living is key to moving the needle and the council supports developing educational materials as well as consulting with a state currently employing an effective independent living approach. Lyons explained one of those states could be Colorado, which she adds even has its own independent living agency.

John Rosenlund, program director for the Nevada Assistive Technology Collaborative, said independent living boils down to empowerment. He said he recognizes the state cannot move forward with implementing a philosophy if there are those who do not agree with it or are comfortable with the status quo.

Rosenlund contends centers for independent living across the state have strayed from independent living values such as peer support, individual and systems advocacy and independent living skills training.

"Things aren't right, they've lost the meaning of what independent living is, perhaps," Rosenlund suggested. "Or they're too focused on certain things so that stability at centers for independent living is, in my mind, instrumental."

Rosenlund added the lack of awareness and adoption of independent living's core values is having real effects across the state, with some missing out on real opportunities to enhance their lives. He reminded people without any change or challenge, there will not be any growth.