Our Chosen Path: The Transformative Impact of Cued Language is a collection of personal stories and professional articles. Each piece addresses the significance of cueing in the everyday lives of individuals, families, and professionals in deaf education. The first-person accounts highlight native cuers, parents, siblings, administrators, cued language transliterators, teachers, and professionals. The professional articles encompass the how, what, and why of cueing, complemented by the poignant experiences and grateful voices reflected in the book. The diverse topics include cueing with babies, American Sign Language/Cued American English bilingualism, the academic transformative understanding of cued language, and most importantly, the creation of the 'cuemmunity', a group of diverse, dynamic, and dedicated individuals bound together by cueing. This book is a major contribution to the field of deaf education and provides readers with up-to-date information on cued language, its varied uses, and personal anecdotes and stories from users. This book will leave the reader wanting to find out more, whether by connecting with deaf cuers, parents, or professionals or by discovering the recent scientific literature documenting the effects of the Cued Speech system and cued language on language and literacy acquisition.
Dugan, Nicole: - Nicole Dugan is a native Deaf cuer who grew up in the South Jersey suburbs just across the bridge from Philadelphia. Nicole became fully bilingual in Cued American English (CAE) and American Sign Language (ASL) when she entered college at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY, where she also holds a bachelor's in psychology, a master's degree in human resource development, and a Master of Business Administration with a focus on Management Information Systems (MIS). Nicole first became involved with the NCSA in 2017 and wore multiple hats, including Director of Camps and Affiliates and First Vice President. After teaching friends and colleagues over the last 30 years, Nicole became a certified instructor of Cued Speech in 2018 and has formally taught CAE classes since. Nicole currently lives in Rochester, NY and works as a senior institutional research analyst at the University of Rochester.
Kyllo, Kitri Larson: - Kitri Larson Kyllo, Lead Editor, holds a master's degree in deaf education from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and an Education Specialist degree in Educational Administration from the University of Minnesota. She served 40 years in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) education, of which the last 26 years were as assistant director of the DHH Program in Intermediate School District 917, Minnesota. Prior to becoming an administrator, she worked at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, was a certified sign language interpreter, teacher of DHH, and worked at Västanviks Folkhögskola for DHH adults in Sweden. She led a team of professionals who demonstrated for over 20 years that a public school can provide a bilingual-access program for learners who are DHH to acquire skills in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English literacy via spoken/cued language using Cued American English (CAE). Kitri has provided countless presentations at local, state, and national levels on the profound benefits of using cued language and has served on the National Cued Speech Association board in several positions.
Ruberl, Amy: - Amy Ruberl, Managing Editor, has been involved with cued language at both regional and national levels since 1987. She earned a master's in education of the deaf from Smith College and a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Bucknell University. Amy is chair of the NCSA Instructor Certification Committee. Previously she served the NCSA as executive director, director of programs (initiating workshops and camps across the United States), and regional director for the Capital area (MD, DC, VA, WV). Amy was the director and assistant director of CueCamp Friendship in Maryland for many years and was the first president of the Maryland Cued Speech Association. Amy worked as a communication specialist and teacher for Montgomery County Public School programs for students who are deaf and hard of hearing, working with signing, cueing, and oral students for ten years.
