THE DR. R. ORIN CORNETT DIGITAL PROJECT
The person behind Cued Speech, Dr. R. Orin Cornett, originally was a physicist who had taught at Oklahoma Baptist University, Penn State, and Harvard before eventually becoming Director of Higher Education at the U.S. Office of Education. While at the U.S. Office of education, Dr. Cornett read about the literacy levels of deaf and hard of hearing students. Realizing that this population did not have direct visual access to spoken language, he took it upon himself to devise a system that was effective in conveying spoken language in real time with accuracy. Today his legacy can be seen in the existence of multiple cue camps and thousands of cuers across the world whose lives have been impacted positively by Dr. Cornett’s vision for bolstering the literacy levels of the deaf and hard of hearing population. Cue Cognatio would like to honor the memory of Dr. Cornett by helping the public to understand what kind of person he was and what drove him to take on the cause of literacy among children with hearing loss.
- Dr. R. Orin Cornett Virtual Library: Cue Cognatio aims to create a digital library in Dr. Cornett’s memory, much similar to the concept of presidential libraries, only in the virtual realm. We are working to digitize historical footage which would be accessible online.
- Feature Film Documentary: Cue Cognatio desires to trace Dr. Cornett’s journey from Driftwood, Oklahoma to Laurel Springs, Maryland in exploring what influenced Dr. Cornett the most and what compelled him to come up with the idea of Cued Speech.
- Biography: Using research compiled for the feature film, Cue Cognatio plans to publish a text biography as a narrative of the journey that led Dr. Cornett to Gallaudet University.