Dr. R. Orin Cornett (1913-2002)

IN SUMMING UP HIS PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE, Dr. Cornett once remarked, "If a person wishes to accomplish the greatest things that he is capable of accomplishing, he must form within himself a vision..." Cornett's accomplishments are many. He is perhaps best known as the father of Cued Speech. His vision was to create a method where parents could communicate naturally with their children, where deaf children could learn the English language, where learning to read would no longer be a problem for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.

"I would wake up at night dreaming about that awful problem – the tragedy that deaf kids don't read."

Cornett believed that he could devise a method to solve the literacy problem. He gave himself a year to solve the more than a century-old dilemma. However, it only took him only three months to develop Cued Speech.

Cornett's secretary found out that a high school friend had a deaf child. That mother agreed to try Cued Speech with her daughter making Leah Henegar the frst child to learn English through Cued Speech. Her mother, Mary Elsie Daisey, went on to co-author The Cued Speech Resource Book for Parents with Cornett. She remains active in the Cued Speech community, currently serving on the advisory board of the Cued Language Network of America.

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, CORNETT ENVISIONED POSSIBILITIES. In each person, he saw potential. A student who was researching Cued Speech remembered his first encounter with Cornett. While doing reserach for a presentation on Cued Speech, he decided to contact Cornett hoping to have a brief conversation about his system. Instead, Cornett told him that he would meet with the young man. Their conversation lasted for the better part of a day and ended with Cornett's handing him a check to seek proper training in transliteration. "...it seemed that he saw the opportunity to meet with me as far more important than I dreamed it would be for me. Indeed, in time, it changed my life, shaped my career, and has since had a lasting impact on the lives of many others." Cornett was a man whose life was inextricably connected to education and the pursuit of achieving one's own potential. His father, Grover Cleveland Cornett, was a railroad telegrapher and station-agent who Cornett described as self-educated. His mother, Essie, taught for sixty years. His wife, Lorene, was also a teacher. Lorene learned to cue from her husband and sometimes helped to teach the system. The Cornett's home was offered to visitors who would stay with the family while they learned to cue.

CONETT'S VISION CONTINUES TODAY. Cued Speech continues to thrive around the country and abroad. Dr. Cornett is remembered for his generosity, caring, and willingness to share his expertise with parents and professionals. Iva Tullier, a mother who used Cued Speech with her son Tate, remembers time spent with Dr. Cornett,

"What an intelligent, kind, loving, gentle, caring man! He was always there to answer any question, or to raise a new one. God was good to put Dr. Cornett in our lives and the lives of others, and I thank Him on a daily basis for that gift."