speech - a verbal means of communicating or conveying meaning
My name is Cheryl Kreiman, and I am a speech-langage pathologist working with the Early Childhood program at Eisenhower School. There are a lot of letters after my name, and here is what they all mean! M.H.S. - I hold a Master's Degree in Health Science in the area of Communication Disorders from Governors State University. I also hold a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory and a Master's in Vocal Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University, and took additional coursework in psychology, statistics, education, and communication disorders at North Park University and Elmhurst College. In the course of my training, I completed practicums at Ferst Therapeutic Day School (Chicago), the psychiatric department of Children's Memorial Hospital, Washington School (Park Ridge), the audiology department at Resurrection Hospital, the stroke unit at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and Child's Voice (Wood Dale), an oral-deaf school. CCC - These letters after a speech-language pathologist's name indicate that they hold a "Certificate of Clinical Competence" from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). To obtain and maintain your CCC's, you must attend an ASHA accredited graduate program, pass a national examination, and participate in continuing professional development. In addition to membership in ASHA, I am also a member of the Illinois Speech-Hearing Association (ISHA), and recently completed a three-year term as Track Chair for School Affairs for the ISHA annual convention. SLP - These letters stand for Speech-language pathologist. SLPs are trained to work with all ages, in a wide variety of areas that may impact effective communication, including articulation and phonological disorders, voice disorders, fluency disorders, developmental disorders of speech and/or receptive and expressive language, and acquired communication disorders, in addition to swallowing disorders. SLPs work in early intervention, schools, clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, and private therapy practices. L - The L stands for "licensed." I hold a license granted by the state of Illinois, in addition to a Professional Educator's License from the Illinois State Board of Education.