Swallow Your Pride Podcast

"I go to swallow, and nothing triggers. Alarm bells are ringing in my head because, as a speech therapist, it's the scariest feeling." What started as a routine cosmetic procedure turned into a medical nightmare for SLP Megan McCue. After just 12 units of Botox, she experienced severe swallowing difficulties, systemic complications, and a battle to be believed by medical professionals. Her story e...

Is picky eating just a phase, or could it be something more serious? How can we tell the difference? What do we do next?  These questions are so common for clinicians and caregivers alike.  Feeding challenges can contribute to high levels of stress and even PTSD for the families we serve.  Thankfully, in this week’s episode, renowned feeding specialist Melanie Potock, MA, CCC-SLP, brings her 25 ye...

When passion meets purpose, incredible things happen… In this inspiring episode, Melissa Grassia-Chisholm shares her vision for bridging gaps in voice and swallowing therapy through the upcoming Functional Voice Swallow Airway Conference – and proves that innovation often starts with seeing what’s missing. With remarkable enthusiasm, Melissa opens up about:  ➡️ Creating a hands-on learning […] The...

Ever wished there was a way to make nutritional supplements actually enjoyable for your patients with dysphagia? Meet Jeff Holtz, the ice cream innovator who’s shaking up how we think about dysphagia nutrition. With 30 years in the ice cream industry, Jeff didn’t just create another supplement – he developed a fortified ice cream that […] The post 357 – Ice Cream That Heals? Meet Jeff Holtz, CEO o...

When life hands you an unconventional path, sometimes it leads to exactly where you’re meant to be… In this inspiring episode, Hannelyn Perez shares her remarkable journey from Navy medical service to speech-language pathology to tech innovation – and proves that your background doesn’t define your future. With remarkable candor, Hannelyn opens up about:  ➡️ […] The post 356 – From Military Servic...

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of medical trauma, depression, and suicidal ideation. One minute she was living her dream as a school SLP. The next, she was using eye gaze to communicate in the ICU… In this deeply personal episode, Vanessa Abraham, M.S., CCC-SLP shares her profound journey from school-based SLP to ICU patient, […] The post 355 – From SLP to Patient: A Journey Th...

Thinking about bringing FEES to your facility but feeling overwhelmed by the logistics? You’re not alone! From infection control protocols to physician collaboration, implementing FEES can seem like climbing Mount Everest.  In this week’s episode, Sandy Schwartz, MS, CCC-SLP shares game-changing insights about:  Cost analysis and ROI justification  Training requirements and state regulations  Equi...

Are you frustrated with patient positioning during video fluoroscopy studies? Ever wonder why some facilities seem to breeze through MBS studies while others struggle to get basic views? This week’s episode might just change how you think about your fluoroscopy equipment forever. We’re thrilled to share our conversation with Julie Kobak, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS, a […] The post 353 – Why Your MBS Chair C...

Are you ready to rethink everything you know about voice therapy?  If so, buckle up. This week’s episode has everything you need to help you provide fast, functional, effective, and generalizable voice therapy. We are so proud to share our conversation with Amanda Gillespie, PhD, CCC-SLP, and Jackie Gartner-Schmidt, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow about their […] The post 352 – Conversation Training The...

Entrepreneurship The post 351 – Broad Horizons, Bold Moves: Calonda Henry on SLP Entrepreneurship, Advocacy, and Empowerment appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast .

In the SLP space alone, there are over 300 kinds of certifications you can achieve in your professional development journey. While certifications are completely optional and a personal decision based on your goals and current work situation, there are certain standards to consider when browsing your options. One question to ask yourself is: “Is this certification accredited OR undergoing the accre...

We have SLPs who niche….and then we have SLPs who super-niche. Meet this week’s guest on the podcast, Nashifa Hooda Momin SLP.D, CCC-SLP. Nashifa joins us this week to tell us all about the world of speech-language pathology in the care of infants with congenital heart disease (CHD)…like I said, super-niche! This episode is packed […] The post 349 – Tiny Hearts, Big Impact: The super-niche of cong...

Ever look at a research paper and feel your eyes glaze over at the sight of p-values and statistical jargon? You’re not alone!  But what if I told you that understanding research could be simpler than you think? This week, we’re joined by two incredible guests who are on a mission to demystify research and […] The post 348 – From Confusion to Clarity: Understanding Research and Statistics in Clini...

What do you do when the deck is stacked against you and your career goals? How do you pivot when things aren’t going according to plan? Who do you turn to for help when you’re flying solo as a private practice owner? Vanessa Alcala M.S., CCC-SLP, CDP, has the answers to all of these questions […] The post 347 – Eyes on the prize: Vanessa Alcala’s journey to entrepreneurship as an SLP appeared firs...

What if you could take all of the evidence on aspiration, pneumonia, and dysphagia that has been amassed since the 1990s… …and package it into a clinical framework for SLPs to make informed decisions about aspiration risk? *BOLUS framework has entered the chat* Aaron Padilla MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S and Phyllis Palmer, PhD, CCC-SLP join me on the Swallow Your Pride Podcast to introduce and explain the d...

At the beginning of 2024, I hosted a free 5-day workshop dedicated to showing medical SLPs the ropes to achieving more at work (and for their patients) WITHOUT spending all of their money.  This week, you can tune in to days 3, 4 & 5 of the Pivotal SLP Workshop! Tune in, take notes, and […] The post 345 – How Can SLPs Secure Funding in Healthcare? Part 2 of the Pivotal SLP Workshop appeared first...

Have you ever requested new equipment or reimbursement for a continuing education course or certification? Did you get denied with a big fat NO? Great! You FAILed! (At your First Attempt in Learning)  At the beginning of 2024, I hosted a free 5-day workshop dedicated to showing medical SLPs the ropes to achieving more at work (and for their patients) WITHOUT spending all of their money. And guess...

This past August, the Mayo Clinic had accomplished what was believed to be impossible… The world’s FIRST successful *total* laryngeal transplant on a patient with active cancer! Doctors at Mayo Clinic Arizona completed the procedure on Marty, a 60-year old man with a rare form of laryngeal cancer called chondrosarcoma. A team of 6 physicians […] The post 343 – Total Laryngeal Transplant: Dr. Lott...

“Research shows that one out of two patients forgets half the information given to them within 24 hours, and the other half remembers it incorrectly.” ☝️This is just ONE of the many golden nuggets of information that today’s guest throws at us. The ability to explain complex medical information and recommendations to patients in a way that’s easy to understand is a true and necessary art, which is...

You know those awkward moments where you can’t hear what someone is saying in a loud environment, so you just nod and agree to whatever they say? …hoping it makes sense to just nod and agree? As a medical SLP, odds are, you’ve worked with patients who have done this to you. Not because you’re providing therapy in a loud environment, but because they have receptive aphasia, or impaired auditory com...

While we often like to talk about research findings that shows us statistical significance in data and solid numbers we can lean on for treatment approaches… What about the kind of data that ISN’T objectively measured? The kind that shows us what patients or other clinicians experience think, or believe. I’m talking about qualitative research! Is qualitative research viewed as “less reputable” tha...

How confident are you in the world of… Concussion? Traumatic brain injury? Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in young athletes and military personnel? In this podcast episode, Kelli A. Uitenham CScD, CCC-SLP dives into all of those topics and more as she shares her passion for and specialized work in the world of brain injury.  Dr. Kelli Uitenham is the founder of the Brain Talk Foundation, w...

We often talk about how aphasia impacts people’s ability to speak or understand language, but what about aphasia’s impact on sign language? Do the hands sometimes sign “apple” instead of “orange” thanks to a semantic paraphasia? If one arm is weak or paralyzed because of a stroke, how does THAT impact someone’s ability to communicate using sign language? Instead of speech-language pathology, would...

Okay, this might sound like a trick question, but…What is dysphagia? This single question might be the most “swallow your pride” kind of question for medical SLPs yet… Because, believe it or not, we have yet to establish a standardized definition of dysphagia! Which is exactly why Martin B. Brodsky Ph. D., Sc. M., CCC-SLP, F-ASHA, and Debra Suiter PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S are putting together a confere...

As an SLP, you’re most likely to see a patient when they’re medically stable…but what if you could also be there from the start of their medical emergency?  What if you were part of the team who hops in the ambulance, assesses how critical someone’s condition is, and provides the first attempt in stablizing their health until you can get them to the hospital? That’s what Eleanor Smyser, M.S., CCC-...