Episodes
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On this episode of The Swallow Your Pride Podcast, Theresa sits down with Kate Hutcheson, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, Peter Belafsky, MD, M.P.H., PhD, and Andrew Tritter, MD, for a listening party unlike anything the dysphagia world has ever seen. What started as a dinner conversation at the Dysphagia Research Society about overrated anatomical structures became something none of them planned: a full-length AI-assisted music album called "One Night at La Reserve." Theresa plays several tracks live on this episode, including "The Hyoid," "Pharyngeal Jam," "Rad Tox Blues," "DIGEST," and more. The album is available on iTunes and coming to Spotify, with proceeds supporting the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders.
Links:
Get One Night at La Reserve on:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/one-night-at-la-reserve/1888366428
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7z5ItKFX5OguKijNMZqZ0M?si=JHED8QApSOiSZYOQAgqMAg -
On this episode of The Swallow Your Pride Podcast, Theresa sits down with Debra Suiter, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, F-ASHA â Director of the Voice and Swallow Clinic and Professor at the University of Kentucky â for a conversation that started as a personal text and turned into something the entire field needs to hear. Both Theresa and Dr. Suiter found themselves navigating hospitalizations for close family members at the same time, and what they witnessed from the family side of the bedside was deeply troubling: an overemphasis on aspiration risk, no shared decision making, no informed consent, and interventions that caused measurable harm in the name of preventing it. They discuss the Langmore 1998 paper, John Ashford's three pillars of aspiration pneumonia, why waivers are coercive, how documentation protects you, and how SLPs can use risk management and ethics committees to change practice patterns from the inside out. This one is personal. It's also clinical. And it's long overdue.
Get the informed consent bundle here: https://go.medslpcollective.com/informedconsentbundle
The post 402 â Bigger Fish to Fry: Why Our Fieldâs Fixation on Aspiration Is Costing Patients More Than We Realize with Dr. Debra Suiter appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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Missing episodes?
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On this episode of The Swallow Your Pride Podcast, we sit down with Marie JettĂ© PhD, CCC-SLP, a clinician-scientist who has spent over 20 years studying voice and upper airway disorders and ended up at the forefront of behavioral cough suppression research. We cover what refractory chronic cough actually looks like for patients who have [âŠ]
The post 401 â Stop Overcomplicating It: The Research Proving Cough Suppression Therapy Is Simpler Than You Think appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of The Swallow Your Pride Podcast, it's episode 400 and Theresa Richard is giving you the full picture. How the podcast started because blogging got too hard. How the Collective was basically her paying all her smart friends until someone told her to run it like an actual business. And how she built and sold two mobile FEES companies, navigated a divorce, and pushed through accreditation all at the same time, while also apparently never sleeping. If you've ever wondered how all of this came together, this is the episode.
Visit the show page: https://syppodcast.com/400
Links Mentioned:
MedSLP Collective - https://medslpcollective.com
MedSLP Ed - https://medslped.com
MSLP-C Certification - https://mslpcertification.com
Theresa's website: https://theresarichard.comThe post The 400th Episode: Swallowing my own pride and sharing the full story appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of Swallow Your Pride Podcast, Theresa sits down with Dr. Sonal Pathak to talk about something that's been simmering in the field for a long time: the perception gap between acute care and post-acute SLPs. Dr. Pathak brings 16+ years of clinical experience across both settings and makes the case that SNF clinicians aren't "step-down" anything. They're managing medically complex patients with fewer resources, less backup, and often zero SLP colleagues in the building. The two dig into discharge planning gaps, the fight for a seat at the interdisciplinary table, how to advocate for your caseload when your DOR is a PT, and why continuity of care across settings should be the standard, not the exception. Dr. Pathak also shares her doctoral research on spontaneous swallowing frequency and how it could change bedside outcome measurement for SLPs everywhere.
Visit the show page: https://syppodcast.com/399
The post Fewer Resources, Higher Stakes: What It Actually Takes to Be a Post-Acute SLP | Ep 399 appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of The Swallow Your Pride Podcast, I sit down with Laura Morgan was halfway through her clinical fellowship in speech-language pathology when a motor vehicle accident left her with a moderate-severe traumatic brain injury, a fractured jaw, and broken C1 and C2 vertebrae. She spent 72 days inpatient, had to retake the Praxis, redo her CF, and fight her way back into the field she'd just entered. Laura shares what she learned about brain injury rehabilitation from the patient's perspective: why your office decorations matter more than you think, how cognitive progress and grief can show up at the same time, what errorless learning looks like in everyday life, and why recognizing a patient's lost coping mechanisms should come before any clinical label. Laura now works at Metro Therapy Center in Gaithersburg, MD and has given over 50 multimedia presentations on her experience as both a provider and a recipient of speech pathology services.
Learn more at www.soundmindinsights.com and follow her on Instagram @slp_tbi and @soundmindinsights.
See the show page at: https://syppodcast.com/398
The post 398 â From Glasgow Coma Score of 2 to Certified Brain Injury Specialist: An SLPs Journey from Patient to Clinician appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of Swallow Your Pride, we are talking about what SLPD is the SLPD, and who is it actually for? Theresa sits down with four speech-language pathologists who pursued the clinical doctorate while working full time, raising families, and staying deeply rooted in patient care. Dr. Erin McCarthy (D'Youville University / Northwestern), Dr. Irene Brettman (Mass General / MGH Institute), Dr. D'Anna Nowack (Baylor University / Nova Southeastern), and Dr. Courtney V. Moore (Rocky Mountain University) share why they chose the SLPD over the PhD or EdD, what the programs actually cover (hint: way more than you'd expect), and how the degree changed their career trajectories in ways they didn't see coming. They also break down the recent elimination of the CAA's 51% faculty rule and what that means for clinician-educators across the country. Whether you're considering an advanced degree or just curious about what the SLPD brings to the table, this one's worth your time.
Visit the show page: https://syppodcast.com/397
The post 397 â SLP to SLPD: What the Clinical Doctorate Actually Looks Like from the Inside appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode, we're joined by a head and neck surgeon and a speech-language pathologist from the University of South Florida and Tampa General Hospital who have built a self-dilation program that is changing lives for head and neck cancer patients with recurrent esophageal strictures. Their program currently has 20 patients self-dilating, and the outcomes are remarkable: 80% of patients who came in with feeding tubes have had them removed. We talk about how their multidisciplinary clinic model works (surgeon and SLP evaluating patients together, in the same room), how they identify good candidates for self-dilation, what the training process looks like, the role of the infinity balloon in initial dilation, how they navigated the cost barrier of a $3,400 dilator, and patient stories that show what's possible when you keep the esophagus open long enough for therapy to actually work. If you work with head and neck cancer patients dealing with recurrent strictures, this episode is a must-listen.
Get the show notes: https://syppodcast.com/396
The post 396 â From NPO to Full Diet: Why Patients Are Dilating Their Own Esophagus appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of the Swallow Your Pride podcast, Theresa sits down with Kelly Kalseth, founder and CEO of Momma Gourmet, a company that is changing what pureed meals look and taste like for people with swallowing disorders.
Kelly's journey started in 2015 when her son Caleb was born premature at 30 weeks and was later diagnosed with Tracheal Malacia. After navigating thickened liquids, swallow studies, and surgeries as a first-time mom, Kelly saw a massive gap in the food options available to people on modified diets. When she toured a Meals on Wheels kitchen and saw the shelf-stable brown purees being served to clients, she knew she could do better.
Today, Momma Gourmet provides chef-crafted, flash-frozen pureed meals made with real ingredients like red beets, cauliflower, lentils, quinoa, and Greek yogurt. Every meal packs at least 28 grams of protein and ships nationwide on dry ice. Kelly talks about the emotional experience of eating, why food presentation matters even on a pureed diet, how she's expanded into halal meal options, and her goal of getting nutritious purees into senior living centers and hospice programs. She also shares a client testimonial from a caregiver whose 99-year-old mother eats every single bite.
If you work with patients on modified diets (or love someone who's on one), this episode is going to make you rethink what's possible.
Episode Page: https://syppodcast.com/395
đ Learn more or set up delivery at https://MommaGourmet.comThe post 395 â When Pureed Food Tastes Better Than Your Dinner: Inside Mama Gourmetâs Mission to Change the Game appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode, Theresa sits down with Dr. Diane Longnecker, Assistant Professor at Baylor University and clinical researcher at Baylor Scott and White, and Jamie Anderson, medical SLP and clinical instructor at the University of South Florida, to talk about something a lot of clinicians have heard of but aren't quite sure what to do with: pharyngeal manometry. Jamie starts with a confession most of us can probably relate to â she rolled her eyes at it when she first heard about it. Now she can't imagine practicing without it. Dr. Longnecker walks us through why she started using it clinically back in 2019, what her very first case taught her about the limits of visual interpretation, and why she no longer sends a patient for UES management without it. They break down what pharyngeal manometry actually tells you that your modified barium swallow study and FEES simply can't, which patients belong in the referral pool, what the barriers to starting a program actually look like (reimbursement, analysis time, catheter placement), and why someone in this field needs to take ownership of the UES. If you've been curious about this tool but didn't know where to start, this conversation is a genuinely helpful place to begin.
Get the show notes and references: https://syppodcast.com/394
The post 394 â Pressure, Pumps, and the UES:The Case for Pharyngeal Manometry in Clinical Practice appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode, Theresa sits down with Dr. Julie Cichero, a clinician, researcher, and one of the foremost experts in dysphagia with over 30 years of experience, to talk about something that has had a complicated reputation in our field: cervical auscultation. If you trained in the 90s, you probably learned it. If you trained more recently, you might have been told to ignore it. The truth, as it turns out, is a lot more nuanced than either camp wants to admit.
Dr. Cichero breaks down what the evidence actually shows, including sensitivities of around 91% and negative predictive values that should genuinely change how we think about using this tool at the bedside. She explains why it's not really about the "clink and clunk" sounds at all, and why the breathing pattern after the swallow is where the real clinical information lives. She also shares what proper training looks like, how cervical auscultation fits alongside instrumental assessment (not instead of it), and two clinical stories involving pharyngeal pouches that are honestly pretty wild.
Get the show notes and references here: https://syppodcast.com/393
The post 393 â Clinks, Clunks, and Clinical Confidence: Rethinking Cervical Auscultation â Julie Cichero BA, BSpThy(Hons), PhD appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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On this episode of Swallow Your Pride, Theresa sits down with Ally Roberts, M.S., CCC-SLP, to talk about dysphagia management, patient-centered care, and the story behind Naturally Nectar. Ally shares what years in acute care, inpatient rehab, and outpatient swallow studies taught her about thickened liquids, clinical nuance, and the importance of listening to what patients actually want. They also get into the process of building a product for people with dysphagia that prioritizes dignity, nutrition, and real-world usability.
Get the references here: https://syppodcast.com/392
Website: https://naturallynectar.orgThe post 392 â The Surprising Truth About Thickened Liquids: What Patients Really Want with Naturally Nectar appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this episode, Theresa interviews Dr. Yvette McCoy, Assistant Professor at Moravian University, about her research on the connection between physical performance and swallowing function in older adults. Dr. McCoy discusses her dissertation, which found that upper body power strongly predicts swallowing-related measures, highlighting the value of integrating exercise science principles into dysphagia rehabilitation. The [âŠ]
The post 391 â From Exercise Science to Swallowing Success: A New Approach to Dysphagia Rehabilitation appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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The proposed changes to CPT code 92507 have sparked a lot of discussion across the SLP community. Many clinicians are seeing numbers circulating online and understandably feeling worried about what this might mean for reimbursement and clinical practice. In this episode, Theresa sits down with Lysa Johnson, speech-language pathologist and regulatory compliance expert, to unpack [âŠ]
The post 390 â SLP Billing Changes: Breaking Down the 92507 Proposal appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this episode of Swallow Your Pride, Theresa sits down with Dr. Rabab Rangwala, PhD, CCC-SLP, to explore the science behind respiratoryâswallow coordination in Parkinsonâs disease and what it means for clinical practice.
They dive into how breathing patterns can influence swallowing safety, why patients with Parkinsonâs may not fully perceive their swallowing impairments, and what recent research reveals about the relationship between patient-reported symptoms and instrumental findings. Dr. Rangwala also shares how her clinical experience shaped her research questions and why instrumental assessment plays a critical role, while still recognizing real-world access barriers.
This conversation bridges neuroscience and bedside care, offering practical insights to help medical SLPs strengthen their clinical clarity and better serve individuals with neurologic disease.
Get the references and special links to articles mentioned here: https://syppodcast.com/389
Dr. Rabab Rangwala is a speech-language pathologist and postdoctoral scholar at University of California, San Francisco. Her research focuses on the neural and behavioral control of swallowing and speech across healthy and clinical populations. Her work in dysphagia examines respiratoryâswallow coordination, and objective assessment of swallowing impairments using wearable sensors, particularly in individuals with Parkinsonâs disease and other neurologic conditions. In parallel, she conducts speech neuroscience research using neuroimaging, psychophysics, and computational modeling to understand how the brain supports complex motor behaviors such as speech production.
By integrating clinical insight with neuroscience and quantitative methods, Dr. Rangwalaâs work seeks to improve our understanding of speech and swallowing disorders, with the goal of informing healthcare delivery, guiding treatment decisions, and ultimately improving patient quality of life.The post 389 â RespiratoryâSwallow Coordination in Parkinsonâs: What the Research Actually Shows appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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Dysphagia in Parkinsonâs disease is not one-size-fits-all, and treatment decisions shouldnât be either.In this episode of Swallow Your Pride, Theresa is joined by PD Dr. Bendix Labeit, MBA, neurologist and clinician-scientist, and Jule Hofacker, MSc, speech-language pathologist and PhD student in neurogenic dysphagia, to explore how Parkinsonâs treatments impact swallowing. They discuss how dopaminergic medication [âŠ]
The post 388 â Parkinsonâs, Swallowing, and Deep Brain Stimulation: What Clinicians Need to Know appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this episode of the "Swallow Your Pride" podcast, bilingual SLP Margaryta Kuzman shares her expertise on pediatric feeding disorders in early intervention. She discusses the vital role of SLPs, the importance of early identification, and practical stepsâensuring safety, functional feeding observation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Margaryta emphasizes family-centered care, the need for more specialized training, and offers resources for clinicians. She also introduces her platform, Kuzmin SLP, dedicated to empowering providers with evidence-based tools. The conversation highlights the challenges families face and the importance of empathy and teamwork in supporting children with feeding difficulties.
Get the show notes at: https://syppodcast.com/387
Margaryta Kuzmin, MA, CCC-SLP, TSSLD-BE, BCS-S is a bilingual speech-language pathologist based in New York City with over 15 years of experience working with infants, toddlers, and school-age children with complex communication, feeding, and developmental needs. She specializes in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders, AAC, and working with medically complex populations. Margaryta is the founder of KuzminSLP, a professional education platform dedicated to empowering Early Intervention providers (SLPs, OTs, SI, PTs) with practical, evidence-based tools for real-world practice. Her work bridges feeding, language, literacy, and behavior, with a strong emphasis on functional outcomes for children ages birth to three. She is an award-winning clinician, published author, and frequent national and international speaker, and has received multiple awards throughout her career for her contributions to the field.
LINKS:
https://KuzminSLP.com
Instagram: @kuzminSLP
The post 387 â From Picky Eaters to Happy Eaters: Strategies for Pediatric Feeding Success appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this powerful episode of Swallow Your Pride, caregiver and author Diane Wolff shares the real-life journey that transformed her motherâs dysphagia diagnosis into a mission to empower millions of families. Diane reveals the practical, step-by-step systems she created to help caregivers feel confident feeding their loved ones safely, from setting up a dysphagia-friendly kitchen, to batch cooking with dignity in mind, to bringing joy and variety back to mealtimes.
Get the show notes: https://syppodcast.com/386
Buy the book: https://amzn.to/3KC6q8O
Visit the website: https://www.cookingfordysphagia.comThe post 386 â Empowering Caregivers: Practical Solutions for Managing Dysphagia at Home appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this episode of "Swallow Your Pride," host Theresa Richard brings together a panel of NIH-funded researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to unpack the complexity of diagnosing and treating motor speech disorders after left-hemisphere stroke. Theresa Richard guides a conversation that demystifies the overlap between apraxia of speech, dysarthria, and aphasia, highlights the challenges clinicians face in acute and subacute care, and introduces innovative assessment tools designed to bring more objectivity and clarity to real-world practice. The team shares emerging findings, practical insights for SLPs across the continuum of care, and a look at how new perceptual and acoustic measures may shape the future of stroke-related speech assessment.
Links mentioned in the show:
UNC Center for Aphasia and Related Disorder's Lab website (includes information on our research and helpful therapy resources regarding aphasia, communication partner training, and aphasia-friendly print materials): https://www.med.unc.edu/healthsciences/sphs/card/
Tools Available for Speech Therapists for Assessment...
Word Information Measure and Moving Average Type Token Ratio (Shiny App): https://unccard.shinyapps.io/WIM_MATTR/
Word Complexity Measure (Shiny App): https://unccard.shinyapps.io/shiny-woRdcomplex-2/
Word Complexity Measure Ratio (Shiny App): https://unccard.shinyapps.io/shiny-wcmRatio/The post 385 â Navigating the Complexities of Speech Disorders After Stroke: A Deep Dive into Current Research and Practices appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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In this âSwallow Your Prideâ episode, host Theresa Richard and Shayne Reid from Reflux Gourmet discuss innovative, all-natural solutions for managing acid reflux, including their alginate therapy and new functional chewing gum. They explore the science, safety, and practical use of these products for adults, children, and special populations, sharing personal stories and clinical tips. [âŠ]
The post 384 â The Ultimate Guide to Reflux Relief: Combining Lifestyle Changes with Innovative Products appeared first on Swallow Your Pride Podcast.
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