EPISODE 273

[INTRODUCTION]

[0:00:14.1] MD: Hi folks and welcome to First Bite: Fed, Fun, and Functional, a speech therapy podcast sponsored by SpeechTherapyPD.com. I am your host on this nerd venture, Michelle Dawson MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, the all-things PEDs SLP. I am a colleague in the trenches of home health and early intervention right there with you. I run my own private practice, HeartWood Speech Therapy, here in Cola Town, South Carolina and I guest lecture nationwide on best practices for early intervention for the medically complex infant and children.

First BiteÕs mission is short and sweet, to bring light, hope, knowledge, and joy to the pediatric clinician, parent, or advocate. 

[0:01:01.5] EF: By way of a nerdy conversation, so thereÕs plenty of laughter too. 

[0:01:04.6] MD: In this podcast, we cover everything from AAC to breastfeeding. 

[0:01:09.9] EF: Ethics on how to run a private practice. 

[0:01:11.9] MD: Pediatric dysphasia to clinical supervision. 

[0:01:15.8] EF: And all other topics in the world of pediatric speech pathology. Our goal is to bring evidence-based practice straight to you by interviewing subject matter experts. 

[0:01:24.8] MD: To break down the communication barriers so that we can access the knowledge of their fields. 

[0:01:30.5] EF: Or as a close friend says, to build the bridge. 

[0:01:34.1] MD: By bringing other professionals and experts in our field together, we hope to spark advocacy, joy, and passion for continuing to grow and advance care for our little ones.

[0:01:45.5] EF: Every fourth episode, I join in. IÕm Erin Forward, MSP, CCC-SLP. The Yankee by way of Rochester, New York transplant who actually inspired this journey. I bring a different perspective that of a new-ish clinician when experience in early intervention, pediatric acute care, and non-profit pediatric outpatient settings. 

[0:02:05.6] MD: So, sit back, relax, and watch out for all hearthÕs growth, and enjoy this geeky gig brought to you by SpeechTherapyPD.com.

[DISCLAIMER]

[0:02:20.6] MD: Hey, this is Michelle Dawson and I need to update my disclosure statements. So, my nonfinancial disclosures, I actively volunteer with Feeding Matters, National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders, NFOSD, Dysphasia Outreach Project, DOP. I am a former treasurer with the Council Estate Association Presidency, CESAP. 

A past president of the South Carolina Speech Language and Hearing Association, SCSHA, a current board of trustees member with the Communication Disorders Foundation of Virginia, and I am a current member of ASHA, ASHA SIG 13, SCSHA, The Speech Language Hearing Association of Virginia, SHAV, a member of The National Black Speech Language Hearing Association, NBASLH, and Dysphasia Research Society, DRS.

My financial disclosures include receiving compensation for First Bite Podcast from SpeechTherapyPD.com, as well as from additional webinars, and for webinars associated with understanding dysphasia, which is also a podcast with SpeechTherapyPD.com, and I currently receive a salary from the University of South Carolina in my work as adjunct professor and Student Services Coordinator. 

And I receive royalties from the sale of my book, Chasing the Swallow: Truth, Science, and Hope for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders, as well as compensation for the CEUs associated with it from SpeechTherapyPD.com. So those are my current disclosure statements. Thanks, guys. 

[0:04:05.3] EF: Hi, this is Erin Forward and these are my disclosure statements. I receive a salary from Cincinnati ChildrenÕs Hospital Medical Center. I receive royalties from SpeechTherapyPD from my work with First Bite Podcast and other presentations. I also receive payment for sales from the First Bite Boutique which I have with Michelle Dawson. 

For nonfinancial disclosures, I am a member of ASHA and a member of Special Interest Group 13. I also am a volunteer for Feeding Matters, I am a contributor for the book, Chasing the Swallow, with Michelle Dawson, from which I receive no financial gain. I also am a member of the South Carolina Coalition Committee with ICLDI at full-time.

The views and opinions expressed in todayÕs podcast do not reflect the organizationÕs associated with the speakers and are their views and opinions solely. 

[INTERVIEW]

[0:04:54.6] MD: All right everybody. I am here with none other than the sparkles themselves and theyÕre not only the kindest, most compassionate women but theyÕre also brilliant leaders in our field, and I am so honored to have none other than Dr. Kelly Farquharson and Dr. Jennifer Simpson, and theyÕre here. 

So, ladies, please introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about yourselves, and then you all, weÕre going to spend the next hour myth-busting on conventions because honestly, I donÕt like the things I see in the world about nepotism and favoritism and all these terrible horrible things when truly, our conventions are moments of joy. So, thatÕs where weÕre going with this but yes, please feel free to introduce yourself. Hi.

[0:05:44.8] KF: Hi, thanks for having us, do you want me to go first, Jen?

[0:05:48.0] JS: Yes.

[0:05:48.9] KF: Okay. Well, thank you Michelle for letting us do this. We are very excited, we were texting, you know, in advance of this just sharing how excited we are to be back together because Jen and I have spent a lot of time over the past two years together and so, being back together is very exciting. IÕm Kelly Farquharson. So, I served as the ASHA convention coach here for speech-language pathology for the 2023 Convention in Boston, which was in November of 2023 and was a whirlwind of joy, I will say. 

I agree with your description there, Michelle. IÕm an associate professor at Florida State University and I direct the childrenÕs literacy and speech sound, our (CLaSS) Lab, and the mission of my lab is to help children with speech and language impairments achieve classroom success. So, a lot of the work that we do is surrounding supporting kids who have speech and language impairments, specifically with classroom skills, like reading and spelling. 

But also accurate speech production, good language, and also been supporting all the educators who offer their time and love and dedication to helping those kids. So, classroom teachers, special education teachers, SLPs thatÕs really a lot of the work that we do. So, IÕve been an SLP for 19 years and I just love the field. IÕm actually fresh out right now of my clinical phonetics course that I teach here at Florida State. 

I teach at 8 AM, Tuesday, Thursday, so I just am fresh from that class and thatÕs my main area of teaching and research is phonetics and speech sound disorders and those are areas that I just love in our field. So, I do as lot of promotion about that on Instagram. My account is @classlab_kelly and I have a weekly series called Phonetics Friday, where we just nerd out about phonetics every Friday.

[0:07:29.3] MD: I got to say, you all, itÕs completely, clinically applicable. So, this is not research thatÕs isolated, you can read her articles and their actual how to implement it, and her work is completely functional because you just did the one on training Para pros on how to do like, joint reading activities for literacy language acquisition, and you all, itÕs amazing, so.

[0:07:52.9] KF: Oh, thank you so much. We do try, itÕs hard sometimes, you know? But we do try to do that, so thank you.

[0:07:58.1] MD: Yes. Yes, and then Jen, hi. 

[0:08:00.2] JS: Hi Michelle, thanks for having us. I agree with Kelly, the ASHA Convention was a whirlwind. It went by so fast after so many years of planning together and we were joking just right before we started that we have withdrawals from each other because we donÕt have to talk every single day or every single hour any longer. Although, you know, IÕd like to, so.

I am a clinical professor and associate head at Purdue University. I was the co-chair of audiology. So, IÕm a trained audiologist and most of my day spent is training graduate students in audiology at Purdue and creating clinical experiences and innovative experiences for those students so that they become the best audiologists out there. I had to do the math after Kelly said her years. IÕve been an audiologist for 27 years now.

[0:08:53.6] MD: Amazing.

[0:08:54.8] JS: ItÕs crazy to me. I didnÕt know what I wanted to do going back to the beginning question you asked, like, how we became speech pathologists or audiologists but I spent six years in undergrad because I just didnÕt know what do and then finally, in my fourth year, I took an audiology undergrad course and then I was there and along the way, collected some minors. So yeah. So yes, here we are.

[0:09:20.7] KF: Yep. 

[0:09:22.0] MD: I love that, I triple-minored. It was history, art history, and special education because I get so into the history but I paired the art history classes with it because the art told the messages of the time and I was like, ŅDad, maybe I want to go back to be an art historian.Ó And he was like. ŅSo, no.Ó TheyÕre like, ŅHard no.Ó I was like, ŅOkay, yes sir.Ó But okay, now you omitted one very large cool hat that you wear. Your CAPCSD president.

[0:09:51.1] JS: ThatÕs right. So, I am Š I just looked at this, IÕm halfway through the CAPCSD presidency year. You know, itÕs a three-year term. President-elect, president, and past president. So, IÕve been proud of all of the work that CAPCSDÕs been doing and weÕre actually meeting next week for a face-to-face meeting in San Antonio. So getting prepared for that and looking forward, and then, of course, very much looking forward to the annual convention in April in New Orleans.

[0:10:17.7] MD: Yes. Okay. 

[0:10:17.6] KF: IÕll be there.

[0:10:18.5] JS: Okay, good, Kelly.

[0:10:19.5] KF: Yes. 

[0:10:20.8] MD: I will miss you all but IÕm going to NBASLH, which is like a week later. So, the balance but okay, so folks, if you're listening and you donÕt know what CAPCSD is, correct me when I mispronounce it, itÕs the Council of Academic Programs for Communication Sciences and Disorders.

[0:10:36.9] JS: Yes, you got it.

[0:10:38.1] MD: I went clinical first because weÕre a clinic, right?

[0:10:40.7] JS: Yeah.

[0:10:40.4] MD: But you all, this is the body of leaders and academic fields that address the needs of both the audiology and the speech-language pathology programs, and give us guiding policy, guiding literature, and resources, and trust me, I know that they hear the need for neurodiversity-affirming movements. I know that they hear the need for DEIA because the tutorials and webinars that have been created for faculty over the last couple of years demonstrate this. 

TheyÕve had miniseries on interprofessional education for interprofessional practice across the life continuum and settings and IÕve witnessed it and itÕs been beautiful. So, there is Š yeah, so thank you because I know that you had a lot to do with that. So, is that a fair summation of the CAPSCD?

[0:11:34.4] JS: Very good, yeah. So, our mission is to, you know, support CSD programs nationally. ThereÕs about 350 programs nationally and internationally that belong and you know, be the leading resource for leaders in our field in academia.

[0:11:48.9] MD: Awesome. So, there it is. All right, well, we have a lot of ground to cover and a limited timeframe but November was Igniting Innovation. That was the theme that you all came up with, which is kind of a process in and of itself but Š so, how did we look? Do we have a final head count so to speak?

[0:12:10.0] JS: Kelly, you want me to take that one?

[0:12:11.6] KF: Yeah, go ahead.

[0:12:13.3] JS: Sure. In-person, we had 14,446, and virtual-only participants was almost 1,500.

[0:12:21.8] MD: Oh, thatÕs amazing. Those numbers, did they go up?

[0:12:25.2] JS: ThatÕs about what we were expecting, about 15000 people, you know, recovering from the COVID years and just travel and you know, all of the kind of challenges it is to get to convention sometimes but we are really, really happy with those numbers and itÕs definitely going up the last couple of years.

[0:12:44.2] KF: I think, the biggest ASHA convention we ever had was ASHA 2018, also in Boston and that was over 18,000, maybe almost 19,000, very close. So, although, I had very unrealistic hopes that we would beat that number and that this would be the biggest ASHA, I was also very realistic that you know, the ASHA 2020 convention was canceled. 2021 was in DC and there was about 5,000 people in person. 

ASHA 2022 was in New Orleans and that was about 10,000 people. So, I thought realistically, you know, another 5,000 to that would show some nice progression and thatÕs exactly where we landed, which is really exciting to see.

[0:13:24.3] MD: Yeah, thatÕs awesome. I will also be honest. The 18,000, I was there, that was a little claustrophobic. I love you people but that was Š thatÕs a lot of humans in one little space, yeah.

[0:13:39.0] KF: A few lines low in where things I never want to relive.

[0:13:44.3] MD: I know. My favorite was ASHA in LA. It was when the bathroom signs were changing. So, I waited, this was prior to enrolling in pelvic floor therapy. So, I waited in line for what I thought was the unisex bathroom, and I waited and I waited and I waited, only to find out, it was the elevator sign that I was like Š 

[0:14:02.7] KF: Oh no. Oh no.

[0:14:04.4] MD: I have never run so far, lovely. Luckily, the next bathroom that I found there was a bunch of more senior gray-haired women in line and I was like, ŅLook, I got to go now or weÕre going to have a situation.Ó And that was literally my, ŅHereÕs your sign to start pelvic floor therapy.Ó But whenever we go back to LA, I will be sure to learn my signs but things that happen Š 

[0:14:27.4] KF: Oh, thatÕs right. Yes.

[0:14:27.7] MD: Do we have any breakdown on the numbers of audiology attendance versus SLPs and if we start collecting data on like SLPA attendance? Because thatÕs a new exciting search.

[0:14:38.5] JS: Yeah. So, we do. We asked yesterday to make sure we were accurate on our numbers. You know, the audiology attendance is always a bit or a lot lower than the SLP just because of the nature of our fields but it was about 70% SLP attendance, about 4% audiology, then 25%, like other. Either they didnÕt identify themselves or they were an assistant or they just put related professional there.

[0:15:03.7] KF: Or student, that could be student too.

[0:15:06.4] MD: Awesome, but also, we had so many interprofessional practice partners there this year. That was phenomenal to see that metrics but itÕs lovely to hear that we had audiologists present, thatÕs exciting. I truly feel two steps removed from collaborating with audiologist because I mean, we donÕt do too much when weÕre focusing on feeding and swallowing. 

So Š but, I mean, sometimes, thereÕs comorbid issues and then, weÕll intersperse but it makes me admire those that get to engage more if that makes sense. Okay, so, this is where we have to tip-toe into more of the behind-the-scenes stuff. There is so many countless, hundreds of thousands of hours, not hundreds of thousands but hundreds or thousands of hours that you two alone have put into leading this in conjunction with the ASHA staff that you get to know very, very well. 

But can you kind of describe, maybe big picture, the steps that go into making sure that this is a success and people walk away feeling hopeful about their profession again?

[0:16:21.2] KF: ThatÕs a big one. I think, you know, one thing is really understanding the timeline of all of this, which I think can be helpful to kind of get the full context, and then the other part IÕll talk about and maybe Jen will talk about too is kind of the development of the theme, which I think is really getting at the latter part of your question, which is really reinspiring and reigniting peopleÕs passion for their chosen profession.

And so, I think the first part is like Jen and I both Š we applied to do this role of convention co-chair. So, it is an application process that requires, you know, a letter of intent with letters of Š three letters of recommendation. ItÕs reviewed by the Scientific and Professional Education Board, SPEB at ASHA, and that happens two years in advance. So, we were selected for this in the summer of 2021 for a convention that was going to take place in November of 2023. 

So, with respect to the time investment, it is easily a two-year, two-plus-year, two-and-a-half-year commitment, and in some parts of that, we werenÕt as active as other parts. Sometimes it felt like a second, like a part-time job. Sometimes it was, it felt like you know, a small service contribution, you know? So, it ebbed and flowed as the workload ebbed and flowed. 

I think, one of the most special parts of it for me was in addition to obviously working with and partnering with Jen, was the development of the convention program committee because thatÕs the heart of it all, these are the people like yourself, Michelle, who drive the content. So, you, along with your committee, the topic chairs, are determining what topics need to be invited, what do we really want to spotlight this year? 

So, as much as part of me feels like, you know, that thereÕs some credit thatÕs due to me and Jen from that to a certain extent in terms of having built the convention program committee, itÕs really the topic chairs that drive that. ThatÕs a huge part and thatÕs where I think that that responsibility and that service opportunity is just so important because you can really shape the experience for people who are in your sub-discipline.

And so, by that I mean, you know, pediatric feeding and swallowing for you, Michelle, were minor speech sound disorders and you know, thereÕs literacy and school age language and thereÕs a variety of audiology subtopics. So, you know, really thinking about how you can shape the biggest professional development event of our profession annually, with who you invite, and what gets accepted and I think that thatÕs a huge task. 

And one that IÕm super proud of how we, you know, ended up employing, I just think it was a really nice execution of that work but it takes a long time and so, we were you know, two and a half years in and so, our kickoff meeting took place in September of 2022. So, two months before the 2022 convention, which is still a year out from our own convention, right? So, weÕre now like, you know, 15 months ahead and we had an in-person meeting in Boston. 

And thatÕs where we really got to do some of the nuts and bolts work with our topic chairs, we had already selected our topic chairs at this point and we really got to work on thinking about the theme and I think that theme of igniting innovation, I love the theme so much. I thought it really brought to life what we wanted to showcase, which was kind of this point in our field where we are of weÕre meeting to be innovators and thatÕs a hard job sometimes. 

And we also wanted people who are at various stages and various work settings to feel like innovators. So, innovation is not just AI and fancy technology and the latest cutting-edge research and facial transplants and really wild aspects of our field. Innovation happens in public schools, in a group therapy setting with first graders and third graders who all have different speech and language goals. 

ThatÕs innovation too, making that therapy session work takes innovation and so, we wanted everyone who is in attendance to feel like an innovator and to really help ignite that for them and so, that theme, because we landed on something so strong I think that allowed us to shape a really powerful convention. I saw the topic chairs take that theme and run with it. It was so cool, the ASHA staff who you mentioned who I just cannot say enough about. 

Hopefully, will spend a little bit of extra time just shouting them out because theyÕre all incredible, the things they put together like that light-up sign that was in the exhibit hall for everyone to take pictures in front of the Igniting Innovation sign, I mean, that was all them. Everyone took it and ran with it and it was very exciting to be part of developing that.

[0:20:58.8] MD: Yes, yes.

[0:21:00.8] JS: So, IÕll just add a couple of things about the theme. I think, developing the theme was one of the most exciting parts, doing that together, bouncing ideas off each other, coming up with kind of wild ideas but then reigning them in, and right Kelly? 

[0:21:16.9] KF: Oh yeah. 

[0:21:17.7] JS: And I think Kelly and I both wanted the thing to be like she said, a strong theme that people could connect to and know that thatÕs what the convention was about and could tie whatever they were doing to that theme, so that it was for everyone and you know, we often said at meetings like, put the I in innovation, like, the person, innovation and even in some of the visuals, there is a person in the middle of igniting innovation on the ASHA branding, which is just subtle but like, it meant a lot to Kelly and I because that was our goal. 

ItÕs to make everyone feel like they were part of the theme. The other thing we wanted to do with the theme was just move away or move forward I suppose from kind of the COVID feeling everyone had and all of the talk about like, ŅBe flexible.Ó You know, you need to be Š

[0:22:09.1] KF: Resilient.

[0:22:09.9] JS: You need to be resilient. Like, people were Š we were hearing people were tired of being told that anymore. ItÕs like, ŅI have been, I am, I will be. Like, letÕs move on to something kind of dream bigger, you know?Ó So, weÕre really proud of all of that, and then the other fun part about the theme, I thought was fun, was creating the visual of it and the colors and like, all the sparkles, and Kelly, do you remember like, the first ones just were not like what we had thought? 

Like, they werenÕt sparkly enough, they werenÕt eye-catching enough. Like, we wanted them to be Š like, people would recognize it and so, I thought that that turned out so pretty with the navy-blue background, and then all the kind of the rainbow sparkles everywhere, so.

[0:22:55.9] MD: I mean, you allÕs, sequined dresses were kind of like on point and I definitely wore sequins on my shoes, my tennis shoes. Yes, I have sequined tennis shoes if youÕre listening because you need sequined tennis shoes in your life but that was my sparkle contribution.

[0:23:10.5] KF: Yes, we can see that. We exchanged many text messages about the dresses, there was Š that was months and months and months of text exchanges.

[0:23:18.8] JS: Kelly, I havenÕt fretted over a dress ever as much as I did with you, so.

[0:23:24.9] KF: Same, yup, same.

[0:23:27.0] MD: Folks tune in for behind-the-convention details and inevitably, weÕre like, ŅBut the dress.Ó [Crosstalk 0:23:33.3]

[0:23:34.3] KF: The dresses, yep.

[0:23:33.2] JS: Oh, my gosh.

[0:23:35.2] MD: Okay. So, folks, hereÕs where it kind of looks like when you get asked to serve as the topic chair, you have this kickoff meaning and youÕre surrounded and you sit in awe because all of a sudden, I know, me personally, I was sitting in this room full of brilliant compassionate minds, right? And you get a handbook and itÕs essentially your how to plan a convention bible, for a lack of a better phrase and IÕm not trying to be blasphemous but thatÕs kind of what it reminded me of.

Wait, you know Maria Ireland, right? She made the video we SLP bible, and I started out in the public schools and I still have my original blue one in that can and like, 20 years later but thatÕs what itÕs reminding me of but we have to sit down with our Š essentially creating, what I call, my council of elders, right? Like, with my team and we assess our topic descriptions, we assess what guidance to give. 

So that if youÕre listening and you're like, ŅHey, IÕve got this really great new innovative therapeutic approach.Ó Or, ŅIÕve got this killer research in this area.Ó Well then, you can get on ASHA's website and find these topic descriptions to say, ŅIt fits here. It would fit nicely here.Ó But that is significant body of work to annually update this because if we didnÕt, our field would never move forward, right? 

So, thatÕs kind of like the first leg, is the topic chair creates their committee and then, we go through this document and then we start getting into the nitty-gritty planning. Now, what I honestly didnÕt anticipate and this is something that you all can enlighten is, thereÕs so much confusion amongst ASHA members that think these topic committees are just micro chasms of their affiliate SIGs and theyÕre not. Those are totally separate entities. So, could you maybe illuminate that piece?

[0:25:41.2] KF: Sure, well, I can talk about it a little bit, and then, Jen, obviously, correct me if IÕm wrong or way in but Š so, I think one thing to remember is the number of topics is far greater than the number of SIGs. So, there were 31 topic areas in the 2023 ASHA convention. ThatÕs not a static number for the reasons that you just said, Michelle. Every year, we look to see what needs to be added, changed. I mean, at one point in time, like long ago, research was its own topic.

[0:26:09.4] MD: Oh my God.

[0:26:11.5] KF: This topic was not necessarily infused with research, right? So, this grows and evolves as our field does. So, sometimes, there are more than 31 topics and sometimes there are fewer as some need to maybe be combined to better reflect how the field has changed and what ASHA members need. So, I think thatÕs one thing and then, as far as SIGs, theyÕre now 20. So, thereÕs not a direct one-to-one correspondence between the number of topics and the number of SIGs, so they donÕt really fit inside of one another.

ThereÕs also, in most cases, completely separate committees, not necessarily intentionally. Sometimes thereÕs overlap but itÕs usually not the case that the people who comprise, you know, SIG one, which is pretty broad, language, learning, and education are not necessarily and usually, not at all the same people who comprise a topic like school-age language and learning, which has some overlap but is not exactly the same topic. 

The school-age language one is about school-age language but it is pretty restricted to you know, school age. So, thereÕs a limitation in the age of the kid that we talk about. Whereas, SIG one is more lifespan language learning. So, thereÕs a lot variability. I donÕt really see them as really similar at all, especially because we have a separate SIG affiliation process, where the ASHA SIGs can work with different topics and they can decide to kind of Ņalign withÓ a certain topic for that convention and work together to build some sessions.

But there is variability and those SIGs have full autonomy of which topics they partner with and how that all works and so, an example of that could be, you know, SIG 13 is swallowing, and that SIG does not necessarily have to align with the topic of either adult swallowing or pediatric feeding. They can align with cleft pallet craniofacial. They can align with speech sound disorders, you know? ThereÕs often an overlap.

They can align with health literacy, they can align with any topic they want. So, thereÕs not necessarily Š even the ones that do have a little bit more of a one-to-one correspondence, kind of the swallowing or a hearing one or one that is more craniofacial or global issues, there still does not need to be a connection between that SIG and that topic for the convention. That SIG has full autonomy to align with any topic they want.

So, thatÕs, I think, one part of it and then it really, just looking at all of the committees. The name should be available on the ASHA website and so, any member can easily look to see that maybe thereÕs one member that overlaps and that might be purposeful so that that SIG is well represented but itÕs completely different groups of people. Now, weÕre a small field and so the number of people who are experts in speech sound disorders, such that they can serve on the speech sound disorders topic.

You know, sometimes, there is a little bit more overlap in certain sub-disciplines because thereÕs just so few people who have that expertise and pair that with the interest in serving. So, sometimes, there is overlap but thatÕs never intentional and they really Š they coexist but Š and thereÕs kind of a natural overlap but they really are separately autonomous bodies.

[0:29:25.0] MD: Yes, yes. I still get that that question a lot over the last year and then, another thing that I really appreciated was in that initial meeting, you all laid groundwork that when weÕre forming our committees, we also need to elevate new voices, diverse voices, and not just, when you encourage diverse, it was not just in our cultural backgrounds and linguistic backgrounds and what weÕre bring ing to the table. 

But also our settings in pulling in the clinic piece and Jen, I mean, youÕre in the clinic. So, like, you Š in bringing that part but like, pulling in clinicians as well as researchers, and making sure we also mentor students.

[0:30:13.6] JS: Yeah. I can speak to that for a second. Kelly and I talked about this a lot, you know, preplanning, like, when we knew we were going to be co-chairs before we even thought of a single person to be a topic chair, we really thought, kind of deeply about how we want those committees to look and the overall picture to look, and we were very committed to having people who had a fundamental kind of science research background including some of the committees that warranted that and then having really strong voices in the clinical domain and a lot of times having them co-chair. 

So, like Kelly said, there were 31 topics but we have 50 topic chairs. So, some of those were partnered for lots of different reasons. The topic was very large or maybe the topic just was so like transformative or from you know, the laboratory to the clinic that we needed people from both viewpoints in order to have a successful topic. So, yeah Š 

[0:31:12.6] KF: How we need again SLP and an audiologist. 

[0:31:14.5] JS: Yeah, so there were several topics that had SLP and audiology like leadership and professional issues, for example, we wanted those perspectives, right? We wouldnÕt just want one and then the other thing, we really did pay attention to the diversity in many ways. Some of the, you know, more senior friends, more masterful colleagues paired maybe with the more junior but up-and-coming rising star colleague so that we get them in the mix or making sure school setting people were you know, identified and participated. 

So, we really tried from a lot of different angles to diversify that and give a lot of people opportunities. 

[0:31:53.9] MD: Yes, and thatÕs hard. YouÕre all selecting topic chairs and then instilling that in the topic chairs but then for us to Š I mean, I am an extrovert. DonÕt get me wrong but I am secretly a closet introvert and so having to reach out, my social anxiety consumes me. Like, the narrative in my head is not always the friendliest but like trying to reach out and be like, ŅYou donÕt know me, however, you came highly recommended.Ó 

Click-click-click-click but having that leap of faith that this stranger and this totally different state is going to say, ŅYes, letÕs join. LetÕs bring that in.Ó Also, folks, the convention committee members donÕt just have to be SLPs and audiologists. Sometimes, we pull in subject matter experts like Dr. Michelle Therrien from FSU, who has been on the podcast and I geek out. Her Š you all, she did a podcast episode on AAC and play and making friends and I just think thatÕs so beautiful. 

SheÕs not an SLP but she is a subject matter expert and itÕs kind of like when ASHA Foundation gives out grants, not all of the grants are just for SLPs and audiologists, sometimes they pull in IPP partners. ThatÕs what makes our profession beautiful. So, there was some topics that was new and exciting, like I think this year they brought in counseling for the first time. So, that was like a new addition for 2024. 

But was there any topics that when you all Š because you all have done conventions for years, was there any topic that surprised you that it was a whole topic? 

[0:33:34.6] KF: Well, I think one opportunity that Jen and I had in 2022 because again, we were selected as topic or as convention co-chairs in 2021, we then had an opportunity to serve as topic chairs for the 2022 convention. So, we were co-chairs for health literacy and that was a topic that we retained for the 2023 convention, and that was one that you know, when we were initially asked, we were asked so that we had an opportunity to work together as co-chairs, you know, on that topic and they needed one SLP and one audiologist. 

And I didnÕt know much about health literacy and so, that has been a topic that I think is so important, and it may be one that over time, we see grow and shift as our acknowledgment of the need and the importance of health literacy grows. It may just be something that gets infused into other things. For right now, I think it is important to be a standalone topic because itÕs one that cuts across the broad disciplines of SLP and audiology, all of our sub-disciplines. 

It cuts across the lifespan and itÕs just so crucial for when weÕre thinking about how the patients and clients we serve consume the information that we provide them. You know, weÕre a jargony field, which is not unique to us but weÕve got a lot of jargon, a lot of acronyms, and just as a very simple example of ensuring that our patients can read their own reports, you know, not from a decoding point of view but from a, ŅOur we using language that is layperson friendly?Ó 

You know, is there some access to language that is clearly understood? You know, that is a very, very busy example but thatÕs a topic I think for me that it was new when I served as the topic chair and it was such a great learning experience and I was really proud of our ability to retain it and offer it again in 2023 and IÕm excited to see how it grows and evolves because I do think it will be one that in 10 or 20 years were like health literacy used to be its own thing because we didnÕt just infused it into everything, you know? 

The way that the research topic was at one point, you know? I just think IÕll be curious to see how it evolves. 

[0:35:40.2] JS: Yeah, and on the same note Kelly, I think IÕm right about this, correct me if IÕm wrong, you know IPE, IPP used to be its own topic too and I remember serving as a topic chair I think in LA on that one but now because it needs to be infused in everything, itÕs not its own topic anymore. So, like weÕll see thing evolve like Kelly said as we go. Like, weÕll think something is really great and new, and then everyone will just incorporate it. 

Evidence-based practice, for example, thatÕs not to be its own topic, right? That needs to be literally in everything, so. 

[0:36:12.8] MD: Yes, yes. When the term health literacy started trickling in into our field, that was about the same time I learned about academic literacy. Do you all know Dr. Michele Norman? SheÕs tiny but mighty, sheÕs like literally like, yay tall. She was one of my professors many, many moons ago and sheÕs taught all over Virginia and is now the SLP graduate studies coordinator at Francis Marion University baked involved with NBASLH. 

But she was talking to me about academic literacy and how first-gen students and BIPOC students may not know how to take full advantages of resources because they havenÕt been taught that and it made me fundamentally shift down to how I even write a syllabus, right? And IÕm incredibly grateful to her for that but I feel like with this health literacy component in conjunction with academic literacy, that kind of falls back on faculty to infuse that into all of our course work. 

ŅThis is what this could look like. Are we code-switching from technical to nontechnical?Ó And I donÕt know, just a neuron that I feel very passionate about that we have an opportunity to do something with. 

[0:37:28.0] KF: I agree, and I think IÕm also first-gen so I am sensitive to that as well as you know, when I think about some of the things I thought as an undergrad, like I didnÕt really know what being an undergraduate student meant, like the term undergraduate. IÕm like, ŅWhen do I become like an upper graduate?Ó Like, you know what I mean? Like, I did not know whatÕs the opposite of that, like is it when you become a junior? 

Is it freshmanÕs not more or undergrad, you know what I mean? I did not know those terms and what I see now in the undergrads that I do teach is the concept of office hours. So, I have office hours and I take time now to explain because I had a lot of students not know itÕs open office hours, meaning, my office door is open during these times, come anytime, and you donÕt have to tell me in advance and you donÕt have to tell me in advance and then tell me later why you didnÕt come. 

Come if you have questions, come any point in time and there might be multiple people here and you can all be here together. So, actually providing that exact description and thatÕs I think a really nice connection to the idea of health literacy and just remembering the things that we do in therapy to support our clients sometimes need to be applied a little bit more broadly with all the individuals we interact with just to make sure that weÕre communicating clearly and that people can understand our important messages, you know? 

[0:38:43.7] MD: Okay, to be honest, I did an associateÕs degree first because I am the oldest of five and we had no money for school and so, at Thomas Nelson Community College over in Hampton Yorktown, Virginia, and I will never forget we hit midterms of my first semester and I came home to my dad and I was like, ŅDadÓ because my little brothers and sisters, again, there was five of us, weÕre scheduling their parent-teacher conferences. 

I was like, ŅDad, when are you going to meet with my teachers?Ó He was like, ŅOh, baby girl.Ó Anyway, heÕs like, ŅYouÕre done. WeÕre done with that. If you screw up, youÕre on you now.Ó That was like Š 

[0:39:17.8] KF: Right. 

[0:39:18.5] MD: I didnÕt know, I naively assumed they were meeting with all of my siblings that you know, next week theyÕre going to meet with professor Billy Bob Joe, and you know? I mean, these are the things that you learn when you donÕt have academic or health literacy. 

[0:39:34.7] KF: Oh, that was terrible, yeah. 

[0:39:35.9] MD: Yeah. Oh God, I will never Š I was very crestfallen. Okay, so thank you for entertaining all of this, girls, letÕs get her back on track. Okay, so the next question that I have and this is something that you know, I see something on the Internet and it makes my heart sad and you all, I love my ASHA. I believe in my ASHA because I have volunteered and IÕve seen the good that it does. 

So, when I see people say, ŅOh, they want our money and they want our dues.Ó I give my monies and then I give extras of my monies. Sometimes, Mr. Dawson doesnÕt agree with that in our budget but like we do what we do, itÕs probably why I started color coding things but anywho, when I see posts, itÕs implying that weÕre not necessarily always vetting our topics, our conversations, our presentations that thereÕs bias in those. 

What gets approved, what doesnÕt get approved, and that couldnÕt be farther from the truth. There is so much work that goes into soliciting diverse featured speakers and so much work that goes into vetting those call for papers. Could you all talk about that process? 

[0:40:47.9] KF: If you want to say a little bit? 

[0:40:49.3] JS: Sure. I was going to say that it is a rigorous process with Š IÕll just share the details that every paper thatÕs submitted is reviewed by three people on whichever committee or a topic that it is submitted to and those are rated and then the topic chair would go through and figure out how many slots that particular topic has and how many can be accepted. So, of course, there are ones that are not accepted in every single topic area. 

And if there is any conflict of interest in any way, that topic chair is asked, encouraged, and actually told to send those on to Kelly and I as co-chairs, and that will happen next year with the next co-chairs. So, if it was your colleague, Michelle, or your friend from undergrad or something, you just get that off your plate and you send it to us for review so that we can avoid as much bias as possible. 

So, they really try hard and this wasnÕt Š Kelly and I, we didnÕt invent this. This is an ASHA process and policy that theyÕve had for years. 

[0:41:55.1] MD: Yeah. 

[0:41:55.0] KF: And I can give two examples of that in action, one of which, a paper that I was an author on in 2022 was rejected. If it doesnÕt meet the quality, it should have been rejected. So, itÕs you know, 2022 was a year that there were a higher percentage of rejection rates just because of the space that we had and also some shifts in the types of presentations that weÕre allowed and movement within those, which we can talk about later. 

But if itÕs not up to snuff, it should be rejected regardless of whoÕs the author. So, thatÕs one example and not to say that it should be specific to me but that is an example and another one is this year, we had several topic chairs who were authors of papers that were submitted to their own topic that they personally had to end up rejecting and they work with me and Jen to do so but they got rejected from their own topic. 

A topic that they were the chair of that they built a committee for, it didnÕt cut the mustard, right? It was not reviewed by their peers in a way that was supportive of something that should be presented at a national academic and scientific conference, academic and scientific and clinical conference. So, that happened. It happened enough that I hope it is very well known that this is Š it is a peer review process. It is not perfect but it is rigorous. 

[0:43:18.2] MD: Personally speaking, I submitted a call for papers to my topic and it was a panel discussion, right? In a professional panel discussion with some physicians in Boston, a dear colleague who is a pediatrician but when it ended up being a total of three SLPs and three physicians, we had to type everything up, disclosures, financial disclosures, nonfinancial disclosures, bios, everything, and submit it. 

And then because I am the topic chair, I had to recuse myself of it, send it to you all and the other committee members, and it had to be vetted to be approved to be on there. So, IÕm not allowed to vote on it myself but before it even gets to that vetting process, there is the actual computer program itself will kick out all call for papers if they do not have nonfinancial-financial in the bio and it doesnÕt even get to us as the topic chairs to then screen. 

And then we go through and screen to make sure that the paper got submitted to the right one because sometimes, it gets submitted to PFD but it was supposed to go to speech sounds or something like that. 

[0:44:30.5] JS: There is one other level, Kelly. Remember this, that itÕs coming back to now too. 

[0:44:34.8] KF: Oh, yeah. 

[0:44:35.0] JS: That we work on it this year but youÕre on it as training, like pre-co-chair on the SPEB board. Every single, every single paper that gets accepted by the committee and moves forward is vetted by SPEB. So, thousands of them go through there and look at every single thing and make sure that it would be appropriate for CEUs, and always, every year, thereÕs a handful that get flagged at that level after all the other work, and Kelly and I looked at everything that get rejected. So, thatÕs the last review standard and itÕs a pretty rigorous one. 

[0:45:14.9] KF: Yeah, so that two-layer process is really important. So, itÕs multilayer, right? Because like you said Michelle, thereÕs requirements just for it to be like kicked into the review system and so those Š if disclosures arenÕt completed, those are required. So, that gets kicked out of the thing and get sent to reviewers. Every proposal is also reviewed by three independent people, so itÕs possible for one of those reviewers to say, you know, to score it low. 

And the other two to score it higher and for it to end up being in the, you know, in a range thatÕs acceptable. The other thing that I wanted to mention too about the reason why something could be rejected, especially if people who are listening have been rejected from ASHA before is that sometimes itÕs not about not being up to snuff and not cutting the mustard. It actually, could possibly that that particular topic curated and invited panel on that topic already. 

And so, we have very limited, and Michelle, I know you feel this, very limited number of hours that we can offer for in-person continuing education time. So, not including posters and that each topic might only have six hours to work with. So, that can be, you know, six, maybe itÕs like four one-hour sessions and a one two-hour master class. That is not a lot of time and so if youÕve submitted a one-hour presentation that overlaps or is nearly identical to the Š an invited talk, it might get rejected simply because they only have four hours to offer. 

And theyÕre already using one of those for that exact topic and so thereÕs going to be a presentation on that topic at ASHA and so yours gets rejected not because itÕs not good but actually because itÕs identical to what they see is needed and so theyÕre going to make space for something else so that the presentations within that topic are more diverse. So sometimes, itÕs about that too that itÕs just redundant. 

And that should be seen as a compliment that youÕve presented, you know, youÕve submitted something that your topic chair that was so important they actually have an invited session on it but itÕs also very hard to then you know, get that rejection especially if you know, thereÕs a variety of reasons why someone would want to present at ASHA. So, itÕs always hard to get those rejections but thereÕs a lot of reasons for that. 

[0:47:25.1] MD: You know, whatÕs something that I was very appreciative of this year? There was a cap on how many presentations folks could get accepted for. Now, there was some rigamaroo because then it became, ŅWell, they submitted so many in this topic and then but they submitted over here and we didnÕt know about it.Ó But that was Š can you all speak to that? Because that was lovely. 

[0:47:44.7] KF: Yeah. So, I think one thing that we added that IÕve really like about that is to make sure weÕre not only hearing the same voice within a topic even if itÕs the leading voice in the topic. We need to hear like this was something that we really wanted to, you know, we modeled in how we chose our topic chairs. You guys as topic chairs then use that same approach in selecting your reviewers and then we ask the reviewers to consider the same thing in accepting proposals is that it canÕt be all the same voice within your topic. 

So, that needs to be variable in there. We also then wanted to acknowledge that there might be multiple voices coming from the similar research lab and so you know, IÕve got three doc students as an example, and so when I think about like each of the three of them could be doing something totally different and my name is on those proposals as their mentor but then thereÕs a way to then indicate, you know, that IÕm the mentor or IÕm the professor and so that my students arenÕt judged based on the fact that I am listed as an author. 

So, there is an allowance for that but yeah, we also tried to make sure that weÕre not just hearing the same voices within each topic and that can be challenging too but yeah, I think thatÕs an important thing to make sure we carry forward. 

[0:48:56.2] MD: Yeah. So, I am hoping that if youÕre listening, then this is giving you a little bit more understanding and a little bit more grace because sometimes, we can get frustrated just by the lack of not knowing and we make assumptions because assumptions are like Š I would say something but itÕs like you know, everybody should have an elbow, right? My dad may not necessarily say that T-rated version but there we are. He has a lot of good wisdom, for the most part. Okay, now Š 

[0:49:25.2] KF: You know, I think the other thing that I would just tag onto that, I do agree that it Š but I also want to say that like itÕs certainly not the case that these conversations even at the level of you know, IÕve been very actively involved as an ASHA member for Š since I was in NSSLHA as an undergrad. I think I was NSSLHA member starting in 2001. So, you know, IÕve been involved in ASHA in some way, very actively for a very long time and IÕve been in a lot of rows where a lot of these conversations take place and these are not easy conversations. 

And people who are actively involved get mad and think things need to change and people who are actively involved, you know, really advocate for certain things to change, evolve, and take place. Conversations on these committees can be really tumultuous and so, itÕs not the case that even within ASHA, people who are actively involved at ASHA are also working towards change, like we see what the profession needs and as a result of seeing that, weÕre taking action. 

[0:50:23.8] MD: Yes. 

[0:50:24.5] KF: And so I think thatÕs another important thing is the taking action part needs to be in the right venue. 

[0:50:30.0] MD: Yes, and every January, ASHA opens its call for volunteers. So, every January, thereÕs an opportunity to toss your name in the hat but remember, ASHA can act nationally. It is your state association that acts locally. So, join your state association and voice your concerns there too because they can Š itÕs like, ASHA just approved this CPT code for caregiver coaching at the national level. 

But then each individual state association is going to have to go back and enact that caregiver coaching in their state-level CMS manual and that typically because we just did this in South Carolina and even though IÕm in Virginia, IÕm still somehow, Kelly, I know youÕre listening Š other Kelly, sorry, I know the other Kelly is listening, they have to do a physical impact study to find out what is the potential financial impact at a state-level for adding this new additional CPT code and they have to tie a price point to it. 

Then it has to go to legislation and get approved and thereÕs all their steps before it can go into the CMS manual at the state. So, we have it nationally but itÕs that trickle-down effect, yeah, so.

[0:51:41.4] KF: ThatÕs great and itÕs going to Š the way that thatÕs implemented is going to be different in every state, which is just simply not something that ASHA can do much about. 

[0:51:49.8] MD: No. They had national-level lobbyists, it is your state association money that you paid your state association that then pays for your state association-level lobbyist, which some states donÕt even have because so few people have joined. 

[0:52:01.2] KF: Oh yeah, right. 

[0:52:03.4] MD: Yes. Oh, thatÕs a soapbox for a different hour. 

[0:52:06.6] KF: ItÕs a different podcast and IÕd be happy to be on that one. 

[0:52:10.5] MD: WeÕll have a panel, you and the other Kelly. 

[0:52:12.6] KF: Yes. 

[0:52:13.2] MD: Hip-hip-hooray. Okay, all right, scheduling, the chaos of the schedule because I got to win this at this time, and even though I have three monitors because my husbandÕs an engineer and his brain can handle three monitors, my eyes hurt. So, like what is the deal with the schedule? Enlighten, illuminate. 

[0:52:32.1] JS: I can start then Kelly will think of other things. So first, we just have to shout out, like Kelly said from the very beginning the ASHA staff on this, they are amazing, and they do kind of the basic schedule, right? They plop things in, weÕre talking about thousands of posters, presentations, technical sessions all happening within like, what? Two and a half days, two days. So, thereÕs only so many hours and then thousands of CEUs. 

So, and then you know, you have a massive convention center, the rooms, you can kind of see how many things are in the rooms, like 15 chairs or 500 chairs but you donÕt know what the room looks like. YouÕre just doing the best you can. So, they do the basic and then we come in and Kelly and I, as co-chairs, weÕre able to invite some people that we thought would care a lot about detail, and Michelle, you were one of them that we invited, to help us because you canÕt do this alone. 

Like, you cannot do this with just Kelly and I sitting, looking at spreadsheets. We need a lot of people with a lot of thoughts and what would happen is like, ŅOh, that might be a good time for that session.Ó But I think more than a hundred people are going to come. So, we need to move it to a room with 500 people and then you need to find a room with 500 people and decide, ŅWell, are 500 people really coming? Could they move to this other room?Ó 

So, itÕs really like a huge jigsaw puzzle that takes a lot of peopleÕs thoughts to go, and gosh, at the end of the day, of course, itÕs not perfect. Of course, thereÕs overflow in some. Of course, thereÕs some sessions that we thought would be popular and 10 people come. I mean, that is going to happen every year with this many sessions but again, I would say, I mean, without Š the ASHA staff is really fantastic. 

The ASHA convention team really makes this go forward with all the details. I mean, Kelly and I werenÕt doing this late at night. You know, we looked at it afterwards and helped solve problems but that wasnÕt what we were doing, it was ASHA. So, Kelly. 

[0:54:39.7] KF: Oh yeah, I donÕt have anything to add to that. I agree, it was Š just imagine like the most monstrous spreadsheet you can, thousands and thousands and thousands of sessions, and then looking at the details to see how many people do you think would attend that based on the title, you know? ItÕs intense. It was probably the most intense part of it. 

[0:54:55.9] MD: Yeah, and then making sure that we crossed reference because there was topics in like PFD but that same group would also want to go to the craniofacial or topics in adult dysphagia but those individuals might want to go to this head and neck cancer lymphedema talk and so, thereÕs that layer in but with the time we have remaining, Kelly, you want to kick us off, what was your favorite memory? 

[0:55:19.0] KF: Oh, okay. So, IÕve been thinking about this and itÕs very hard to choose and this is going to sound corny and Jen probably already knows what IÕm going to say, itÕs the song we wrote.

[0:55:28.7] MD: Yes, it was so good.

[0:55:31.2] KF: ItÕs so amazing and so if you guys werenÕt at ASHA or you werenÕt at the opening session and havenÕt seen it, we rewrote We DidnÕt Start the Fire, and made it all, you know, the Billy Joel song, and so cut in this fast-paced iteration all speech pathology and audiology jargon. ItÕs on all of ASHAÕs social medias and on ASHA streaming. So, Michelle, weÕll make sure you have the link so you can kind of tag it if people want to watch. 

But writing that was so much fun and then we flew to Nashville to record it and we recorded it all in one day, one very long rainy day, and with the most incredible team at Projection, who does all of the projection and editing and video work for ASHA and conventions across the country and then seeing our colleagues reaction to it at the opening session, I hope to never-ever-ever forget that thing. It was my favorite part by far. 

[0:56:24.8] MD: You all, it was IÕve never attended an opening session before. IÕve just never had the opportunity, like flights or something would happen so it was profound but Jen, what is yours? 

[0:56:35.1] JS: You know, I mean, itÕs the same because it really was so special and you know I think we got a little sticker, Kelly might got the same one as a gift. It says, ŅWith no risk, no magic.Ó And I put it outside my office door and I really felt like that summed it up that we felt really, really risky doing it. I mean, Kelly and I are not singers. Like, we heard each other in the recording studio and itÕs not great. 

[0:57:01.4] KF: Oh, God. 

[0:57:01.9] JS: You know, we needed a lot of help and I mean, we picked that song on purpose because it is a little more staccato and talking than singing and itÕs just fun but you know, we kept that, I guess, behind the scenes is we kept that under wraps and secret from everyone. The only people who knew was a couple of people on ASHA staff and the projection team. Our colleagues didnÕt know, the CEO of ASHA didnÕt know, the board of directors. 

[0:57:27.7] KF: The ASHA president didnÕt know, none of them knew anything about it.

[0:57:31.0] JS: And even when we were rehearsing, there were some students in there studying stuff up and Kelly and I, I think I might have been a little hard on them but, ŅYou can stay in there if you put your phones away and you promise like I donÕt want to make you sign something, do not leak this because itÕs too good.Ó And then I know weÕre running out of time but I will agree with Kelly. 

You know, we went backstage after introducing ourselves and we said the song is going to happen and we stood back there with Joe from production, and gosh, Kelly and I, I remember that feeling Kelly, just like, I canÕt tell like are they going to like it and then the first time the whole crowd kind of erupted in laughter. You know, that when we first started singing, I was like, ŅOkay, this is going to be okay.Ó 

[0:58:14.6] KF: Yes, it was really Š it felt so magical. It was just so cool. 

[0:58:19.6] MD: It was. 

[0:58:20.4] JS: Just so out of, like we said, out of our comfort zone and out of our usual skillset. So, it felt risky but IÕm so proud of it now, so. 

[0:58:30.3] KF: Oh yeah, so proud. It was amazing. 

[0:58:32.1] MD: Well, I have to thank you both for your leadership, for your time, and for being so giving. So, with a whole heart, on behalf of everybody out there, thank you all for being you.

[0:58:43.4] JS: This was lovely, Michelle, thank you. 

[END OF INTERVIEW]

[0:58:45.5] ANNOUNCER: Thank you for joining us for todayÕs course. To complete the course, you must log into your account and complete the quiz and the survey. If you have indicated that you are part of the ASHA Registry and entered both your ASHA number and a complete mailing address in your account profile, prior to course completion, we will submit earned CEUs to ASHA.

Please allow one to two months from the completion date for your CEUS to reflect on ASHA transcript. Please note that if this information is missing, we cannot submit to ASHA on your behalf. Thanks again for joining us, we hope to see you next time.

[0:59:25.8] MD: Feeding Matters guide system-wide changes by uniting caregivers, professionals, and community partners under the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Alliance. So, what is this Alliance? The Alliance is an open-access collaborative community focused on achieving strategic goals within three focused areas, education, advocacy, and research. 

So, who is the Alliance? ItÕs you, the Alliance is open to any person passionate about improving care for children with a pediatric feeding disorder. To date, 187 professionals, caregivers, and partners have joined the Alliance. You can join today by visiting the Feeding Matters website at www.feedingmatters.org. Click on PFD Alliance tab and sign up today. Change is possible when we work together. 

[OUTRO]

[1:00:18.5] MD: ThatÕs a wrap, folks. Once again, thank you for listening to First Bite, Fed, Fun, and Functional. I am your humble but yet sassy host, Michelle Dawson, the all things PEDs SLP. This podcast is part of a course offered for continuing education through SpeechTherapyPD.com. Please, check out the website if youÕd like to learn more about CEU opportunities for this episode as well as the ones that are achieved, and as always, remember, feed your mind, feed your soul, be kind, and feed those babies. 

[END] 
FBP 273		Transcript

	© 2024 First Bite Podcast	1