Chew on this – Dysphagia 101

If you were shocked when I wrote that SLPs help people with their swallowing, you aren’t alone! When I started graduate school, I had no idea that this fell within the realm of speech pathology. So, you’re in good company!

Dysphagia is a very official and fancy term for “swallowing disorder.” The disorder can occur as a result of something going on in the mouth (oral cavity) or in the throat (pharyngeal cavity). It can also occur as a result of something going on in the stomach, but we leave that to the GI doctors (I know nothing about stomachs). Either way, food and liquids are not making their way properly to the stomach. Sometimes it escapes out of the mouth and other times, it escapes into the lungs.

Kindergarten readiness – Early warning signs

Do you remember kindergarten? I do! I went for a half of a day. My classroom had a paraprofessional and a teacher. I can vividly remember learning how to make my letters, participating in calendar activities, and playing outside. Milk came in a bag! What a world!

Kindergarten of today is NOT kindergarten of the late 80s and early 90s. Scholastic published this great article describing how kindergarten has evolved since the turn of the century.

Speech-language pathologist? So…what do you do?

For the past few weeks, I’ve been waffling on what topic to write my first blog post. I had lots of ideas (some forthcoming, don’t worry!). However, the other night, as we were getting ready for bed, I was talking to my husband about something speech-related. Somewhere in the conversation, I asked, “Do you know what I do…?”

He replied, “Yes, of course I do. You help kids speak better.”

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