First Bite #68 – October 01, 2019
Peds Dysphagia Includes the Esophagus
(.1 ASHA and AOTA CEUs) For more info, click here.
Course Description
In this episode, Michelle is joined the newly relocated Erin Forward, MSP CCC-SLP, to shed some light on the far too often ignored Esophageal Stage of the swallow! Did you know that the Esophageal Stage of the swallow is the fourth stage of swallowing? Or that numerous issues or etiologies arising in this area, often present in the oral stage of swallowing as “pocketing” or “behavioral aversions”? Also, did you know that the best practice for instrumental swallow exams includes scanning the esophagus during a Modified Barium Swallow Study? Stay tuned for an overdue episode on the unfortunately underrated esophagus!
Objective
By the end of this PodCourse, participants will be able to identify and describe:
- The role of esophagus in swallowing.
- Best practice for Modified Barium Swallow Studies as pertains to the Esophageal Stage of the Swallow.
- 3 common etiologies that can impact the esophageal stage of the swallow.
Co-Presenter

Erin Forward, MSP CF-SLP
Erin currently resides in Greenville, SC but grew up in Rochester, NY where her family still resides. Erin attended the University of Pittsburgh for her Undergraduate degrees in Communication Science and Disorders and Psychology, and completed her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology at the University of South Carolina. She has worked in a variety of settings including early-intervention/home-health, NICU in a children’s hospital, and an outpatient feeding clinic. Erin currently works for a non-profit outpatient speech clinic, where she specializes in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders.
Erin is the Co-Host of the wildly acclaimed PodCourse/PodCast “First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional a Speech Therapy”, sponsored by Speechtherapypd.com. Erin is passionate about engaging in interprofessional practice for her patients and advocating for attainment of functional independence for patients and their families, all done with a little bit of fun and joy. She believes that if you tell a child they can do something, they can do it, which is what makes working with children so rewarding, as they inspire her every day.