First Bite #144 – April 13, 2021
Connecting the Dots between PFD and Neurogenic Conditions
(.1 ASHA and AOTA CEUs) For more info, click here.
Course Description
In this episode, Michelle is joined by her podcasting co-host extraordinaire Erin, Forward MSP CCC-SLP, CLC. Have you ever noticed a trend on your pediatric feeding disorder caseload in which you see a couple of patients with similar GI complaints or similar cardiopulmonary complaints, but there is an unknown etiology? Then, somebody somewhere gets the little ones to a geneticist or a neurologist, and all of a sudden a major diagnosis comes into play, and all the bits and pieces fall into alignment? It’s like the world makes sense and now you have an improved trajectory for a plan of care because you finally have a diagnosis that makes sense! Well if you haven’t, then give it time, because that day will come. Michelle and Erin spend this hour reviewing the technical details of what a pediatric feeding disorder is, various types of neurogenic conditions that you may commonly encounter, and how all those bits and pieces connect together, and your role in all of it. Come join Michelle and Erin for a topic they are incredibly passionate about!
Objective
By the end of this PodCourse, participants will be able to identify and describe:
- What a Pediatric Feeding Disorder is and what a neurogenic condition is, while offering examples of each.
- How a neurogenic condition can trigger a GI condition that can result in a pediatric feeding disorder.
- How a neurogenic condition can trigger a cardiopulmonary condition that can result in a pediatric feeding disorder.
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.