Respectful Healthy Boundaries in Early Intervention

First Bite #153 – June 22, 2021

Respectful Healthy Boundaries in Early Intervention

(.1 ASHA and AOTA CEUs) For more info, click here.

Course Description

In this episode, Michelle is joined Natasha McNeill, MCD, CCC-SLP, pediatric speech-language pathologist from the Piedmont area of South Carolina. Natasha, who is also a home health adventuring pediatric feeding disorder advocate and educator, spends this hour discussing a tricky topic…how to establish and maintain healthy and respectful boundaries within the world of early intervention. If you have ever questioned where the roles and responsibilities of the early interventionist/service coordinator begin and end, how to educate caregivers regarding the differences between their valued role on the IFSP Team and the licensed scope of practice of that of a speech-language pathologist, then y’all this is the hour for you! Join Michelle and Natasha as they dive into the legal and ethical framework…especially regarding the care for your little ones with a pediatric feeding disorder and/or dysphagia!

Objective

By the end of this PodCourse, participants will be able to identify and describe:

The role of the Early Interventionist/Service Coordinator in Early Intervention Programs and why this matters to Speech-Language Pathologists.
The role of the Early Interventionist/Service Coordinator in language development and feeding/swallowing.
Strategies for Speech-Language Pathologists to support our Early Intervention/Service Coordinator counterparts to respect scope of practice and to encourage collaboration vs. competition.

Co-Presenter

Natasha McNeill, MCD CCC-SLP

Natasha McNeill, MCD, CCC-SLP is a pediatric speech-language pathologist of 5 years in the Piedmont of South Carolina. She is a traveling home health based clinician providing treatment and education to families of children with feeding and/or swallowing difficulties as well as early language deficits. She graduated from Winthrop University in May 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in General Communication Disorders and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Special Education. Upon graduation from Winthrop, she went to teach special education in Mecklenburg County, NC for almost 3 years before becoming a pediatric speech language pathologist assistant in October 2015 in the private practice setting. She graduated with her Master of Communication Disorders from the University of South Carolina in August 2017 and received her Certification of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in August 2018.

Natasha and her husband welcomed their first child, a sweet little baby girl, in January of 2020 and have a sweet fur baby named Sperry. Natasha spends a large portion of her working time advocating for her patients and their families. In her personal time, she enjoys learning all the things that she doesn’t know about every aspect of the field of Speech Language Pathology, she currently holds 3 ASHA ACE awards with a majority of hours focused in Early Intervention, Pediatric Feeding/Swallowing and Early Language Development. She enjoys spending time with her family and practicing her skills on her own child who continues to discover the beauty of language and snacks. Natasha would like to share that she is in no way an “expert” or “specialist” in any area of the profession, but she is passionate about sharing her knowledge with others so that patients and their families will reap the benefits of Interprofessional Practice.