First Bite #160 – August 24, 2021
A Functional Pediatric “How-To-Guide” for Collaborating Between an OTR/L and SLP!
(.1 ASHA and AOTA CEUs) For more info, click here.
Course Description
In this episode, Michelle is joined by her First Bite cohost Erin Froward, MSP CCC-SLP, CLC, and her colleague Karen McWaters, MOT, OTR/L. Erin and Karen, spend the hour discussing case studies for optimal interprofessional collaboration for evaluation and treatment of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Erin and Karen first define their respective profession’s scope of practices, discuss how to engage in a healthy overlap for optimal patient outcomes, and conclude with tips on how the positive collaboration has yielded patient growth and therapeutic joy. If you are looking for a functional how-to guide to collaborate with your OT counterpart for improved patient care, then this is the hour for you!
Objective
By the end of this PodCourse, participants will be able to identify and describe:
- The scope of practice of speech-language pathologists and scope of practice of occupational therapists was pertains to treating children with autism spectrum disorders.
- 3 strategies to promote interdisciplinary collaboration with patients between OT and SLP.
- Positive case study outcomes as a result of interdisciplinary collaboration between an OT and SLP.
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.
Co-Presenter
