American Speech-Language & Hearing Association (ASHA) in Boston, MA

Karen spoke at the 2018 national convention of the American Speech-Language & Hearing Association (ASHA) in Boston, MA with Theresa Richard, MA, CCC-SLP, BCS-S from SwallowYourPride podcast. They advocated to revolutionize the old concept that the videofluoroscopic swallow study/VFSS (aka, modified barium swallow study) is the only gold standard for dysphagia evaluations. It is NOT a dichotomy between the two exams of the VFSS versus the FEES/Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing. You choose the exam that best fits your clinical questions and hypotheses. You choose the exam that is best for the person with dysphagia. Karen coined the new term of a “Platinum Standard of Personalized Medicine for Dysphagia.” This means that you are using a personalized medicine approach for your comprehensive dysphagia evaluations, targeting treatment to the individual’s needs. Read more on personalized medicine and precision medicine in Karen’s blog.