Episode 6: Stroke and Dysphagia Understanding Dysphagia

Guest: Sarah Breshears, MA, CCC-SLP: Today we continue our special series in collaboration with the Dysphagia Outreach Project in honor of Dysphagia Awareness Month, this time to speak about strokes with Sarah Breshears. This amazing woman is an SLP in her sixth year of practice working in an acute hospital setting, is the creative powerhouse behind Short and Sweet Speech, and on top of it all, she is the Instagram Manager for Dysphagia Outreach Project. She leads a team of five women who work to create content that is engaging, informative, and reaches those who would benefit from
DOP’s mission. We kick things with the moment of divine intervention that set Sarah off on her
track to becoming an SLP before chatting about how she got involved with DOP. From there, we
wind our way into the heavy topic of strokes, beginning with what happens to the brain when
somebody has one, the effects it can have on their life, and how to recognize early symptoms.
We also get into how strokes can result in dysphagia, and then move onto best practices for
intervention and recovery, where we highlight the necessity of PT and OT. Our conversation
covers the importance of instrumental assessment for dysphagia and the dangers of
recommending the chin tuck swallow wholesale as well. Before wrapping up, Sarah gives us all
her top tips for lowering the risk factors for strokes, so be sure to listen along with us today and
learn all that Sarah has to share.