Foundations of Pediatric Dysphagia: Prenatal Development to Postnatal Physiology

Prenatal and childhood development truly is a wild, miraculous, sometimes unpredictable process.

Especially when it comes to feeding and swallowing development.

And that’s where you, the med SLP, can come swooping in with your specialized knowledge, therapy techniques, and support when things go awry.

Dr. Katlyn McGrattan, PhD, CCC-SLP, lives, eats, and breathes the world of pediatric feeding and swallowing (seriously, as a hobby, she and her husband are developing a medical device to better diagnose infant feeding goals).

And we’re BEYOND excited to invite you to take a journey through Katlyn’s 6-hour comprehensive course that will help set you up for success in the pediatric dysphagia world:

Foundations of Pediatric Dysphagia: Prenatal Development to Postnatal Physiology

“This course is designed to take the learner from start to finish on what healthy, non-dysphagic infants do when they eat, from prenatal feeding development to postnatal function. We’ll talk about the basics of sucking, swallowing, respiratory physiology, and systemic health. It will encompass the entire picture of what someone needs to know for pediatric feeding and swallowing.”

-Katlyn McGrattan, PhD, CCC-SLP

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Typical healthy prenatal and postnatal development that encompasses the entire body system
• Deficits in system developments and how it impacts feeding and swallowing
• Bottle feeding physiology

Here’s how your medical SLP practice will transform:

• Improve the accuracy of identifying impairments by determining which clinical and instrumental findings are within normal limits.
• Independently determine how different comorbid conditions may influence infant feeding by understanding how infant respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurologic systems work.
• Classify infants' dysphagia risk based on their prenatal history.

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How is this course different from other courses?

“What I find particularly unique and appealing about this course is that each topic area that is discussed integrates all available?evidence from the literature,?with a focus on presenting things that are?clinically applicable. This makes it so while the course is perfect for a beginning clinician without any pediatric dysphagia experience, it is equally perfect for a practicing clinician who has been in the field for years as?it will take learners on a deep dive into?studies and results they have likely never seen before.

This is specifically looking at typically-developed infants and normal physiology…the goal of this course is to provide a comprehensive blueprint from start to finish.”

-Dr. McGrattan

Part of the reason Katlyn has put so much passion and effort into creating this course is because of her early memories of being a new clinician in a field without dedicated comprehensive pediatric dysphagia coursework (does that feel familiar?)

She had learned about pediatric feeding disorders and hallmark signs of?problematic?swallowing behaviors but didn’t fully understand what “normal” was.

“I found myself really feeling inadequate…especially when parents would come in and talk about their concerns. These parents knew more about what was going on with feeding than I did – I didn’t have any children of my own to reference it to.?This course is to help clinicians not have that feeling.?The goal is to provide them with a comprehensive blueprint of what to expect in normal infants from start to finish.”

Why we’re honored to have Katlyn teach this course:

Katlyn is an SLP, professor, and clinical researcher with expertise in neonatal aerodigestive physiology, dysphagia, and medically fragile infants (just saying that out loud gives us goosebumps). She earned her PhD in Health & Rehabilitation Science in 2014 under Dr. Bonnie Martin-Harris and has been making waves ever since.

Because of her passion and expertise in these areas, she has been working on developing some?really cool and revolutionary?tools, including non-invasive diagnostic technologies designed to improve and personalize dysphagia care for infants born prematurely (like a bottle with pressurized sensors to measure suck-swallow patterns ?? )

The first thing she told us when we asked her to talk about herself was, “I love being a nerd! Doing research – I feel lucky to get paid to do something that I find as a hobby.” ←?She’s in the right spot!

Aside from all of the research and game-changing tech development to move our field forward, Katlyn enjoys rock climbing, paddle boarding, swimming in the ocean, skiing, and staying active with her two children.

“I’m not good at sitting still,” Katlyn told us.?Probably the most accurate self-assessment we’ve ever heard ???

Are you ready to truly understand the ins and outs of feeding and swallowing development?

Click here to Register Now