Brainstorms: Functional Neurorehab for SLPs

Brain injury affects more than the individual.

Guest: Julie A. Fechter, MS, CCC-SLP

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In this episode of Brainstorms: Functional Neurorehab for SLPs, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, welcomes Julie A. Fechter, MS, CCC-SLP, to share her family’s experience navigating life after brain injury and the challenges of advocating for a loved one. Through her family’s experience, Julie highlights the challenges of understanding a loved one’s injury, navigating healthcare systems, communicating with providers, and ensuring that the person behind the diagnosis is seen and heard. The episode emphasizes the importance of recognizing subtle changes in communication and cognition, listening to families, and building meaningful partnerships among clinicians, patients, and caregivers.

About the Guest: Julie A. Fechter, MS, CCC-SLP, is an adult medical SLP with 15 years of experience across nearly every setting imaginable. Specializing in Parkinson’s in her home health clinical practice, Julie was recently diagnosed with Sjogren's disease. She participated in a clinical trial, which deepened her understanding of what it's like to be a patient. Julie has spoken at state speech conventions in California and Louisiana, as well as for the APDA NW.

Surviving a brain tumor is only one part of the story.

Guest: Ana Hernandez, MS, CCC-SLP

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In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Ana Hernandez, MS, CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist and brain tumor survivor, to share Ana’s lived experience of recovery and rebuilding life after treatment.

Ana shares how recovery has affected communication, cognition, energy, relationships, identity, and participation in everyday life. Together, Renee and Ana discuss challenges that may be less visible to others, including cognitive fatigue, communication changes, adjusting to a new normal, and learning to advocate for the support you need.

About the Guest: Ana Hernandez, MS, CCC-SLP, founder of Adult Stuttering Services, focuses on stuttering care that prioritizes quality and dignity. A survivor of brain surgery, her clinical perspectives are shaped by her own recovery journey. This deep dive into neurodivergence has significantly shaped her clinical perspective.

Difficulty swallowing pills may point to a broader concern involving swallowing or functional communication.

Guest: Katie Decker, MA, CCC-SLP

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In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Katie Decker, MA, CCC-SLP, to discuss pill dysphagia, an often-overlooked challenge that can affect medication adherence, safety, and overall health.

Renee and Katie examine the factors that can make swallowing medication difficult, including pill size, shape, and texture, as well as swallowing physiology, cognition, and underlying neurologic conditions.

About the Guest: Katie Decker, MA, CCC-SLP, is a Clinical Specialist with PatCom Medical, where she focuses on providing clinicians nationwide with access to state-of-the-art swallowing and voice diagnostic equipment to enhance their practice and patient care. She has previously worked in a variety of medical settings, including owning and operating a Mobile FEES business in Iowa.

Communication disorders can have far-reaching consequences in healthcare.

Guest: Hilary Sample, MA, CCC-SLP

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In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Hilary Sample, MA, CCC-SLP, to examine how conditions such as aphasia, dysarthria, apraxia of speech, and cognitive-communication disorders can create barriers to receiving high-quality medical care. Together, they discuss why effective communication is critical to healthcare and what clinicians across settings need to know.

About the Guest: Hilary Sample, MA, CCC-SLP, is a medical speech-language pathologist and co-founder of MedConcerns. Drawing on her experience in acute care and inpatient rehabilitation, she partnered with a physician to develop practical tools that help healthcare teams communicate more effectively with patients who have aphasia and other communication disorders.

Show Notes:

Hilary Contact: @medconcerns @hilarysampleslp

MedConcerns: https://medconcerns.com/

References:

• Kagan et al. (2024). Journal of Communication Disorders, 107, 106390
• Bartlett, Blais, Tamblyn, Clermont & MacGibbon (2008). CMAJ, 178(12), 1555–1562
• Hurtig, Alper & Berkowitz (2018). Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 3(12), 99–112
• Freeman-Sanderson, Morris & Elkins (2019). Australian Critical Care, 32(5), 373–377Shand, Foster, Baker & O'Halloran (2024). International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
• Simmons-Mackie et al. (2010, 2016) systematic reviews on communication partner training (CPT)

Clarification:

Bartlett et al. (2008) found that among patients who experienced preventable adverse events, 46% of those with communication problems experienced multiple events, compared with 20% of those without communication problems.

Developing expertise in voice disorders takes more than what is learned in graduate school.

Guest: Moriah Douglas, MS, CCC-SLP

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Developing expertise in voice disorders takes more than what is learned in graduate school. In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Moriah Douglas, MS, CCC-SLP, to discuss how mentorship, clinical experience, and lifelong learning help speech-language pathologists build confidence in the assessment and treatment of voice disorders.

About the Guest: Moriah Douglas, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist specializing in acute and outpatient medical rehabilitation. She earned her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in 2024 after completing undergraduate degrees in Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of South Alabama and Athletic Training at the University of West Florida.

How can we incorporate brain health into everyday clinical practice?

Guest: Jennifer Ruckner, MS, CCC-SLP

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Brainstorms podcast host Renee Garrett, MSED, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Jennifer Ruckner, MS, CCC-SLP, for a practical discussion on how speech-language pathologists can incorporate brain health into everyday clinical practice. Together, they break down the neuroscience behind neuroplasticity, cognitive reserve, and lifestyle factors that influence brain function, while exploring what brain health really means across the continuum of care.

About the Guest: Jennifer Ruckner, MS, CCC-SLP, is a seasoned speech-language pathologist with over three decades of experience across Early Intervention, school districts, and private practice. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master’s degrees in Communication Disorders from Auburn University and has practiced since 1990. Jennifer specializes in Social/Pragmatic Language, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Expressive Language Disorder, and Feeding Disorders.

Show Notes and Resources:

• First Things First (Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board): This state-funded organization explicitly publishes these exact percentage benchmarks in their The First Five Years and general Brain Development guides to emphasize the importance of early childhood. [1, 2, 3]
• The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: Harvard's research on early brain architecture and "serve-and-return" interactions serves as the scientific foundation for these milestones. They document that the brain's physical volume and synaptic pathways undergo their most rapid, critical expansion during this 0-to-5 window. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• National Institutes of Health (NIH): Public health studies track these figures based on physical brain weight and volume growth, explaining how a newborn's brain starts at about 25% of adult size, doubles in the first year, and hits the 90% mark around age 5. [1, 2]

Health-literate communication is essential to effective speech-language pathology practice.

Guest: Richard Zraick, PhD, CCC-SLP, CHSE

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In this episode of Brainstorms, Richard Zraick, PhD, CCC-SLP, CHSE, joins host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, to discuss practical, evidence-informed strategies for making clinical communication clearer, more accessible, and more actionable. Together, they examine common barriers to patient understanding and share practical ways to organize information, reduce cognitive load, use plain language without sacrificing clinical accuracy, incorporate teach-back into everyday practice, and create patient education that better supports individuals with communication disorders, cognitive impairments, and varying literacy levels.

About the Guest: Richard Zraick, PhD, CCC-SLP, CHSE, is Professor and formerly the Founding Director of the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Central Florida. He is a Fellow of the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association. He is also a Certified Health Simulation Educator. He completed his Psychology B.A. (’84) and Speech and Hearing Science M.A. (’87) at the University of Arizona, followed by a Ph.D. from Arizona State University (’98).

Show Notes:

Examining Patient-Provider Language and Interactions in Healthcare (EXPLAIN) Lab

Why Do Intent, Intensity, and Neuroplasticity Matter?

Guest: Laura Langer, MS, CCC-SLP

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In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Laura Langer, MS, CCC-SLP, to examine the evidence behind the SPEAK OUT! program and why intentional speech production plays such an important role in treating individuals with Parkinson's disease. Together, they discuss the research supporting SPEAK OUT!, the principles of motor learning and neuroplasticity that guide the program, and how repetition, intensity, and salience work together to create meaningful improvements in communication.

About the Guest: Laura Langer, M.S., CCC-SLP, serves as the Chief Clinical & Research Officer at Parkinson Voice Project, where she is committed to advancing evidence-based care for individuals with Parkinson's disease. She has an extensive background in medical speech-language pathology and clinical education, with a strong focus on neurologic communication and swallowing disorders.

Guest: Valerie James Abbott

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In this episode of Brainstorms, host Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, welcomes Valerie James Abbott, parent-advocate and national leader in hearing health awareness, for an important discussion about late-onset hearing loss. Because many children with late-onset hearing loss pass their newborn hearing screening, later-developing hearing changes can be easily missed. Valerie shares both her personal experience as the parent of a child with late-onset hearing loss and her work advocating for improved hearing screening, family support, and better outcomes for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

About the Guest: Valerie James Abbott is the parent of a child with late-onset hearing loss. As a parent-advocate and leader, she worked for the Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, supporting families of children recently diagnosed with hearing loss. She served as the first parent ever elected chair of the Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Advisory Committee, and she led the nonprofit Hands & Voices' return to Virginia.

Follow Valerie IG: valerie.james.abbott

What happens when the clinician suddenly becomes the patient?

Guest: Laura Morgan, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIST

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In this episode of Brainstorms: Functional Rehab for SLPs, Renee Garrett, MSEd, CCC-SLP, CBIS, is joined by Laura Morgan, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIST, for a deeply personal conversation about Laura’s experience navigating life after brain injury while also carrying the insight and perspective of a rehabilitation professional.

About the Guest: In 2012, after Laura Morgan earned her master’s in Speech-language Pathology, she started her clinical fellowship in Frederick, Maryland. Halfway through the fellowship, Laura was a buckled passenger in a serious motor vehicle accident. She sustained a moderate-to-severe brain injury in the accident, but as a result of the long rehab process, she gained a unique perspective on head injury in the field of Speech Pathology. Laura Morgan IG: 📍 SLP_TBI

Show Notes:

Contact Laura Morgan IG: 📍 SLP_TBI