“I don’t want to be too dramatic, but the NPO is almost like a death sentence … I really think that it should be the last recourse and not the beginning”. This one of many sincere opinions from an individual who has been living with a significant swallowing disorder. In this episode of Down the Hatch, the swallowing podcast, co-hosts Alicia Vose and Ianessa Humbert have a conversation with Jim, who suffered a brainstem stroke, leading to dysphagia. His very candid experience is the heart of why service delivery by Speech Language Pathologists to manage dysphagia does not just potentially impact life, but also LIVELIHOOD. Click to see a clip of this patients swallow: https://youtu.be/OpFjLLDbS-c