I am ecstatic to share that I did it. It became offical May 15, 2022. It’s Dr. Alisha Delgado SLP.D., CCC-SLP. I have finished my third and final degree from The University of Kansas Medical Center. To say I’m grateful to have been able to find a way to go back to school after 18 years of clinical practice is an understatement.
Diving back into the research with access to publications and literature in specialized populations was so exciting. I had the opportunity to teach graduate students and participate in a national leadership program. I continued to do guest lectures and lecture at a national/international conference. These experiences amplified my commitment to ensuring families and professionals have access to the knowledge needed for feeding our little ones.
My journey pediatric feeding and swallowing, which started 15 years ago as a NICU mom, continues to motivate my heart and passion for teaching. My hope is that every parent has access to highly skilled feeding therapists when needed. This hope requires that early interventionsits have the training in the most current practice-based and evidence-based information available.
In our graduate training, higher-education programs are tasked with instructing the life-span. This feat has made it difficult for programs to provide dedicate pediatric feeding courses and clinical experiences. The great disservice is that as our premature population grows the need for highly trained feeding SLPs grows as well. But where are those highly trained and skilled therapists? Our numbers are small especially in non-urban areas. The majority of therpaists have to seek continuing educaiton post-graduate training which is very expensive for therapist to self-fund.
How do we create change and train more early interventionist? I highly encourage birth-3 directors to consider training their entire staff versus just sending one or two therapists. It elevates the peer coaching quickly given the shared language and knowledge of pediatric feeding and swallowing foundations.
It is a unique way of considering educating early intervention staff but one I have seen proven to elevate services to families at a more rapid pace. Financially, it is smart to bring training to the full program versus create knowledge keepers amongst staff at a high travel cost as well.
More food for thought to come….
