George Barnes MS CCC SLP

George Barnes MS CCC SLP Med SLP specialist in MBSS, trach/vent, and aspiration pneumonia management. Mobile FEES provider. Making Swallowing Simpler

📍Greater NYC 🍎

We often have to make the hard call to recommend a pureed diet for our patients’ safety. But then we watch a patient sta...
06/23/2026

We often have to make the hard call to recommend a pureed diet for our patients’ safety.

But then we watch a patient stare sadly at a plate of bland, unidentifiable gray mush.

Does that qualify as a goal being met?

Meals aren’t just food...

They are moments of connection and joy that our patients are often forced to sacrifice.

But modifying a texture doesn’t HAVE to mean modifying flavor.

How can we offer modified consistencies that are both safe and genuinely delicious?

Comment “SLP” for access to this week’s article and learn more.

Have something you’d like to learn about. Comment below.
06/18/2026

Have something you’d like to learn about. Comment below.

What would you like to learn about next? 👇
06/17/2026

What would you like to learn about next? 👇

What would you like to learn about next?
06/17/2026

What would you like to learn about next?

We love being medical speech-language pathologists, but the constant pushback and ignorance from our medical colleagues ...
06/16/2026

We love being medical speech-language pathologists, but the constant pushback and ignorance from our medical colleagues is a recipe for severe burnout.

You deserve to have your clinical expertise well understood and well respected.

That’s why I created Be The Change, a new course open for 6 months, which includes access to an exclusive group where I provide direct support and answer your questions.

Why? Because I know you need more than a talking head and a slide deck to make a difference in your practice. Do you remember anything from that course you took just a few months ago? Me either.

Enroll and learn with me today (Link in bio).

It is terrible to watch an older adult struggle to eat, speak, or sleep... All because of dry mouth. We naturally expect...
06/11/2026

It is terrible to watch an older adult struggle to eat, speak, or sleep... All because of dry mouth.

We naturally expect their daily prescribed medications to improve their lives.

But the truth is, over 500 commonly used medications can trigger severe dry mouth.

If medications are strong enough to heal, they are strong enough to harm.

Imagine waking up with your tongue literally glued to the roof of your mouth, or trying to eat a snack only to have it turn into a thick, dust-like plug that puts you at a severe risk of choking.

As SLPs, we have a toolbox to combat hyposalivation—from 1% malic acid sprays to salivary pacemakers.

Many of these tools surprised me while I was researching this week’s article... Maybe they’ll surprise you too.

Comment “SLP” for direct access.

Want to improve your patient’s dry mouth immediately? Not everyone wants to take medications to treat a condition often ...
06/10/2026

Want to improve your patient’s dry mouth immediately?

Not everyone wants to take medications to treat a condition often caused by medications.

Natural remedies are surprisingly effective, like using an electric toothbrush, sugar-free lemon sorbet, and even chewing gum.

When a patient is suffering from severe xerostomia, it can feel like nothing works.

But treating dry mouth requires thinking outside the box.

Your patients deserve targeted, individualized relief so they can regain their speech and swallowing.

Here is your plan to help them:
1. Comment “SLP” to read this week’s article.
2. Find an intervention that works best for your patient.
3. Talk to your team to see if it’s the right fit.

Help them enjoy their meals again!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve grown pretty frustrated with the way things are in our field.Doctors have no idea wha...
06/09/2026

If you’re anything like me, you’ve grown pretty frustrated with the way things are in our field.

Doctors have no idea what you actually do.

The instrumental study your patient absolutely needs gets ignored.

Your colleagues are stuck in the 90s, pushing back against up-to-date interventions...

Leaving you questioning your value on the interdisciplinary team.

We think that if we just hand our colleagues a journal article, they will change their minds.

But people rarely change their behavior based on data alone. If you want your team to actually listen to you, you have to speak their language.

That is exactly why I created Be The Change. As a Board-Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders with experience driving change in almost every adult clinical setting, I designed this course as a blueprint to help you make an impact in your facility.

What You’ll Learn:

🔬 How to Use Research: Quickly find and appraise the literature to defend your recommendations and improve care.

🧠 Make an Impact: Master the psychological strategies required to change clinical behavior in your facility.

📈 Communicate Your Value: Translate what you do into the metrics that administrators and physicians actually care about.

When you know how to leverage research and use the psychology of change, you can actually get your team eager to collaborate with you.

It’s not rocket science, but it is science.

Be the change your patients need: Head to the link in my bio to enroll in Be The Change today.

Would you let your 88-year-old patient eat chocolate cake, even if she knew she might die?When a palliative patient’s di...
06/04/2026

Would you let your 88-year-old patient eat chocolate cake, even if she knew she might die?

When a palliative patient’s diet is advanced to solid foods, and they begin to cough, it causes severe emotional distress for everyone involved.

Every fiber of our training tells us to intervene, stop the meal, and keep the patient safe.

Watching them choke feels unethical.

What does beneficence mean at these times?

For an elderly patient who prioritizes quality over longevity, “beneficence” might mean respecting her autonomy to eat chocolate cake...

Even if it scares the living daylights out of everyone around her.

Comment “SLP” and find out how this case was managed, and learn some tips for managing similar cases.

Thank you to Amanda Warren, MS, CCC-SLP, and Mary K. Buss, MD, MPH, for allowing me to write about their patient and their inspirational article, “Death by Chocolate.” The link can be found in this week’s article.

What did and didn’t YOU know? Share with a friend.
06/03/2026

What did and didn’t YOU know? Share with a friend.

Address

96 Parkway
Rochelle Park, NJ
07662

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when George Barnes MS CCC SLP posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category