TIMS University Webinar

All Things AIRWAY - from the SLP’s perspective

June 16, 2025 at 8:00PM EST | 0.1 ASHA CEUS / 1 PDH

Course Instructor

Sara Davis, MA, CCC-SLP

Sara is a medical speech and voice pathologist who specializes in working with patients who have voice, upper airway, and/or swallowing disorders including those with oral/head/neck cancer. She also is the SLP co-lead of the Valley of the Sun Dysphonia International support group, and she began a local chapter of SPOHNC (Support for People with Oral Head and Neck Cancer) in the North Phoenix area through AOC Physicians. Sara has presented research at local and national conferences and has given lectures and presentations at universities, fire departments, fitness studios, schools, The Weather Channel, Dysphonia International, head and neck cancer support groups and to other medical professionals. She is also the founder of VOXFIT®, a medical speech pathology and voice consulting service striving to educate, coach, and inspire occupational voice users and transform their voices and lives. In addition to her work with speech pathology, she’s also very involved with the fitness and sports media industries and lectors at her church. Sara strives every day to make a positive impact on the lives of her patients and share with them her strong passion for a positive mindset, evidence-based medicine, and self-awareness.

Disclosures

Sara Davis is a speech/voice pathologist at Arizona Otolaryngology Consultants (AOC) and also the founder of VOXFIT®. She has no non-financial disclosures.

Course Information

Description

This course provides a foundational overview of airway-related diagnoses and their management strategies from the perspective of the speech-language pathologists. Participants will gain insights into identifying and distinguishing conditions such as ILO (Inducible Laryngeal Obstruction), EILO (Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction), and BPD (Breathing Pattern Disorder), among others. The session will cover both therapeutic and surgical approaches to treatment, emphasizing scenarios where surgical intervention is essential for optimizing airway function and patient outcomes. Practical applications of endoscopy-related findings in treatment planning and decision-making will be explored, with a focus on the benefits of biofeedback for enhancing patient compliance and understanding.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Define ILO, EILO, and BPD and describe ways to discern between these airway-related diagnoses.

  2. Describe appropriate treatment-related management of applicable airway-related diagnoses.

  3. Describe scenarios where surgical (vs therapeutic) treatment is necessary to ensure optimal airway-related function and outcomes.

  4. Apply endoscopy-related findings to treatment planning and decision-making, including the benefit of biofeedback use for improving patient carryover and understanding.

Agenda

8:00 - 8:04 Introduction including disclosures and objectives

8:04 - 8:30 Airway Conditions: ILO, EILO, BPD, subglottic stenosis, glottic stenosis (posterior or anterior), sarcoidosis, mucous membrane pemphigoid, lower airway obstructions, asthma, irritable larynx syndrome/laryngeal hypersensitivity/cough, and posterior glottic insufficiency/PGI (also called PIPI, post-intubation phonatory insufficiency)

8:30 - 8:50 Treatment methods for aforementioned diagnoses (therapeutic and surgical)

8:50 - 8:54 Benefits of endoscopy-related biofeedback and real-life application in general (trigger exposure, practice of exercise/sports, etc.)

8:54 - 9:00 Q&A

Satisfactory Course Completion Requirements

To successfully complete the course, participants must attend the entire live event and submit the post-course survey.