Get Fluent!

In Swallowing Physiology

Get Fluent! is a VIRTUAL educational series led by Dr. Ianessa Humbert that helps clinicians integrate swallowing physiology into evaluation and treatment.

Who is Get Fluent for?

Anyone serious about learning!

  • You want to understand the WHY, not just eye-ball the impairment

  • You want to justify your clinical decisions

  • You want to be challenged when you learn

  • You want to remember what you learn

  • You want to be fluent in swallowing physiology

  • You want to help your patients return to eating and drinking!

Got Questions? Email support@stepcommunity.com

NEW Get Fluent 2026 Webinars
Click the individual session links to register.
Topics currently include:

  • Secretion Management
    June 18, 2026 | 7-8 PM EST
    Free Live Virtual Webinar (FREE for Dysphagia Awareness Month)
    Host: Dr. Ianessa Humbert

    0.1 ASHA CEUs

    A free, live 1-hour webinar exploring the critical yet often under-recognized role of secretion management in dysphagia care. While swallowing rehabilitation traditionally focuses on the safe intake of food and liquids, patients must manage their saliva and mucus continuously: before the bolus, between the bites, and beyond the meal.

    This session will highlight the multisystem nature of secretion management and its direct impact on airway protection, pulmonary health, and overall patient outcomes. Participants will gain clinical insights into identifying secretion-related impairments and learn practical strategies to enhance assessment and intervention within their scope of practice.

    Recordings will be available (FREE) on Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP).


  • GULP Fiction: Get Fluent in the Language of Swallowing
    July 15, 2026 | 7-8PM EST

    Free Live Virtual Webinar
    Host: Dr. Ianessa Humbert

    0.1 ASHA CEUs

    Sponsors: Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP), Swallowing Wellness, and National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders (NFOSD)

    Join Dr. Humbert for an eye-opening and provocative session unpacking four persistent swallowing myths pulled from SLP-led discussions in the Get Fluent Series on physiology, assessment, and treatment.

    Through engaging patient cases, you’ll learn to move beyond well-meaning assumptions and get fluent in identifying the physiologic impairments that actually drive clinical decision-making.

    Recordings will be available (FREE) on STEP and NFOSD websites.


  • ARFID, Choking, and Phobias Oh My ! : Understanding Fear Based Food Refusal in Children and Adults
    August 12, 2026 | 6:30-8:30 PM EST ($39)

    Live Virtual Webinar
    Hosts: Dr. Ianessa Humbert & Emma Justice

    0.2 ASHA CEUs

    Fear-based food refusal is often misunderstood as behavioral defiance or picky eating. This course explores the clinical presentation of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), choking anxiety, and food related phobias like phagophobia in both pediatric and adult populations.

    Participants will learn to differentiate anxiety-driven avoidance from physiological  or skill-based deficits, identify key red flags, and  strategies for assessment and intervention.

    Your purchase includes lifetime access to recordings.


  • Everything in the Mouth: From Pacifiers to Palates - Oral Function Across the Lifespan
    September 9, 2026 | 6:30-8:30 PM EST ($39)

    Live Virtual Webinar
    Hosts: Dr. Ianessa Humbert & Emma Justice

    0.2 ASHA CEUs

    Explore oral-motor development across the lifespan, with a focus on how early structural and functional differences influence feeding and swallowing outcomes over time. This course examines tongue-tie, tongue thrust, high palatal arches, and oral habits beginning in infancy with breastfeeding and bottle feeding, transitioning to solids, and extending into adolescence and adulthood.

    Particular attention will be given to how untreated oral dysfunction may contribute to persistent oral-phase inefficiencies and later pharyngeal swallowing challenges, including reduced base of tongue retraction or choking in adults. Participants will gain insight into the long-term functional implications of early oral-motor patterns and the importance of early identification and intervention.

    Your purchase includes lifetime access to recordings.


  • Caregiver Counseling and Family Support: Navigating Feeding Challenges from Infancy to Adulthood
    October 7, 2026 | 6:30-8:30 PM EST ($39)

    Live Virtual Webinar
    Hosts: Dr. Ianessa Humbert & Emma Justice

    0.2 ASHA CEUs

    Feeding and swallowing challenges impact not only the patient but the entire family system. This course explores practical strategies to support caregivers across the continuum of care from parents navigating complex infant feeding difficulties to spouses supporting loved ones with conditions such as head and neck cancer. Participants will learn to recognize caregiver stress and burnout, provide clear and compassionate education, and implement counseling approaches that build confidence, resilience, and trust while maintaining realistic expectations during feeding and swallowing intervention.

On-Demand Get Fluent topics currently include:

    • This virtual course on swallowing assessment explores intermediate-to-advanced topics in comprehensive swallowing evaluations. Using real clinical cases, Dr. Humbert explains:

      • How to differentiate normal and disordered swallow physiology

      • The best use of the clinical swallow evaluation, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, and modified barium swallow studies

      • How to plan treatments that incorporate eating and drinking as the main target for swallowing rehabilitation.

      • Documentation foundations and template

      • Cost: $39 USD. Recordings are included in registration cost.

      • Register for the course HERE.

      • Looking for CEUS? They are not offered for this course, but you can count them toward your Professional Development Hours (PDH). Learn more here about PDH.

    • The goal of this course is to reframe the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) swallowing therapy toolbox. Using real clinical cases, Dr. Humbert will emphasize:

      • Restoring swallowing function over compensation

      • Personalized eating plans - how and why food and drink are the best therapy tools for swallowing rehabilitation

      • Secretion management, feeding tubes, oral care, and working with dietitians, ENTs, GIs and caregivers

      • Medication swallowing training (solid, crushed, or liquid?)

      • Remote therapeutic monitoring

      • Clinician competence and confidence in transforming traditional therapy from centering the healthcare setting to centering the patient.

      • Documentation foundations and template

      • Cost: $39 USD. Recordings are included in registration cost.

      • Register for the course HERE.

      • Looking for CEUS? They are not offered for this course, but you can count them toward your Professional Development Hours (PDH). Learn more here about PDH.

Dr. Humbert, Ph.D., SLP is a world renowned scientist, speaker, professor, advocate, business owner, and expert in the area of swallowing disorders. More importantly, Dr. Humbert has dedicated her 25 years of experience in swallowing disorders to restoring humanity in healthcare and emphasizing courageous common sense when training clinicians to serve their patients. Prior to founding Swallowing Wellness, her clinical research in swallowing physiology included positions at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and the University of Florida. Dr. Humbert is a gifted and influential speaker, with both national and international gravitas. She co-founded Swallowing Training and Education Portal (STEP), which offers high-quality, low cost online training to clinicians, with over 40,000 course enrollments - and counting! Dr. Humbert also co-hosted two popular podcasts: Down the Hatch and Evidence and Argument.