Dakota Speech and Swallow Center

08/18/2026

Yet another reason the SLP+dental professional relationship is vital!

🎉 Big news for swallowing disorder research! 🫁 🦷

A major new grant at the University of Wisconsin–Madison will investigate how oral health and aspiration work together to influence pneumonia risk—an important area of research impacting people living with dysphagia.

Research like this helps us better understand the connection between swallowing, aspiration, oral health, and respiratory health—and could ultimately lead to better prevention and care.

We’re excited to see this important work moving forward! 👏

🔗 Read more: https://emed.wisc.edu/news/new-grant-will-examine-synergy-of-oral-health-and-aspiration-in-pneumonia-risk/

08/17/2026

Growth isn’t a seasonal thing for us—it’s a constant! 💡✨

Our team put in the work this past month, completing fresh training sessions, sharpening their skills, and bringing new expertise to the table. We’re deeply committed to continuous learning, staying ahead of industry standards, and delivering the top-tier service you deserve.

New skills, same passionate crew. Huge shoutout to everyone for their dedication! 🙌

08/11/2026

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KONI!

Join us in wishing her a wonderful year ahead filled with health, happiness, and well-deserved celebration! 🎂✨

07/24/2026

🙌 We are so proud to be the only clinic in the region to currently offer mobile FEES. As SLPs who have experience in skilled nursing facilities and hospitals, we saw the tremendous need in our community for this service. Some patients were having to wait months to find out what was wrong with their swallow. If you or a loved one have ever had swallowing difficulties, you know how much swallowing impacts your quality of life.
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𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙁𝙀𝙀𝙎? FEES stands for Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing, and it is an instrumental swallow evaluation for dysphagia (swallowing disorder) completed by a specially trained speech-language pathologist (SLP). ⁣
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FEES is completed by passing a flexible nasopharyngoscope along the floor of the patient’s nasal passage into the pharynx or throat, allowing a view of the patient’s pharynx and larynx from above. Following observation of pharyngeal and laryngeal anatomy, the patient is given various items to eat and drink, colored green with food coloring to evaluate swallow function, safest diet level, and level of aspiration.⁣
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FEES can also be used to analyze muscle function, assess voicing, and view structural abnormalities.

07/23/2026

Today, Madi finished her externship with us. We absolutely loved having her on our team the past two months. Her compassion is so genuine and she was always eager to learn. Madi went above and beyond for so many patients. (We also loved having her Gen Z tech skills around here.😉) We are thrilled that Madi will stay in the area - the community is so lucky to have her! Madi, we wish you the best! You are a gift to our field and we can't wait to see all that you do! 💙

07/22/2026

As we grow, our digital home should too. 🌱

We’re excited to share our updated website! It celebrates where we’ve been, showcases our team and impact, and serves as the launchpad for everything on the horizon.

We’re actively developing new programs and services, and this space will grow right along with us. Check back often to be the first to find out as we roll out new additions!

🔗 Head to http://www.dakotaspeechandswallowcenter.com to check it out!

07/18/2026

This team❤️

(📸: Angela Pierson Photography)

07/16/2026

To have had the honor of learning from Dr. Strand will forever be one of the highlights of my career💙 - Maggie

A common question from parents is: “Why are we only working on a few words?”

In DTTC and other motor-based approaches for childhood apraxia of speech, the words we practice are carefully selected, not because those specific words are the most important words a child will ever say, but because they contain movement patterns we want the child to learn and strengthen.
Think of target words as practice opportunities for the speech motor system.

As motor plans become more stable and efficient, children can begin using those movement patterns in new words and new situations.

When therapy focuses on a small set of targets, we're not limiting language growth. Instead, we're building a foundation that supports clearer, more consistent speech across many words over time.
The goal isn't to teach every word.

The goal is to teach the speech system how to learn new words more successfully.
Drop us a comment below to share how you have been most effective in helping parents understand why we practice a small set of target words!

07/14/2026

📣Fresh off the press!📣

One of our very own SLPs was part of this research study published in the latest American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology!

Maggie Klapperich, M.S. CCC-SLP, was one of four SLPs to be selected for this study. Two were in Australia and two were in the United States.

This opportunity gave Maggie the chance to deepen her knowledge of Dynamic Temporal and Tactile Cueing (DTTC) from some of the world's leading researchers in the field.

Our clinic was founded on a passion to providing evidence-based, high quality speech therapy to those in our community, after watching so many drive out of state for evaluations and therapy. This opportunity reminded us of how far we have come with that dream.⭐️

Thank you to our two participants and their families who were so dedicated to this study. Thank you to Dr. Iuzzini-Siegel, Dr. Thomas, Dr. Murray, and Dr. Velleman and their teams for their extensive knowledge - to learn from them is a dream! Thank you to the Once Upon a Time Foundation for your generosity and passion for Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

07/10/2026

Part of our team went to the opening night of Flutter Productions "The Little Prince"! It was absolutely incredible! ⭐️ We were in awe ⭐️ So much exceptional talent! Thank you to all who poured countless hours into this production!💙