Barbara Coven-Ellis

Barbara Coven-Ellis, MA, CCC-SLP, is a medical SLP who works in both outpatient pediatrics and adult acute care, in rural Washington State. Fabulous fact, Barbara started out as a professional performer; both singing and acting onstage, recording commercials, training films, voice-overs, and holding small parts in films – whatever would pay the bills and fill her artistic cup. She came to the field of speech pathology in a very roundabout manner by way of an interest in linguistics and atypical speech and language development. So, when it came time to find another life after acting, “Speech” just seemed to fit. As it turns out, all that work on respiratory support, articulation, understanding the body/communication link, having neurodivergent family members, and being unafraid of being a complete goofball, made pediatric speech therapy a perfect fit for her. Her exposure to PFD was through the back door, by falling in love with adult dysphagia! And then, having pediatric patients placed on her caseload with a variety of feeding issues for which she had no training, which resulted in a headlong deep dive into pediatric feeding and swallowing Con Ed that has resulted in 9 ASHA ACE awards in the 9 years that she has been an SLP. All of these life experiences culminated in authoring her book, “Tyler Takes a Taste: A Boy and His Family's Journey Through "Picky Eating" and Feeding Disorders!”, a joyful read along for little ones with PFD, which is available on Amazon.