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“People tend to forget how important swallowing is to their lives,” says speech therapist Adeline R. Schultz, MEd, CCC-SLP/L. “It’s something you do without thinking, that is, until you lose the ability to do so.

“Can you imagine how much social isolation you would face if you could not swallow?  Picture yourself not being able to go to a restaurant, not being able to sit down with your family and eat, not even being able to go out for a cup of coffee,” explains Adeline, a speech pathologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia.

Addy Schultz has been a champion for swallowing disorders (dysphagia) to be included in the field of speech therapy since she began working in 1967.  Originally, the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) was hesitant to include swallowing as a part of speech therapy.  Addy believes that speech therapists are best able to help those with swallowing problems because specific knowledge of the body is needed for both speech and swallowing therapies.  Those with swallowing problems include patients recovering from head and neck surgery, stroke, head trauma, brain tumors and progressive neurological problems such as Parkinson’s disease and ALS.         

She noted that back in the 1970s, there were no adult swallowing therapy programs in Philadelphia, and facilitated the creation of such programs at Moss Rehabilitation Hospital and Jefferson University Hospital.  She was chairperson and a founder of the Pennsylvania Speech, Language and Hearing Association’s Committee on Dysphagia, which helped develop the special interest division for swallowing therapy within ASHA. This division is currently the largest in the association.

Recently, Addy received board recognition from ASHA as a specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders. Those qualifying for this honor had to meet certain requirements, including clinical experience, education and mentorship, leadership and scholarship skills.  They had to complete at least 10 years of work with patients with swallowing problems after getting their certification of clinical competency, as well as complete at least 75 hours of continuing education in swallowing, over the past two years

Addy has been working in speech pathology at Jefferson for more than 30 years.  She is currently an Advanced Clinician II, where she sees language, speech, voice and swallowing outpatients full-time.  Until a year ago she was also seeing acute care patients at Jefferson University Hospital. She previously served as the head of Speech and Language Pathology in Jefferson’s Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, a position she held for 25 years.

Besides helping patients with swallowing problems, Addy is also involved in volunteering as a pastoral care counselor to patients at Jefferson.  She continues this training through the Clinical Pastoral Care Program for Healthcare Professionals offered by Jefferson’s Pastoral Care Department. In this role, she helps patients and their families deal with difficult emotional and spiritual situations.

Addy received her bachelor of arts in speech pathology from Douglass College of Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1966 and a master’s degree in speech pathology from Pennsylvania State University in 1967. She resides in Haddonfield, N.J.