Erin McManus Connock Joins SLI as Clinical Educator

Erin McManus Connock brings more than 10 years of experience to the Speech-Language Institute (SLI) of Salus University as a new clinical educator. McManus Connock is a specialist in diagnosing and treating feeding and swallowing disorders in both children and adults.

McManus Connock earned her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Maryland and her master’s degree from The George Washington University, both in Speech-Language Pathology. Prior to joining SLI, Connock worked as a speech-language pathologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Acute Care where she evaluated and treated children with feeding, swallowing, speech and language issues. There, she, along with a multidisciplinary team of professionals, also published the paper “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Support Developmentally Appropriate Care of Infants Born with Complex Congenital Heart Disease,” which detailed best practices in developmental care for infants in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. McManus Connock also worked at New York University Langone Medical Center in the Swallowing Disorders Center and at New York Methodist Hospital, following several years in Early Intervention.

McManus Connock had a calling to pursue a medical career from an early age as her grandfather was a pediatrician. During her schooling, she decided to pursue this interest more in-depth.

“I was always interested in working in a hospital setting or working with kids,” she said. “I worked in a school for children with special needs when I was in high school, and I got to shadow the speech-language pathologist there. I was always interested in the speech, language and feeding aspects of development, so I naturally gravitated toward a career in speech-language pathology.”

Throughout her career, McManus Connock has assisted hundreds of patients, but still feels the reward of knowing she’s made a difference in a child and a family’s life.

“Seeing progress, helping patients and their families and really being able to see change is so fulfilling,” she said. “You know that you’re truly helping a child learn how to communicate or eat more safely.”

One particular patient comes to mind when she reflects upon all the cases she’s handled. At CHOP, she was assigned to work with a four-year-old girl who was diagnosed with cancer.

“Through her admittance – which was nearly a year-long – I got to see her fight,” she said. “Her family was so loving and supportive. There were struggles during her hospitalization, but I was able to help her eat and drink more safely, improve her speech and language, and advocate for her during the course of her care. The most standout moment was being able to walk her out of the hospital with her father when she was discharged. Thankfully, she’s been doing wonderfully and is cancer free.”

McManus Connock looks forward to further cultivating her teaching skills as she oversees students in SLI during client sessions.  

“I was really inspired when I heard about the ideas and practices Bob (Serianni, SLI director) wanted to instill in the clinic,” she said. “The staff here is just wonderful. Everyone is very supportive of the students and each other. The students are eager to learn, asking excellent questions and taking in feedback. It’s great to be a part of their learning experience.”