Yvonne McClaren’s Story: Finding Joy, Confidence, and Connection Again
The latest episode of our Simply Modified Dysphagia Bite series welcomes someone whose story will stay with you long after the video ends. Yvonne McClaren is an author, chef, and advocate who has lived through the profound challenges of dysphagia after treatment for head and neck cancer.
Yvonne’s diagnosis of tonsil cancer in 2018 changed her life overnight. What followed was a long, difficult road, surgery, radiotherapy, and fifteen months with a PEG feeding tube. At one point, she was told she might never swallow again. But if you’ve met Yvonne, you’ll know that “never” isn’t part of her vocabulary.
Instead, she found her own way back. Not just to food, but to the experience of eating, the taste, the textures, the social connection. And she did it largely on her own, without the depth of ongoing support that should have been there. That experience of silence, of gaps in care, of trying to put the pieces together when you leave the hospital has become her fuel.
“I didn’t want dysphagia to define me. I wanted my life back, and food was a big part of that.”
In our conversation, Yvonne talks about the reality of food texture modification. Not the sterile, clinical version, but what it actually feels like to live it, in your kitchen, at a family gathering, on the Camino in Spain with nothing but a backpack and Google Translate. She reminds us that dysphagia isn’t just about nutrition; it’s about identity, confidence, and belonging.
One of the most powerful threads that runs through Yvonne’s story is her concept of commensality, the idea of eating together, sharing a meal, being part of something bigger than yourself. Dysphagia often isolates people, pulling them away from the table and the people they love. Yvonne’s work is about building bridges back to that table.
Today, she’s channeling her lived experience into resources that blend the practical with the emotional. Her programs and writing explore everything from how clinicians can better communicate with patients, to how caregivers can support confidence, to how individuals can find new joy in cooking and eating again. She’s become, in her own words, “a specialist trainer meets advocate meets curriculum developer.”
What struck me most in this episode is Yvonne’s honesty. She doesn’t sugarcoat the fear, the frustration, or the grief. But she also doesn’t leave you there. Instead, she offers a way forward, rooted in creativity, resilience, and a fierce belief that everyone deserves to eat well, whatever that looks like for them.
This episode is more than an interview. It’s a reminder that dysphagia care is about more than swallowing assessments and modified diets. It’s about people, their stories, their values, their connection to food and to each other.
Yvonne’s story is one of rebuilding, redefining, and reclaiming life on her own terms. And for anyone navigating dysphagia, whether you’re a clinician, a caregiver, or living it yourself, her words are an anchor of hope.
Watch the full episode of the Simply Modified Dysphagia Bite Ep. 3 with Yvonne McClaren via the link below.
Written by Brie Simons
Speech Pathologist
NETWORK SPEECH PATHOLOGY
Yvonne’s evolving hub of resources can be found via:
And do yourselves a favour by following along with her Substack writers page “GAG eating life”, a weekly newsletter about resilience, reinvention, and reclaiming life after challenges:
Purchase a copy of Simply Modified.
Written by Speech Pathologist Brie Simons. Including over 50 delicious recipes, with instructions to simply modify meals, making them easy to chew, soft and bite sized, minced and moist, or pureed.
It’s time to fall in love with food all over again…
