Credentialed Dietetics Practitioners with Disabilities Get the Job Done

"An involving, multivoiced look into the lives of disabled diet specialists." - Kirkus Reviews

"Enlightening resource advocating for people with disabilities in the dietitian field." - BookLife Reviews

"...insightful healthcare guide to broadening professional understandings of what competence looks like." - Foreword Reviews

"...compelling call to build a profession where accessibility is the norm." - The Prairies Book Review

"...inspiring roadmap and proof that dietetics is a viable profession for individuals with disabilities." - BlueInk Review

"...practical and thoughtful volume that speaks to educators, students, employers, and colleagues..." - BookView Review

Recommended by three past presidents of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, several disability leaders, and numerous dietetics practitioners.

What does it take to build a career as a credentialed dietetics practitioner in a world that wasn't designed for disabilities?

Credentialed Dietetics Practitioners with Disabilities Get the Job Done is a pioneering collection of true stories from 15 credentialed dietetics practitioners with disabilities. Their stories challenge stereotypes and show that disability can be a source of insight, adaptation, and professional strength.

Dietetics practitioners are food and nutrition experts who help people eat better, reduce disease risk, manage health conditions, and thrive. They work in healthcare, education, research, food service, government programs, private practice, and more. Yet despite serving a diverse population, the profession remains mainly female, white, and nondisabled. Approximately 2% of credentialed dietetics practitioners have a disability, compared with 29% of U.S. adults.

The contributors, who represent a wide range of disabilities, share their journeys through higher education, supervised practice, national credentialing examinations, employment, accommodations, disability disclosure, and disability culture related to food.

Their stories offer practical guidance to overcome barriers and show how disabilities can deepen empathy, strengthen patient care, and enrich the profession of dietetics.

Eight educational chapters cover topics such as:

• • The dietetics profession and pathways into it
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
  • The Disabilities in Nutrition and Dietetics Member Interest Group
  • Disability resources, statistics, vocational rehabilitation agencies, and Centers for Independent Living

An essential resource for individuals with disabilities exploring healthcare careers; dietetics students and educators; career counselors and disability professionals; employers; healthcare practitioners; and families.

This book fills a long-overlooked gap in dietetics literature. It offers readers with and without disabilities new perspectives.

Ideal for academic, healthcare, and public libraries. Supports coursework, mentoring, diversity initiatives, and professional development.

All royalties support initiatives that advance disability inclusion in the dietetics workforce.

Hardcover, paperback, eBook, and audiobook.

Suzanne ("Suzi") Domel Baxter, PhD, RD, LD, FADA, FAND earned a BS degree in dietetics from Texas Christian University and a MS degree and a PhD degree (both in nutrition) from Texas Woman's University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia. She has worked as a dietitian in a residential school for children with disabilities, in a hospital clinic for adults, in school food service, and for the Women, Infants, and Children Program. Most of her career was in nutrition research. She acquired a mobility disability in 2010 which caused her to resign her Research Professor position late in 2016. She has presented widely on nutrition and authored many peer-reviewed publications including several on disability. She is now a disability advocate. She co-founded the Disabilities in Nutrition and Dietetics Member Interest Group within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This group launched on June 1, 2023, with her as the Inaugural Chair. She was recognized as the "Outstanding Dietitian of the Year" in 2012 by the South Carolina Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She received the "Monsen Award for Outstanding Research Literature" in 2017 from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She was recognized as one of "Today's Dietitian's Annual Showcase of Ten Dietitians Who are Making a Difference" in 2025. Her illustrated children's book titled "When I Grow Up, I Can Be a Dietitian!" was published in 2024.

Cheryl Iny Harris, MPH, RD is a private practice dietitian based in Virginia who specializes in digestive disorders. She was recognized as one of the top nutritionists in the DC metro area by the Washingtonian and was selected as the "Emerging Dietetics Leader of the Year" for Virginia. She has presented widely on nutrition and authored several peer-reviewed publications on Ehlers Danlos syndrome, POTS, Mast Cell Diseases and on living with disabilities.