Autumn, it means the second phase of your swallowing process isn’t up to snuff. It’s a serious symptom of several serious diseases, including ALS.
Swallowing comes in three phases: Oral (mouth), Pharyngeal (middle) and Esophageal (throat).
From Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle:
Dysphagia means difficulty swallowing and includes any disturbance in the transfer of food or liquid from the mouth to the stomach. Abnormalities may involve the oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal stage of the swallowing sequence. Diseases and disorders that affect a person's ability to swallow are numerous, including stroke, neurodegenerative diseases (ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease), certain advanced cancers, traumatic injury, connective tissue disease (scleroderma), specific disorders of the esophagus (GERD, strictures, rings). Patients with dysphagia can suffer weight loss, dehydration, malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia if food or liquid enters the lungs.