Colon, Lori Caplan

Lori is a NJ state licensed, ASHA certified Speech-language pathologist with over 18 years of clinical experience. She obtained her BS in Speech Pathology/Audiology from Ithaca College, NY. She earned her Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professionals.

She traveled throughout New Jersey attending to her clients’ and their family’s needs at the onset of her practice. She began a private, home practice as her family grew. Having outgrown her home, the first professional office space opened in a historic bank, Vault 491, in downtown Montclair, 2015. A second, fully staffed Caldwell office followed three years later. Clients include individuals of all ages and ability levels.

Lori is committed to ongoing development and proficiency in the skills of both her staff as well as herself. She has extensive background in areas of oral motor and feeding dysfunction. She is trained to use PROMPT (Prompts for restructuring oral/muscular Phonetic Targets.) She is trained through Level 3 in Talk Tools and is proficient in SOS; The Sequential Oral Sensory Feeding Approach. Lori Caplan-Colon enjoys success working in the area of tethered oral tissues and in working with picky eaters. She is a two-time ACE (Award for Continuing Education) Award recipient. She has completed a yearlong program at New York Medical College, achieving an advanced degree in Pediatric Dysphagia.

This fall she will embark on a new journey in IAOM, which is the tract to Orofacial Myology Certification. The international association of orofacial myology defines orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDS) as atypical, adaptive patterns that emerge in the absence of normalized patterns within the orofacial complex. The regular presence of these adaptive movements can often result in a variety of disturbances.” OMD’s can include feeding challenges including atypical chewing and swallowing patterns, non-nutritive oral habits (thumb-sucking, pacifier-sucking, nail biting, tongue sucking), atypical oral resting postures and mouth breathing (open mouth posture). SLP’s with advanced training in OMDs can treat these disorders.

Lori has reviewed product proposals for Plural publishing. She completed the one year certification program in Applied Behavioral Analysis at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. She is currently working towards completion of her 2,000 hours to sit for the board exam to achieve her board certified behavioral analyst(BCBA) credential.

Lori is enjoying using the principles of applied behavior analysis in addition to her strong foundation in pediatric feeding disorders. She is also currently completing her coursework to achieve her certification in lactation consulting (CLC) The Certified Lactation Counselor® (CLC) certification is the premier National Certification in Lactation Management in the United States. LCTC and CLC exam certification holders have demonstrated competence in the lactation skills, knowledge and attitudes that are essential to helping women and have agreed to comply with The Academy of Lactation Policy and Practice code of ethics. CLC certification means that a person has received training and competency verification in breastfeeding and human lactation support, including assessing the latching and feeding process, providing corrective interventions, counseling mothers, understanding and applying knowledge of milk production including in special circumstances and other commonly encountered situations (centerforbreastfeeding.org)

Lori Caplan Colon is a TalkTools® Level 3 OPT™ Specialist.