Introducing Meg Lico!
Meg has worked as a Speech Language Pathologist since graduating from Columbia University with a Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders. While earning her degree, Meg developed a specialized interest in working with the cleft palate and craniofacial population.
Before working as a SLP, Meg volunteered with a nonprofit organization in Abuja, Nigeria, for Speech Therapy Training. “I met so many incredible families advocating for their children born with cleft lip/cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies to receive surgeries and subsequent speech therapy. The families and patients deeply inspired me, and I realized that this meant so much more than me or my career trajectory. I wanted to be a voice for those born with cleft and craniofacial conditions to help them feel confident to go out in the world and become whatever they want to be, without speech or feeding challenges complicating that ability.”
Meg also does important work behind the scenes to ensure that her patients with cleft or other craniofacial conditions feel accepted. Meg said, “It is easy in the medical field to talk about what does “not” work, but there are so many patients with incredible abilities and talents that go ignored when others think only about the deficits. For example, I had a patient who was an incredible TikTok star, and we worked on practicing his speech through his videos so that he could feel even more confident doing something he already loves and possessed talent in doing. We all have our difficulties, including myself, but it is our strengths and our continuous work on ourselves that makes us special.”
We love learning from healthcare professionals and appreciate all the great work people like Meg do for the cleft and craniofacial communities!
