Radiant Moments Pediatric Therapy | Speech Therapy Durham

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Farm Buddies was created to provide a fun, welcoming, judgment-free, and neurodiversity-affirming space for children and their families to build a community while being themselves.

The group is facilitated by Caitlin Burke and Meghan Rich of Radiant Moments, Lucas Harris of Lucas Learning Lab and Stef Logue of Simply OT. Our team of educators and therapists (“Farmers”) adapts each class to meet the needs and interests of all group participants.

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The farm environment provides a natural space full of sensory-rich opportunities. Children can be found climbing hay bales, filling water jugs, creating mud pits, and more! Children also learn how to interact safely with different animals, such as horses, sheep, pigs, bunnies, ducks, and chickens.

Farm Buddies places an emphasis on caregiver education and community. During each class, caregivers are invited to join one Farmer to discuss various topics, such as communication strategies, advocating for your child, regulation tools and strategies, friendships, and more! Families are sent weekly emails detailing Farmer observations of how their child did during each class, in addition to follow up resources on the topic discussed. Weekly emails also include what to expect during the next class.

Fall Registration is now open!

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Testimonials

“Farm Buddies has been wonderful for our child. We've been working privately with Farmer Caitlin and Farmer Stef for over a year and are so happy to add Farmer Lucas to our therapy team! Farm Buddies focuses on behavior in a group setting, which is really helpful for kids whose communication styles are different. However, most of the teaching in the class is actually for the parents. The Farmers do a great job breaking down what they observe during each class and letting parents know how they can support their child in other social situations. The additional parent coaching sessions have been really valuable, with introductions to new theories and concepts for parenting neurodivergent children. While every child is unique, with the team at Farm Buddies, I feel like we are specifically identifying the types of struggles that our child has and are being given both philosophical and practical guides for how to best guide their behavior in an authentic and positive manner. The outdoor farm setting is perfect for this type of class. We have done other group classes before at clinics and those have always been stressful for our child. At Farm Buddies, if our child is overwhelmed, they can very easily break off from the group and go to other activities before coming back to the group when they are more regulated, usually with the help of one of the Farmers. This freedom and autonomy gives the child a sense of control over their interactions and the physical and mental space to process their feelings. This concept really improves their quality of interaction with other kids and learning to deal with the world around them. Farm Buddies is the new Gold Standard for neurodivergent child and parent learning methods.”

-Chris

Why choose Radiant Moments Pediatric Therapy?

While there are many reasons to choose Radiant Moments, we believe the most important reason is the partnership we cultivate with families. We know that children make the most progress when families understand their child’s needs and feel empowered to support them. From our experience, we know how overwhelming it feels to take on the responsibility of determining which therapies your child needs, finding providers you trust, and integrating therapy into your already busy schedule. We want to join your support system and guide you along your child’s therapeutic journey in a way that feels authentic and meaningful.
How can I feel confident in choosing the best speech therapist?

In graduate school, speech therapists are trained to address all aspects of communication and swallowing across the lifespan. You want to make sure that the speech therapist you choose has a high level of experience, skill, and proficiency in your child’s area of need. For example, if you have an autistic child who is not yet speaking, you want to ask your speech therapist about their experience working with nonspeaking autistic children. A response that sounds general, such as “all of our therapists are trained to work with children with various needs,” you may not be getting a therapist that specializes in supporting autistic children. You want to hear passion in the speech therapist’s voice and learn about their strategies. At Radiant Moments, we are skilled in and passionate about the following areas: articulation disorders, phonological processing disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, orofacial myofunctional disorders, early language delays/late talkers, augmentative and alternative communication, gestalt language processing, and feeding.
Are you considered a neurodiversity-affirming practice?

Yes! At Radiant Moments, we believe that the unique communication styles and preferences of neurodivergent children should be appreciated. Our approach not only supports neurodivergent children in gaining the skills they need to lead fulfilling lives, but also helps their loved ones understand how to advocate for them. We aim to learn from the disabled and neurodivergent communities in order to best foster communication growth, self-advocacy, and overall regulation for our clients.
How do I know if my child needs speech therapy?

Trust your intuition! If you think your child needs help, they probably do. You can also speak with your child’s pediatrician or teacher as they are good at gauging how your child’s skills compare to other children their age. Radiant Moments offers comprehensive evaluations that assess speech, language, and feeding skills in order to determine whether or not your child would benefit from therapy. Please visit our Services page for more information.
Why don’t you accept insurance?

We understand that many families rely on insurance coverage to access healthcare services. However, at this time, Radiant Moments does not accept insurance. Accepting insurance would require us to take time away from learning innovative and effective treatment techniques in order to spend hours billing and dealing with insurance companies.
How can I lower my out-of-pocket costs?

While we do not accept insurance, many insurance plans offer out-of-network benefits that can reimburse families for some or all of our services. We would be happy to send you a helpful document that explains how to determine what your out-of-network benefits are and how to receive reimbursement, in addition to monthly superbills that can be submitted to your insurance. We also happily accept HSA/FSA cards.
How much does speech therapy cost?

We understand that speech therapy can be a financial investment and because of this, we aim to provide the highest level of speech and feeding therapy. Our goal is to help your child quickly acquire the skills they need so they don’t need to spend years in therapy. While the duration of each child’s therapeutic journey is different, when a therapist’s specialty area matches your child’s needs, faster progress and decreased overall cost can be achieved. Please reach out to us for information regarding our current pricing.
Is an evaluation necessary?

The evaluation is an essential step in getting your child’s therapeutic journey off to a good start. The evaluation provides us with specific information regarding your child’s strengths and needs so we can create an effective and efficient support plan. This allows us to hit the ground running at our first therapy session. If you have an evaluation from another speech therapist that accurately describes your child’s current needs, we will gladly use it to create a support plan and move forward with therapy.
What can I expect at the evaluation?

Although every evaluation is different depending on the needs of each child, you can expect the evaluation to last approximately 90 minutes. Prior to the evaluation, you will be asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire so that we can best prepare for the evaluation. The evaluation may include a caregiver interview, observations of your child’s skills during play-based activities, and more formal testing in which your child may be asked to perform specific tasks or respond to pictures. Once the evaluation is complete, a detailed report will be written and shared with you at a later date.
How long will my child need speech therapy?

Every family wonders how long their child will need speech therapy. Unfortunately, there is not a definitive answer. The duration of therapy for each child depends on several factors, including the severity of the disorder, the frequency and intensity of therapy, the child’s response to therapy, and family involvement. At Radiant Moments, we devote time to learning innovative and effective techniques that when paired with family involvement leads to faster progress.
How long and how frequent are speech therapy sessions?

Depending on a child’s attention span and level of need, we recommend either 30- or 45-minute therapy sessions. Our 45-minute therapy session is the most popular because families appreciate the extra time to check-in at the beginning of the session to discuss recent progress and at the end of the session to create a home carryover plan. Depending on the child’s type and level of need, in addition to the family’s desired rate of progress, we provide therapy sessions 1-3 times per week.
What are the benefits of having speech therapy in my home or child’s school?

You may have initially thought you had to take your child to a clinic for speech therapy, but the option to have a speech therapist come to your home or child’s school is an advantageous one. Being in the comfort of their home or classroom tends to increase a child’s willingness to engage and participate. Additionally, the speech therapist is able to address communication challenges during real-life activities and routine. When combined with the therapist's expertise and family’s commitment, therapy in the natural environment leads to faster progress.
How will I know what you worked on if you see my child at their school?

One of our core values is family partnership. If you can’t regularly participate in speech therapy sessions, we still want you to feel involved. We send video recaps describing what was addressed during the therapy session, how your child performed, and ideas for home practice. We may even sneak in a video of your child practicing during the session!
What can I do to make sure my child’s speech therapy is successful?

At Radiant Moments, we know that active family involvement leads to a successful therapeutic journey. We highly encourage family participation so that you can learn strategies to implement between therapy sessions. We welcome the opportunity to problem-solve with you and want you to feel comfortable asking questions and sharing concerns.
How can we get started?

We would love to speak with you to see if our specialty areas align with your child’s needs. If we are a good fit and you allow us the opportunity to support you on your child’s therapeutic journey, we will set you up in our electronic medical records system, Simple Practice. There, you will be prompted to complete our initial client paperwork and a comprehensive questionnaire to help us learn more about your child prior to the evaluation. After the evaluation is completed, we will write the report and go over the results with you. We believe that it is essential for you to clearly understand the results of your child’s evaluation and the plan for supporting your child. Weekly therapy sessions will then be scheduled and we will start working towards you and your child’s goals!
Why is Farm Buddies more expensive than the other classes at My Little Farmer?

The Farmers who facilitate Farm Buddies are highly skilled education and therapy professionals who will engage with your child in an intentionally therapeutic manner. They bring a wealth of knowledge as it relates to specific strategies that benefit neurodivergent children. Having more Farmers allows for more frequent facilitation of social interactions and problem solving, in addition to the ability to support a child that may need space away from the group in order to regulate. By having more Farmers actively facilitating each class, caregivers are given the opportunity to engage with one another (and a Farmer) in a separate area to learn about various topics. Farmers spend time outside of scheduled classes planning for upcoming classes, writing weekly recap emails, and sharing resources. Join us and see how Farm Buddies starts to feel like your child’s very own therapy team!
Can I trial one class?

One of the unique aspects of Farm Buddies is the community that is built when families of neurodivergent children share experiences. We believe this program works best when families can commit to regular visits so that they can get to know one another while also progressing through the caregiver educational program that is provided by the Farmers. We have also seen each child's comfort level grow and friendships develop when they see each other regularly.
When are classes offered?

Currently, fall classes are offered on select Fridays from 2:30-3:30 pm.
What can I expect from the Farmers during class?

First and foremost, the Farmers will take the lead on helping your child feel safe and comfortable at the farm. Farmers will support your child in communicating, playing, setting boundaries, negotiating, and problem solving with other children in a prosocial manner. Farmers will always treat your child with empathy and respect using neurodiversity-affirming approaches. One Farmer will facilitate the caregiver education/support meeting that takes place during each class. All Farmers are here to support your child at any given moment during class, answer questions, and offer helpful information!
What should I (as the caregiver) do during class?

We want you to feel comfortable and at home on the farm so take your time transitioning to our designated meeting spot. Feel free to take the initial 10 minutes of class to enjoy the farm with your child. You can also chat with any of the Farmers to share updates about your child and ask questions. You will then be invited to join the caregiver meeting where you can relax while learning about various topics with one of the Farmers. Rest assured that your child will be having fun with the other children and Farmers.
How can I prepare for the first class?

Prior to beginning your Farm Buddies journey, you will receive an orientation video and welcome booklet detailing the Farm Buddies program. You will also receive a video tour and map of the farm that you can view with your child. Your Farmers will reach out to you via email prior to the first class to share all of this information and also prepare you for what you can expect during the first class.

Want to know more?