We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Hall & Tisha Shah and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie & Tisha, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
TheraFriends Community Partnership’s mission is to build a diverse, accessible, neurodiversity-affirming, and inclusive pediatric therapy community. We collaborate with community partners to remove financial and logistical barriers for families and provide direct quality pediatric therapy services such as occupational, physical, and speech therapies. TheraFriends also offers programming, resources, and inclusivity training to individuals, students, professionals, families, and organizations to foster diversity and equity in our community.

We currently offer 1:1 speech therapy services as well as a multiple neurodivergent peer connections groups. We are running a monthly virtual caregiver support group for single parents. We also offer community trainings on disability justice and neurodiversity-affirming practices. We have done presentations on inclusivity, accessibility, and neurodiversity-affirming practices to child life specialists at area hospital systems, the Wake County Public Schools PTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, including some members of the Office of Equity Affairs, as well as to the PTA at Penny Road and Briarcliff Elementary Schools.

TheraFriends is in the process of creating training modules for community businesses on how to be more inclusive for neurodivergent individuals.

Other future plans include providing community programs that support the needs of disabled children and their families, such as co-treating groups and recreational programs, support for caregivers, community building, and educational support for allied health students and professionals.

TheraFriends removes financial and logistical barriers to ensure that families have access to these much-needed services so all children in our community can thrive and reach their full potential. TheraFriends embraces and fosters diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within our community and throughout the fabric of our programming. We value and welcome all people and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, physical ability, neurodiversity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, or financial means. We explicitly commit to being a neurodiversity and LGBTQIA+ affirming, anti-bias, anti-racist community that supports advancing equity and justice. TheraFriends is an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for our staff, clients, families, and volunteers. Helping members of our community reach their full potential while feeling safe, valued, and included is our ultimate goal.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
TheraFriends is a nonprofit organization as well as an inclusive practice. Our overarching goal is create an inclusive and accessible community where everyone can thrive!

TheraFriends embraces and fosters diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within our community and throughout the fabric of our programming. We value and welcome all people and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, physical ability, neurodiversity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, or financial means. We explicitly commit to being a neurodiversity and LGBTQIA+ affirming, anti-bias, anti-racist community that supports advancing equity and justice. TheraFriends is an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for our staff, clients, families, and volunteers.

We are a neurodiversity-affirming practice which means:
Neurodiversity does not need to be fixed (medical model of disability vs. social model of disability). Clinicians serve more as “support partners” to children and families.
Neurodiversity as differences, not abnormalities/disorders.
Neurodiversity can oftentimes be viewed from the lens of an identity not necessarily a diagnosis (although diagnosis is often important and valuable). Similar to race, gender, sexual orientation, social/cultural identity, socioeconomic status, etc. ( we do recognize diagnosis is often helpful, important, and valuable).
Society disables neurodivergent people by not providing accessibility in all spaces.
Neurodivergent people can accomplish the same things (and oftentimes more!) as neurotypical people with accessible supports and environments available.
Our role is to support that embraces and utilizes a client’s natural neurological traits and strengths
The value of following the lead of the client’s personal wishes, needs, and interests.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would definitely start by taking them to the Downtown Cary Park where we can relax while the kids play and either grab a drink at the Bark Bar or a snack. We would walk along Academy Street and also grab gelato at Geluna Gelato.

We also would enjoy some time at Waverly place near our home. Breakfast at The Famous Toastery is a must. We also love Enrigos and Bocci.

One of our favorite places to visit in Raleigh is the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. We also love the food at the Daily Planet.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shoutout my co-founder, Tisha Shah. She is one of the most kind, caring, selfless, and hardworking people I know. TheraFriends would not be where it is today without her!

My co-Founder, Tisha Shah, a speech therapist, and I, an occupational therapist, met while developing a PTA Diversity, Equity, Inclusion committee at Penny Road Elementary School. We began sharing with each other our concerns about healthcare access for families we serve. We then formed TheraFriends Community Partnership in 2021 to help improve access to pediatric therapy services and programs for families in the Triangle. Tisha and I have been private practice owners and have seen the struggles and barriers families have to deal with in order to receive quality services for their children. As providers, it is disheartening to constantly be fighting with insurance companies to pay for these much-needed services. We became therapists because we want to help people, and we felt like we were failing a lot of our families. We had to find a solution. Many families in our area are facing a range of barriers that reduce their ability to access quality therapeutic services. With both of us being deeply committed to inclusion, equity, and accessibility, we sought ways to ensure all children and families have access to these important services.

As practice owners, we have had many difficult conversations with families who were underinsured (e.g., high-deductible plans or limited therapy coverage) or had no insurance coverage. Some families felt forced to stop receiving services or cut down on services because of costs. We wished we could provide services for free or at a reduced cost, but we also needed to be able to provide our therapists with a fair wage and pay business expenses that were necessary to provide high-quality services. As we were taking a deep look into the systemic origins of this issue, we also recognized the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the therapy fields themselves. Knowing the research on how people have better outcomes when they see themselves represented, we wanted to foster increased diversity in our fields and within our therapeutic practices.

Website: https://www.therafriendscommunity.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therafriendscommunity

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/therafriends-community-partnership

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therafriendscommunity

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