WILTON — Pride Pediatrics Therapy, a new private practice that specializes in occupational therapy for children will be opening it’s doors on Saturday, Sept. 9, with a grand opening that will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony along with numerous activities and information regarding occupational therapy.

The practice is located at 411 US Route 2 E, Suite C next to the Dollar General in Wilton. The grand opening will begin at 11 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony taking place at 11:30.

The event will offer a bounce house, obstacle course, sensory play, and face painting by Beauty and the Brush for children. The Frosty Paw ice cream truck will also be making an appearance to serve ice cream and some light food and refreshments will be provided by Pride Pediatrics Therapy.

The grand opening will also double as an open house for families to learn more about occupational therapy and what Pride Pediatrics Therapy has to offer Franklin County.

“A lot of people don’t know what occupational therapy is, unless their kids are currently in it,” owner Courtney Pride shared in a phone interview. “[Occupational therapy] is such an underserved area in Franklin County.”

Pride is a licensed occupational therapist with a master’s degree from Husson University in Bangor. As an occupational therapist, Pride specializes in feeding therapy, helping kids with a limited diet because of sensory aversion or other factors.

She relocated to Farmington with her husband and animals in 2019 and started working in the field. However, her dream since grad school has been to open her own practice.

“I remember being in a professional development class, and they asked, ‘where do you see yourself in 10 years?’,” Pride said. “My dream was to have my own practice.”

Since graduation, Pride worked at a few private practices, but found herself commuting up to an hour just to get to work. Eventually, she found herself working at Franklin Memorial Hospital, which increased her desire to open her own practice, and she began putting the wheels in motion for Pride Pediatrics Therapy in January of this year.

“I loved my time at the hospital, but I did not love corporate healthcare,” she shared.

Pride’s main goal with the practice is to bring more specialized care to Franklin County. Just like with her commute, many families are forced to drive to Augusta or Auburn to find occupational therapy for their children, and apart from Franklin Memorial Hospital, options in the area are fairly slim, according to her.

“We have so many children that have IEPs in the district,” she stated. “Why can’t we have it more accessible? I want to do that for the community and in the same goal, I’m being my own boss, so it has been very rewarding.”

According to her website, Pride created a sensory pathway for her clinical placement and has been able to create and install more than 15 pathways for schools across the state of Maine.

Sensory paths, according to Pride’s website, are carefully designed pathways created to stimulate and engage children’s senses in a therapeutic and enjoyable manner. These paths typically consist of a series of colorful and textured floor decals, along with various visual, auditory, and tactile elements strategically placed along their route.

Overall, sensory paths are an innovative tool used in pediatric therapy to support children’s sensory development and overall well-being. Pride had previously created sensory path for the students at W.G. Mallett Elementary School in Farmington in 2019. According to an article shared with the Maine Department of Education, Pride spent 30 hours on the project and it involved installing a sensory path in a 38 foot long hallway going both ways, totaling 76 feet.

“I was able to integrate not only my OT knowledge that I have spent the past five years gaining, but also my hobby of crafting and creating things which made this project so rewarding for me,” Pride shared with the DOE.

Moving forward, Pride hopes to open a center that will include more forms of therapy, such as speech therapy and physical therapy, but Pride Pediatrics Therapy is the stepping stone to that goal. Pride Pediatrics Therapy has begun accepting clients and will have a soft opening starting Tuesday, Sept. 5, before the official grand opening on Saturday.

For more information on the grand opening, or interest in the program itself, visit pridepediatrictherapy.com, call [207] 645-1668, or email info@pridepediatrictherapy.com.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.