Coming to Raleigh, North Carolina
Every child deserves support that sees the whole picture.
Brilliant Minds is being developed as a future multidisciplinary child development and inclusion center, designed to connect children, families, schools, and professionals through more coordinated, family-centered support.
●Currently in development·Services are not yet available
Join to receive updates about the future center, planned services, resources, workshops, and launch progress.
Whole-child perspective
Development, learning, communication, and well-being considered together.
Family-centered
Families are active participants, not messengers between professionals.
Educational connection
Therapy goals connect to school and everyday life.
Multidisciplinary
One shared plan across disciplines and settings.
Why Brilliant Minds
The need is widespread.
Support should not feel fragmented.
For many families, finding support for a child means navigating pediatricians, therapists, schools, evaluations, and community services at the same time. Each may offer valuable guidance, but when those recommendations are not connected, parents often become responsible for carrying information and strategies between separate systems.
Development, learning, emotional, behavioral, and communication needs often overlap and affect more than one area of a child's life.
1 in 6
Developmental needs are common
That’s about 17% of U.S. children ages 3–17 living with one or more developmental disabilities.
Source: CDC and Prevention
15%
Schools are central to support
Students receiving special education or related services under IDEA represented approximately 15% of U.S. public school enrollment in the 2022–23 school year.
About 4 in 10
Children did not receive development support
About 4 in 10 children with mental, behavioral, or developmental disorders did not receive mental or developmental services during the previous year.
Source: CDC and Prevention
all together.
around your
child.
Services
From separate recommendations to more coordinated support across home, school, and care.
Brilliant Minds is being developed in response to this fragmentation, with the goal of creating clearer connections among children, families, schools, and professionals as the future multidisciplinary model takes shape.
Our Vision
Every child deserves support that sees the whole person.
We envision a future where children are understood beyond a diagnosis, families feel guided and empowered, and schools and professionals work together in a coordinated way.
Our goal is to promote inclusion, strengthen development, and support each child to reach their potential — at home, at school, and in the community.
Our Approach
Support designed to connect around the whole child.
How it will work
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Understand
We listen, observe, and learn about the child, the family, and the environments involved.
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Connect
Our team collaborates across disciplines, families, and schools to create a coordinated plan.
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Support
We provide individualized support and guide families and teams with practical strategies for everyday life.
Our Principles
Whole-child perspective
We consider development, learning, communication, emotional well-being, participation, and environment.
Family-centered support
Families are active participants in the process, not just messengers between professionals.
Educational connection
We connect what happens in therapy with what happens at school and in everyday life.
Multidisciplinary collaboration
Professionals work around shared priorities with clear communication and coordinated goals.
Hybrid Access
Raleigh-based center
A welcoming, multidisciplinary space being planned in Raleigh, NC.
Bilingual support
Services and materials in English and Portuguese.
Online resources & services
Future online options for consultations (when appropriate), parent support, and professional education.
One model.
Many ways to reach families and professionals.
Planned support
The Brilliant Minds model.
Brilliant Minds is being developed around three connected areas of support. Together, they are intended to strengthen the child, the family, and the professionals and environments that shape everyday development.
Specialized Clinical Services
Will bring together psychology, speech and language support, and occupational therapy into one coordinated plan built around each child. Services are planned for the Raleigh center, with an online component where appropriate.
Parent Support and Counseling
Help caregivers understand a child's needs, build practical strategies at home, and feel less isolated. These programs are planned as part of the future center's family-centered support.
Professional & Institutional Training
Professional Training and Institutional Capacity Building will prepare educators, therapists, and institutions to support children more inclusively, with practical, classroom-ready strategies.
Community of support
Who Brilliant Minds will serve.
Brilliant Minds will support children as whole people, not as diagnoses. Planned services are designed for children and youth with developmental, communication, learning, emotional, behavioral, sensory, or inclusion needs, including examples such as autism, ADHD, learning differences, developmental delays, and communication needs, along with the families and professionals who support them.
Parents and caregivers
Looking for clearer guidance, coordinated support, and practical strategies to help a child develop and participate, at home and at school.
Educators and schools
Seeking practical strategies for inclusion, classroom adaptation, and communication, supported by consultation with the professionals around each child.
Therapists and healthcare professionals
Interested in coordinated goals, shared communication, and future collaboration with a multidisciplinary team built around each child's needs.
Community and institutional partners
Organizations and school districts interested in contributing to the future growth, training, and inclusion mission of Brilliant Minds.
How it will work
Coordinated support proposal.
Listen and understand
Every plan will begin by understanding what a family is noticing, what concerns them most, and what feels most important right now, before anything else is decided.
Consider the whole picture
The child's strengths, needs, routines, family context, and school experience will all be considered together, rather than looking at one concern in isolation.
Identify priorities
Together with the family, the team will clarify which needs matter most right now, so the plan starts with what matters, not a fixed checklist.
Connect the right support
The right combination of clinical services, family guidance, or professional collaboration will be identified for that child, based on the priorities already set.
Coordinate everyone involved
Family, school, and professionals will stay connected around the same goals and strategies, so support carries consistently across every setting.
Review and adjust
Progress will be reviewed regularly, and the plan adjusted as the child's needs change, so support keeps pace with the child over time.
*Not every child will need every service. Plans will be designed individually, based on each child's needs.
Working together
Families, schools, and professionals.
Progress is stronger when the adults around a child share goals, communication, and practical strategies.
For Families
Family guidance is planned to help parents understand a child's needs, use practical strategies at home, and stay connected to school, so families are never left to coordinate everything alone.
For Schools
Brilliant Minds plans to support educators and schools with practical, classroom ready strategies for inclusion, communication, and collaboration with families and other professionals.
For Professionals and Organizations
Therapists, healthcare professionals, and community organizations are invited to learn about future collaboration, training, and partnership opportunities as Brilliant Minds develops.
Brilliant Minds is designed to work with families, schools, and professionals as partners, not as separate audiences.
View Michele's LinkedIn profileMeet the founder
Experience across psychology, education and inclusion.
Michele Farizatto is the founder and visionary of Brilliant Minds. She has more than 20 years of professional experience across psychology, education, special education, and inclusion, working directly with children, families, teachers, and schools.
That combination of psychological understanding and classroom experience shaped the belief behind Brilliant Minds: children are best supported when the professionals, educators, and family around them share the same understanding and work from the same plan.
The future of Brilliant Minds
Building locally, connecting further.
A Raleigh-based center
A future physical space designed for comprehensive, multidisciplinary child development and inclusion.
Bilingual connection
English and Portuguese communication and support for families and the community.
Beyond the center
Future online resources, consultations (when appropriate), family education, professional training, and community initiatives.
Join the Interest List.
Joining the interest list is the current way to stay connected to Brilliant Minds as it develops. Subscribers may receive:
- Launch updates
- Service development information
- Family resources
- Professional education announcements
- Community program information
- Raleigh center and future online program updates
* Joining the interest list does not reserve an appointment, guarantee access to services, include any discount, or come with a confirmed opening date.
Get launch updates
We'll share progress as the center takes shape — no pressure, and no crowded inbox.