The Catalyst to Founding Kids' Potential
More than likely you know a child or an adult with learning challenges, whether it be a problem with social interaction, behavior, attention, language acquisition, or academic learning. Gaps in development generally become apparent by the early years of school, and if left untreated, can lead to increasing challenges as academic demands multiply and failures accumulate.
The difficulties children and families encounter are compounded when learning and/or behavioral issues are unidentified and untreated in the early years of school. With each passing year, academic demands build and the need for intervention requires increasing time and intensity to successfully address growing educational gaps. Additional challenges emerge as children who experience repeated failures learn to employ maladaptive responses such as avoidance and attention-seeking behaviors in the classroom. These often become the first red flags noticed by teachers and parents/caregivers.
Our MISSION:
Founded in 2008 as a nonprofit 501 c(3) organization, Kids' Potential is committed to the early identification and treatment of underserved and at-risk school-age children and adolescents who struggle in school due to learning and/or social-emotional issues, facilitating success as learners and productive citizens. Our mission at Kids' Potential is to positively impact families beyond our direct services by empowering those closest to students, (parents/caregivers), and educators, to identify and support these needs.
Eliminating Barriers to Learning: An Integrated Approach
The staff at Kids' Potential rely on comprehensive testing protocols (cognitive and achievement assessments) to identify a student's potential and learning style in order to tailor effective intervention strategies to address his/her specific learning needs and behavior difficulties. Examples of barriers challenging a student's ability to learn may include:
- Learning Disabilities (i.e. Dyslexia and other Reading Disorders, Written Language Disorder, Math Disorder);
- Pervasive Developmental Disorders (i.e. Autism, Aspergers, Non-Verbal Disabilities, Social Skills Deficits);
- Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (i.e. ADHD or AD/HD);
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD);
- Memory Deficits (i.e. working memory, long and short term memory deficits);
- Auditory Processing Disorder;
- Anxiety Disorders (i.e. Performance Anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety, Phobias);
- Mood Disorders (i.e. Depression, Bipolar Disorder);
- Behavior Disorders (i.e. Opposition, Defiance, Aggression, Withdrawal); and
- Family and Environmental Stressors which consequently impact learning, such as divorce, drug and alcohol issues, foster placement, health issues, poverty, immigration and acculturation issues, domestic violence, student abuse, and loss of a loved one.
Leadership
Board of Directors:
- Judy Cunningham, Chairperson of the Board – Kids' Potential
Cunningham Education Consulting (CEC) - Susan Ellersick, Secretary of the Board – Kids' Potential
Community Leader - Nazy Fateri, Treasurer of the Board – Kids' Potential
Community Leader - Allison Garcia
Mindspeed Technologies, INC., Senior Vice President of Human Resources - Omid Moezzi
Loom Legal, A P.C. - Mike Smith
Member of the NBA and Clippers Announcer
Advisory Board Members:
- Marian Bergeson
Member of the California Senate - Lane Macy Kiefaber
President, Red to Black Consulting - Nancy Melgares
Orange County Department of Education
Partnerships:
Kids' Potential is proud to announce its collaboration with Orange County's Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Organization to train CASA Educational Representatives and to accept referrals from them for assessments and interventions for their court appointed at-risk foster youth.
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In 2013, Kid's Potential is pleased to offer 12 trainings to members in our community through the support of Proposition 63 and CalMHSA. Teachers, school staff, parents, caregivers, mentors, and community health providers will participate in a trainings designed to address the stigma associated with mental health disease in Orange County. Participants will learn about how ADHD, Executive Function Disorder, Austism, and other mental health disorders adversely effect a child's ability to succeed in school and gain tools to improve their educational and social lives.