Orange County’s Premiere Center for Autism, KiDA, Launches 50,000 Square Foot Comprehensive Facility to Serve as “One-Stop-Shop” for Autism Services

Irvine, CA–January 20–Kids Institute for Development & Advancement (KiDA), Orange County’s largest center for the education and treatment of children with autism, is launching a 50,000 square foot facility in Irvine, California. KiDA offers a multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach to autism treatment, providing education, therapy, medicine, and family support for children with autism. Community members are invited to view the facility at KiDA’s Grand Opening on Thursday, February 23, 2012.

KiDA was created in 2008 by a family that envisioned a better alternative in which all of their child’s needs could be met under one roof. Out of this vision came KiDA, which started as a therapy center and expanded to include a full-time private school in 2010. KiDA Academy, a comprehensive school for autism, offers students low classroom ratios, daily individual therapies, and the latest assistive technology in the classroom. In 2011, KiDA began offering expanded educational and therapy services, to include speech, occupational, behavioral, music, and social therapies. KIDA even opened a hair salon specifically for kids with autism!

The new facility, which boasts a movie theater, commercial fitness gym, arcade room, hair salon, and enclosed atrium, currently houses five different types of therapies, medical offices, and KiDA Academy’s first two classes of students. “At KIDA, kids are the center of attention, kids rule!” says Fariborz Maseeh KIDA’s founder. Looking forward, the space will accommodate the academy’s growth to K through 8th grade classes, as well as additional medical services and a Wellness Center, to include yoga, massage, and dietary support. In the upcoming months, KiDA plans to develop its medical and research services, including collaborations with hospitals and universities to explore causes and treatments for autism, as well as rendering medical services to some of the 20,000+ children with autism in Orange County. KIDA’s model is to serve the needs of the child in a child-centric way.

KiDA’s new facility is opening its doors to the community on Thursday, February 23 from 4:00 to 6:00pm for an Open House. Family members, teachers, service providers, medical professionals, and interested community members are invited to explore the facility, learn more about KiDA’s vision and services, and mingle with other individuals that are passionate about advancing children with autism.

For more information about KiDA or to RSVP for KiDA’s Grand Opening, contact David Tep or Kristin Coates at (949) 222-2214 or visit KiDA’s website, www.kida.com. KiDA is located at 17861 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614.

Looking for the perfect holiday gift for your child or grandchild? This list, compiled by KiDA’s Speech Language Pathologist Rachael Gray, includes games and toys that will not only entertain, but also help your child grow!

Turn-taking games:

· Pop up Pirate

· Don’t Break the Ice

· Bowling Game

· Ring Toss

· Let’s Go Fishing Game

· Hungry Hungry Hippo

Listening/Auditory Processing Games:

· Cranium Hullabaloo

· Sound Bingo

Basic Concept Development Games:

· Lucky Ducks (shapes & colors)

· Spot It (matching)

· The Ladybug Game (counting)

Vocabulary Development Games:

· Headbanz

· Granny’s Candies (Super Duper Publications)

Narratives & Written Expression Games:

· Story Cubes

Social Skills Games:

· Guess Who?

· Would you rather?

Critical Thinking:

· Clue

There are many wonderful games out there that double as tools for helping your child develop. This list includes just a few of our favorites. We want to hear about what games your children enjoy. What is on your child’s wish list this year?

Disclaimer: KiDA does not endorse any of the above mentioned games/toys, nor is it affiliated with any of the game/toy manufacturers.

Kids Institute for Development & Advancement in Irvine has open house, grand-opening event planned for Feb. 23.
February 04, 2012|By Sarah Peters
Parents feel like “part of the team” when it comes to the care and education of their autistic children at a new all-encompassing treatment center in Irvine, a parent said.

“Not just him, but our whole family has changed,” Irvine resident Sopheap Keo said of her 7-year-old autistic son, Evan. “When I drop him off here, he’s happy. He sees the doors and goes running — he doesn’t even wait for me. Before, at the public school, they had to pull him away from me.”

Evan, who is severely autistic, now shows great enthusiasm in his effort to communicate using words because of the attention he has received, Keo said.

Keo credits the Kids Institute for Development & Advancement (KiDA), a multidisciplinary and comprehensive care center for youth ages 2 to 18, which opened in a 50,000-square-foot facility Jan. 2 at 17861 Von Karman Ave.

The facility brings together speech, occupational, behavioral, music and social therapies, medical and research services, full-time kindergarten- through eighth-grade classes, and a wellness center.

The center includes a movie theater and hair salon specific to the needs of autistic children.

An open house and grand-opening event are planned for 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 23.

“What the typical day looks like for a lot of families with an autistic child is visiting a series of facilities for school, therapy, treatment and more,” Kristin Coates, KiDA spokeswoman, said last week.

Families can spend about 40 hours a week at nearly a dozen different appointments with doctors, dietitians and therapists, she said.

“It leads to a lot of stress for the parents and the child,” Coates said. “Especially for a child with autism, that’s a lot of sensory input to process.”

Those miles and hours logged by a family taking an autistic child from one appointment to another can impede treatment, she said.

“They have all these different types of needs, and the public doesn’t know just how draining it is on the family,” Coates said. “That’s why we’re here.”

The sensory overload of a public school and its effect on Costa Mesa resident Kristi Munro’s son led her to KiDA.

“For him, the traditional model caused damage,” Munro said of her 7-year-old autistic son, Billy. “The daily drills and inability to let a child catch up to the teacher’s directions would cause him to just shut down. Now, I see him reaching out, responding to the teacher, being mischievous, all the things a 7-year-old boy should be doing.”

Billy was enrolled at KiDA about two years ago. He now sleeps well, interacts with others and is learning to use words on an iPad, Munro said.

“My baby is the most import thing to me,” Munro said. “They were really able to meet us at where he was, and I could see the desire in their hearts to provide an environment that was healthy, but also where he can be a kid. Autism doesn’t mean that the child is not a child.”

The Autism Language Program at Children’s Hospital Boston has a rather straightforward philosophy that it lays out on its Web site: “In our evaluations, we try to connect a child’s needs with available and appropriate technology. When such technology does not exist, we make every effort to develop it.” As the director of the program, Howard Shane has done just that, spending more than three decades applying, prescribing and developing technology to help improve the communication and learning skills of children on the autism spectrum.

Dr. Howard Shane, presenter at KiDA's 3rd Annual Summit on Autism

And as a presenter at KiDA’s third-annual Summit on Autism, the speech-language pathology specialist will share some of the insights he has gained working with children and families. Shane’s presentation, which is part of the “Technology and Its Impact on Autism” panel, is titled “Aligning the Features of Assistive Technology With the Characteristics of Autism”.

“The summit is important because the more information, the better for families,” says Shane. “It’s important to come to understand some of the benefits of technology. Technology is giving children with autism opportunities that weren’t available to them before.”

Many of those opportunities today are in mobile technology – namely, the iPad and other tablets, he says, which are making a major difference now and setting the stage for new possibilities for both the platform and the apps that run on them.

“The advent of the iPad isn’t the beginning of technology, it’s the next step, the next generation, but it’s a very important leap,” says Shane. “It’s going to make technology more accessible and more affordable. We’re moving into a next phase where the features of the mobile technology will allow for the next generation of apps that will go beyond what we’re used to seeing.”

Shane says his presentation will provide parents with a better understanding of what mobile technologies can do, as well as practical suggestions and the benefits from using the technology, such as more effective communication, learning, recreation and rewards. In doing so, he’ll discuss the following:

• Technologies for children who have difficulty in expressive communication;
• The ways technology can help children comprehend what’s being said by using visual tools to increase the understanding of language;
• And the apps that allow for the creation of visual schedules that help clarify and put in order, with symbols and pictures, the schedule of the day and the sequence of learning activities for children with autism.

“Basically, these are ways of doing things that are easier with technology than trying to create them in the old way with pencil and paper,” says Shane.

Many of the topics in his presentation come from his current research projects. Some of these include things like the development, for the iPad, of animation graphics to help children with the understanding of verbs, adjectives and prepositions. And Shane and his colleagues are creating a virtual world that will help individuals learn concepts that are often elusive to people with autism, he says. In a virtual kitchen, for example, characters will help the children grasp activities like setting the table and identifying the labels of objects in that room. The virtual world will feature similar learning-based environments for a bathroom, living room, playground and a doctor’s office.

“Our research is making language easier for children with autism to understand, and it’s the technology that provides such a good platform for them to learn about language in this way. There are so many aspects of this developing mobile technology that are going to be extraordinary for individuals to help improve their independence.”

**For a list of current research projects and a timeline of research projects since 1980, please visit the Web site for Children’s Hospital Boston’s Autism Language Program.

Tickets are available for KiDA’s third annual Summit on Autism, held September 17, 2011, at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. To learn more, visit www.kida.com/summit or call 949.222.2214.

With the Summit on Autism just weeks away, on Sept. 17, excitement is definitely building about the event – especially among members of the parent community.

“We’re absolutely looking forward to the summit – the whole thing,” says a parent of a seven-year-old son who attends school at KiDA. “I think it will have things we can take home now and implement today to make his life and our lives better, as a family.”

The national conference, which is designed to be a community service to educate parents, family members and friends of those with autism, will feature panels that focus on autism and its impact on the family, and technology’s impact on autism.

And what’s the summit’s major buzzword? Technology, as in the panel featuring cutting-edge research from Children’s Hospital Boston’s Howard Shane and MIT’s Matthew Goodwin.

“Technology is the one thing that drew our family to the summit,” says a mother whose six-year-old daughter attends KiDA. “I’d love to see if there are new technologies that we should be looking at, or even if there are any new things we’re not doing on the iPad that could help my daughter.”

While many of the parents said their children are already using the iPad – which Shane calls a “game-changer” – they want to learn more about where the device is headed and how it’s making great strides toward helping children with autism gain cognitive skills, sociability and degrees of independence.

“Even though my son has been using the iPad for a while now, we’re not at the point where we’re comfortable yet, so I want to acquire more knowledge about technology,” says a parent whose six-year-old son attends KiDA. “Right now, we have the tool, but we need more help to get to the next level.”

And many parents we talked to felt the same about doing whatever they could to advance the development of their children. That’s why parents aren’t just coming to the event themselves – they’re bringing others.

“My parents are going, too. I think it’s important for them to see what we go through each day,” one mom says.

Another mom agrees, as her husband, brother and some of her friends are all planning to go. “I think it will help them understand that it’s not just us — we’re talking about everyone who has to deal with autism. It’s not just our family; it’s not just our problem or our issue.”

“I think the summit will help us create an even more supportive family,” says one parent whose mother, mother-in-law and sisters are going as well. “I’m trying to get everyone to go so they can learn more about what’s involved with families who have a child with autism.”

And that’s really the main point of the event, says Kristin Coates, manager at KiDA. “We are excited about the great learning opportunities this year’s Summit on Autism provides, especially for families affected by autism,” she says. “With technology improving so rapidly, it is hard to keep up with all of the advancements available for kids on the spectrum. Already, we have had an outstanding response from both families and professionals.”

-article written by David Lott

For more information and to register for KiDA’s third annual Summit on Autism, visit www.kida.com/summit or call 949.222.2214.

Kids Institute for Development and Advancement’s Conference at UC Irvine will Highlight Autism’s Impact on the Family and Technology’s Impact on Autism

Irvine, CA—July 12—Kids Institute for Development and Advancement (KiDA), a premier center for autism treatment, hosts its Third Annual Summit on Autism Saturday, September 17, 2011, at the University of California, Irvine’s Bren Events Center, beginning at 8:00 am. The national conference on issues related to autism and mental health will have two themes: (1) Autism and its impact on family, and (2) Technology and its impact on autism. The Summit is aimed at parents, grandparents, teachers, doctors, therapists, and other community members affected by autism.

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake, M.D. will open the Summit and Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter will deliver the keynote address, discussing the impact of autism on the entire family. For over three decades, Mrs. Carter, who founded the Carter Center’s Mental Health Task Force and has authored three books related to mental health and caregivers, has advocated for positive changes in the mental health field. She also will sign her new book, Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis.

“We hope that we can have a positive impact on both awareness of autism and potential solutions to help families impacted by autism in California and nationwide,” says Fariborz Maseeh, KiDA’s founder and a parent dealing with autism.

In addition to Mrs. Carter, the summit’s first panel on the impact of autism on the family will include the following nationally recognized autism experts: Dr. Wendy Goldberg, Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior and Education at UC Irvine; Dr. Connie Kasari, Professor of Psychological Studies in Education and Psychiatry at UCLA; and Alison Singer, President of the Autism Science Foundation.

The second panel will highlight technological advancements and their impact on autism, with expert presenters including: Dr. Howard Shane, Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Center for Communication Enhancement and Autism Language Program at Children’s Hospital Boston; and Dr. Matthew Goodwin, Director of Clinical Research at the MIT Media Lab and Co-Director of the Autism Technology Initiative at MIT.

Other participating experts include faculty from UC Irvine and CHOC Children’s Hospital.

Following the summit, attendees will have the opportunity to view and participate in an interactive showcase of the latest technological advancements related to autism, presented by Drs. Shane and Goodwin.

About Autism and KiDA®

Autism is a social epidemic that currently affects one in every 91 children.

Kids Institute for Development & Advancement (KiDA) is an integrated center of excellence for the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder located in Irvine, California. KiDA’s state-of-the-art facility provides education, therapy, and medical services by expert staff. In addition to social groups and individual therapy, KiDA offers a full-time school featuring individualized, comprehensive education for kids with autism. For more information or to schedule a tour (16832 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92606), call 949.222.2214 or visit www.kida.com.

In addition to KiDA, Summit co-sponsors include:

University of California, Irvine:

Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UC Irvine is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County’s largest employer, UC Irvine contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion.

CHOC Children’s:

Named one of the best children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report (2011-2012), CHOC Children’s is exclusively committed to the health and well being of children through clinical expertise, advocacy, outreach and research that brings advanced treatment to pediatric patients. Affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, CHOC’s regional healthcare network includes two state-of-the-art hospitals in Orange and Mission Viejo, several primary and specialty care clinics, a pediatric residency program, and four centers of excellence – The CHOC Children’s Heart, Neuroscience, Orthopedic and Hyundai Cancer Institutes.

For OC Kids:

For over 10 years, For OC Kids Neurodevelopmental Center has provided comprehensive care for children with autism and a wide range of developmental, behavioral, and learning disorders. This UC Irvine/CHOC Children’s collaborative program offers assistance at early stages, including evaluations and diagnoses, and continued care throughout adolescence, including treatment, education, and support for both children and families.

The Autism Science Foundation:

The Autism Science Foundation provides funding and other assistance to scientists and organizations conducting, facilitating, publicizing, and disseminating autism research. This nonprofit organization also equips the public with information about autism and the needs of individuals and families affected by autism.

Contacts:

Kristin Coates
kcoates@kida.com
949.222.2214

Shami Abraham
sabraham@kida.com
949.222.2214

Show us a better place and we will close!

Jacob squeals with excitement as he dashes out the car door and into the lobby. He gives his classmate, Audrey, a hug and the two scramble around the corner into the gym. Jacob pauses in amazement as he contemplates where to begin. Trampoline? Swings? Climbing wall? Obstacle course? After nine months of coming into the gym every day, he still cannot get enough. Without hesitation, he slides his backpack into the cubby, and asks Audrey, “Audrey jump?” Her eyes light up and they are off to the trampoline. Jacob’s mom watches from a few yards back, with a tear rolling down her face.

For some parents, this sounds like a typical day. For Jacob’s mom, this day is exceptional. For the first time in his life, Jacob is excited to come to school. He feels safe and understood. He is initiating play with friends. He is even speaking meaningful words and phrases, something Jacob’s parents have dreamed of for three years, ever since they received their son’s diagnosis of Autism.

Jacob is one of six students at KiDA School, a full time private school specifically designed for kids with Autism. All six students have unique stories with similar threads – families that want more customized services than the school district is able to provide, with the firm expectation that an individualized, comprehensive program could unlock their child’s true potential for learning and language.

Enter KiDA School. Individual speech every day. Individual occupational therapy every day. Group OT every day. Master-level teachers work with students one-on-one to help them achieve their goals and earn motivating rewards. Teachers and therapists utilize tools that students understand and connect with, including iPads, Touch Screens, and XBOX Kinect, to teach math, reading, science, and leisure skills. Professional art lessons and music classes enhance students’ understanding of the arts. Put simply, students thrive and realize their potential in an understanding, comprehensive program.

Overwhelming relief is felt by parents upon realizing that IEP goals are finally a true reflection of their child’s potential and include all areas of learning, not just behavior management. Further repose arrives as teachers actually initiate discussions about revising goals that students met faster than expected.

The most valuable asset to these parents is their children. There is no question that they would do anything in their power to help their child thrive. Their passion is met equally with KiDA School’s founding family, who originally dreamed up and executed the vision of KiDA for their child with autism. They get it. These kids have unique needs, and a lot of places are not able to provide the expertise of staff, diversity of services, and quality of facilities needed to support those needs. KiDA School was created to fill the gap by providing all of the therapy and educational services by highly educated staff in a fully customized, 14,000 square foot facility.

KiDA School is an unparalleled investment with the highest rate of returns. Because of the school’s strategic organization, the value of services that students receive far outweighs the actual cost that parents pay. In fact, parents pay less than HALF of what it would cost to pay for the education and therapy separately. This is the substance behind the smile on Jacob’s mom’s face: kids receiving individual therapy and customized education from a team that truly knows and values them. She wanted Jacob to thrive in a challenging, understanding, and loving environment. A dream for her child’s success, once thought impossible, is now realized.

Learn more about how your child can thrive at KiDA School by visiting our website or calling KiDA at 949.222.2214.