For over fifteen years, the KIND Foundation has been working with learning and developmentally disabled children and their families by providing resources and financial assistance so that these children can get the help they need. CAL’s Place is a non-profit learning center which will:

1. Identify children with learning and developmental disabilities.
2. Provide instruction for children with these disabilities.
3. Train teachers in instructional approaches to help these children.
4. Help parents advocate for their children in the school system and to help these children learn to advocate for themselves.

1. Identification
Early identification of learning disabilities can lead to appropriate interventions which can greatly reduce the academic, emotional, and social difficulties that can result from struggling with these disabilities. Therefore, CAL’s Place:

• Provides evaluations in a variety of academic areas to helps identify children’s strengths and weaknesses in reading, math, and writing so that they can get the help they need quickly. CAL’s Place can often evaluate a child and begin instruction with them within one to two weeks of a parent’s initial call.
• Works cooperatively with local professionals in fields such as pediatric neurology, neuropsychology, speech pathology, occupational and physical therapy, and special education so that children with disabilities can be identified and diagnosed quickly and steps can be taken to help the child as soon as possible.
• Helps children and families understand the nature of learning and developmental disabilities and works with the children, their parents, siblings, relatives, and teachers to help them deal with the difficulties posed by a learning or developmental disability.

2. Instruction and Intervention
Teaching children by using proven instructional approaches and learning strategies in a one-to-one setting and giving them access to the interventions they need gives us the best hope for their future academic success. Therefore, CAL’s Place:

• Provides one-to-one instruction in reading, writing and mathematics in research-based approaches like the world-renowned Orton-Gillingham approach to help students with specific learning disabilities.
• Works cooperatively with local professionals to help children receive speech / language, occupational, or physical therapy and psychological counseling.

3. Teacher Training
Teaching individual children is a wonderful way to help them become successful, but providing teachers with the training they need to most effectively work with these children greatly increases the number of children we can help. CAL’s Place works with the Michigan Dyslexia Institute to train teachers in instructional approaches to help students with specific learning disabilities.

4. Advocacy
Families often need help to ensure that their child is receiving the best education possible. Families with children who have learning or developmental disabilities are even more uncertain of the best course to follow when it comes to their child’s learning. Therefore, CAL’s Place:

• Provides information and resources to help parents and children learn about learning and developmental disabilities.
• Works in partnership with parents and the child’s school to ensure that the child is receiving the services he or she needs to promote academic success.
• Works cooperatively with local parent groups like Helping Hands for Parents of Children with Learning disabilities to provide forums for parents to share their experiences.
• Helps children understand their strengths and weaknesses so that they are able to communicate their needs to their teachers and their peers.

For More Information, call CAL’s Place at the KIND Foundation at 561.625.6545 or e-mail us at kindskids@kindfoundation.org.