20 Years of Supporting Kids, Families & Our Community—thank you for helping make these 20 years so meaningful. San Diego Kids First began with a vision of helping just one child at a time—and now, 20 years later, that vision continues to grow stronger every day. FROM OUR VERY FIRST FLYER (CREATED BY DR. PONTILLO HERSELF!) [...]
New! Walk-In Office Hours with Our Clinic Intake Coordinator, JENAYA Have Questions? We’re Here to Help! Whether you're exploring services for the first time or need assistance navigating your options, we’re here to support you. Every Wednesday from 10 am to 12 pm and Thursday from 10 am - 1pm new clients and families are [...]
We’re excited to introduce two new sessions of our social skills groups that are designed to support your children in building confidence and strengthening their social skills! Our social skills groups are separated by age and limited in size to ensure that each child will have their own individualized goals to work on within the group setting! Here’s what we’re offering: Ages 4-5 Ages 6-8 Throughout [...]
As an occupational therapist, I know how common it is for kids (and parents!) to feel more dysregulated as the school year comes to an end. The mix of excitement, routine changes, and academic demands can lead to increased dysregulation. Here are three tips from our occupational therapist Heidi Joachims, OTD, OTR/L to help you [...]
I’m excited to announce that we are now offering new openings and appointments for our clients! Our specialized behavior interventionist will provide these targeted services within the community through our sister clinic, San Diego Behavior Solutions. New Availaibities include Social Skills Group Training, In-Home Behavioral Interventions, Classroom/School-based Interventions, and OCD Treatment/Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). [...]
These days it seems that our children have more to learn than just their academic curriculum. From elementary through to high school, additional homework responsibilities which rely on skills such as planning ahead, organization, sequencing, decision making, and task persistence are crucial to academic success. Many children struggle in completing their homework on time and [...]
These sessions are scheduled with one of our experts to develop specific tools and strategies designed for the individual child and family. These sessions can be scheduled as needed, and often in conjunction with other types of services, such as therapy/counseling or evaluations. Make an appointment
Many children, teens and adults struggle with anxiety at some point in their lives. Anxiety can be very distressing and debilitating. Extreme fear, worry, and anticipatory anxiety can lead children to begin to avoid situations and greatly limit their activities. Anxiety that is left unaddressed can also lead to poor self-esteem, poor self-confidence, and can [...]
Learning to tolerate and regulate one’s negative emotions (e.g. frustration, anger, etc.) is a developmental skill that often takes time and practice to master. If your child is exhibiting significant anger outbursts, or appears to “go from 0 to 60” when frustrated, he or she may benefit from learning more sophisticated self-regulation strategies. Below are [...]
We are thrilled to share a huge round of applause for Heidi Joachims, OT, OTR/L, for her outstanding parent presentation last Friday at a local elementary school! Heidi captivated an audience of over 20 engaged parents, diving into the fascinating world of regulation from an occupational therapist’s perspective. Her insightful guidance and practical tips empowered [...]
