Page 17 - MidWeek - August 17, 2022

Giving Keiki A Little TLC With The Transforming Lives Center
“It’s a win, win, win,” Masa says. “Assets gets to advance its mission and these grad students get a really great training site and can learn un- der the supervision of Dr. Lee. We get to help the next gen- eration of psychologists train and not only do assessments but also sit with parents and go over results with them. And by using this model, we help make testing affordable for families.”
“It’s really individualized, and we look at it holistically,” Masa says. “We listen to the people on that child’s team — parents, teachers, etc. — and be a detective, providing as- sessments that will give more answers. Once we have that, we can start helping that team and build a road map of suc- cess for the child.”
Ryan Masa stands in front of Assets School’s Transforming Lives Center, which is slated to open later this month at the K-8 campus.
“It’s about understanding, acceptance and affirmation because we’ re all different,” he adds. “The spice of life is that we’ re not all the same. Diversity is a good thing. We talk about these challenges we face as a society, and we need people who think about the world differently. People who learn different are really innovative.”
“For these kids, they’re marginalized, draw inaccu- rate conclusions about them- selves; they’ ve been given negative feedback or they look at classmates and see how they’ re not matching up. To be part of an organi- zation that helps them see themselves for how they truly are and help them find their tribe, that’s the part of my job I love.”
Offerings will be robust,
“Parents will ask what they did wrong, and we tell
And that’s the magic of Assets, and, by extension, its
When a child learns differ- ently, their family goes on that journey with them, and Masa
notes that many turn to Assets during times of high stress and frustration when they feel a sense of guilt or shame at the circumstance.
them they didn’t do anything wrong; there’s nothing wrong with your child,” he says. “We don’t fix kids because they’re not broken.”
To train up the state’s fu- ture innovators, children who are part of the Assets ‘ohana are equipped with the tools to take control of their learning and the assurance that they’re not alone.
For more information, visit assets-school.org; and to inquire about a Trans- forming Lives Center assess- ment, email appointment@ assets-school.org.
AUGUST 17, 2022 MIDWEEK 15
FROM PAGE 14
related fields, as well as a su- pervised group of post-doc/ graduate students and interns. When the idea for the Trans- forming Lives Center came about, Assets and its partners discussed a mutually bene- ficial model that would help families and future mental health care providers.
ranging from ADHD and dyslexia screenings to more comprehensive exams like psycho-educational assess- ments — basically anything and everything to meet a child where they’ re at and help them learn to the best of their ability. If there are gaps in a student’s learning, the center is there to help figure out why.
Transforming Lives Center. The educational model looks at each child as an individu- al and provides personalized instruction and tools to help them succeed.
“When you talk about re- sources for families and kids who learn differently, there aren’t many in Hawai‘i,” Masa says.
WAIKIKI, HAWAI’I
BEYOND THE SPORT - JOEY CABELL: THE LEGEND OF SURF AUG 24TH 5PM—9PM, HAWAII THEATER
WAIKIKI NIGHTS PRESENTED BY OHA WATERMAN (THE LIFE OF DUKE KAHANAMOKU) AUG 25TH 6PM—9PM, DUKE STATUE
MORE INFO AT DUKESOCEANFEST.COM
15
E