Aspen Achievement Academy

[Antigen]

Proven? Show me the proof. Anectdotes won't do, either. I want to see a peer reviewed long-term outcome study that follows clients for at least five years and that shows the rate of suicides and other psyche casualties along side the glowing testimonials.

From the bottom of any large organization looking up through the ranks, human greed and stupidity look a lot like a conspiracy.
--S. Gilbert

[FaceKhan]

Proven? Ill tell you one thing that has been proven, where there is a messed up kid, there are almost always messed up parents.

Long term peer reviewed studies are difficult to come by on this industry. Many private wildnerness programs are feeders for more abusive long term lockups so no controlled study is possible. In addition there is no set criteria for admission and no demonstratable illness whether physical or psychological or addiction to a particular drug that is common among inmates to even begin to guage effectiveness. Kids in these programs range from having to go to avoid jail, needing drug treatment, having been abused in the home, going willingly thinking it is a teen camping trip, to just being a healthy teenager who does not get along with parents or stepparents.  They will take any kid whose parents have the money to send them.

Even evidence that the program was effective could just be an anomaly because they do not take hard cases. They may only take kids with minor or no problems at all.

If a hospital declares that it has a 99% rate of success on all its cases, that is meaningless because 99% of its cases could be little more than a scraped knee or a broken finger and that says nothing about the success rate for its high risk operations.

 The only one I have ever heard of is related to Vision Quest operated programs used on juvenile offenders in California over a decade or so in the late 70s' and 80's.

The study found no significant difference in the longterm recidivism rates of those in juvenile prisons and those in vision quest.

[twistdwile]

http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/rrt/keith_russell.htm
http://www.cnr.uidaho.edu/wrc/Publicati ... ations.htm


have a ball!!!

it wont make a difference if you go in with a closed mind.

[twistdwile]

where in md are you from?

[FaceKhan]

The author of that study is not exactly an independent observer as noted below I clipped off his CV. In addition their is no control group in the study I read and the sample is extremely small. Just 3 kids each from 4 programs. It is far too self-reporting there is no static criteria indicating the reason for admission except as "reported" by the student at the end of the program. Basically the most that can be garnered from this is that upon leaving the program at least handful out of the 12 total clients that he chose to quote thought the program helped them. There is no raw data shown as is customary in scientific studies and the data he chooses to make available has been "selected" as examples even though including the full text of all the client responses to his questions would not take up much space since there were only 12 of them.  Obviously this wreaks of selective reporting of his data.

Whew one study debunked a few more to go. Peer reviewed or not this guy has a phd in being a wildnerness guru essentially so it is not like he is gonna be able to be objective on the benefits and problems of something he loves to do.
   


Extension and Service :
Reviewer, Journal of Leisure Research, Special Issue: Effects of Adventure programming. Peer reviewer of articles for journal on issues associated with adventure education. (Spring 2002)

Member, Committee on State Licensing Standards for Outdoor Treatment Programs, States of Idaho and Oregon. Served on committee with state agencies and private practitioners to develop standards for the licensing of outdoor programs for the treatment of children and
adolescents. (2000-Present).

Reviewer, International Journal of Wilderness. Serve as a peer reviewer of articles for international journal on issues associated with wilderness management. (Spring 1999-present)

Board of Directors Secretary/Treasurer, Palouse Clearwater Environmental Institute. A non-profit organization aimed at watershed restoration, regional transportation planning, and alternative food
systems. Duties include attending board meetings, participating in community workshops, and attending local meetings. (1999-Present)

Research Associate and Member, Outdoor Behavior Healthcare Industry Council (OBHIC). Duties include attending quarterly meetings, policy analysis, and development of research instruments for industry representatives. (1998-Present)

Membership in Professional and Scholarly Organizations:
Outdoor Behavior Healthcare Industry Council, 1997-Present, Director of Research, 1998-Present
National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, 1999-Present
National Association of Therapeutic Wilderness Camps, 1999-Present
Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group, 1999-Present
Association of Experiential Education, 1994-Present
Host Committee for International Conference, 1996
International Society of Ecological Economics, 1994-Present
Ecological Society America, 1995-Present
American Whitewater Association, 1995-Present
Idaho Rivers United, 1994-Present

[FaceKhan]

As if I would be telling you or posting my location on this board at all. I don't want some CEDU nut job burning my mailbox or breaking my windows in the middle of the night.

Call me paranoid but even if I thought you were trustworthy with that data (and I don't know you that well to even judge that so don't take too much offense)

I would definitely not be posting my personal details on this board. There are a lot of whackos in this industry and many programs are just plain old abusive cults.  

 So for those who care.


I happen to be in a hardened bunker somewhere in Wyoming under about 5 feet of snow with no less than 136 independent reentry vehicles armed with thermonuclear warheads. If you want to visit be sure to call ahead because the guy at the door usually has an assualt rifle and tends to drink on the job.

[Antigen]

How rediculous! All of the 'peers' are members of the organizations under study. All of the clients are self selected and self reporting. And, as Face notes, there is no control group.

It amazes me that presumably responsible, educated adults accept this tripe as anything like a serious scientific study.

Tough Love: Abuse of a type particularly enjoyable to the abuser, in that it combines the pleasures of sadism with those of self-righteousness. Commonly employed and widely admired in 12-step groups.
--Chaz Bufe

[AParent]

It has been almost a year since my first posting requesting info.  I must tell you after many hours of research and a site visit, we decided not to send our daughter to a wilderness camp.  Yes, we rejected the recommendation of her counselor and physician and I must say, we made the right choice.  We chose instead to move with her to a safe environment.  We have also stopped the sessions with the psycologist.  In her case, we felt much of her behavior was due to the torment of a sexual predator and inappropriate peer pressure at school and in the therapy sessions. It was also due to a lack of connection with family, both immediate and distant.

Today, our daughter is a happy, healthy and responsible young adult.  She has managaed to get back on track at school, maintaining a 4.0 even with honors classes and a part-time tutoring job. Acceptance to a good college is once again important to her.  Family time is also now an important part of her life. Her self-esteem and confidence have improved significantly.  Accomplishment with hard work has replaced the sense of entitlement she once exhibited.

Our daughter now realizes life will be disappointing and difficult at times and that's ok.  Life is about choices.  Making good ones will yield good results.  She also knows that no matter what, we will also love her and be here to help her through her struggles.  We will never give up on or abandon her. We will always share in her joyous moments and in her times of sorrow not just because we are her parents, but because we love and care about her as a wonderful human being who has many great things to offer the world.

[twistdwile]

congrats, on your daughter progress and the dedication and involvement of your family.  i wish that alot of the parents of my students were as involved and dedicated as yours was.  i wish all the best of luck to your family.

[FaceKhan]

When you recall that program promoters literally tell you that she would be dead/in jail if she did not get into one of their programs immediately it puts things in perspective when things get better with a minimum of, (what is that program word again?) "intervention" and without dropping 20 thousand on a 2 month forced hike in the mountains or 200 thousand on a 3 year "intervention" in a tropical prison camp.

 :grin: I love being right.  Good luck to your family. Its nice to hear back from people with good news for us.

[Anonymous]

Aspen achievement academy saved my life and i love it and i wanna work there!!!  i miss it so much if anyone has info on qualifications to work there please post them thank you

[Anonymous]

Maybe you want to work there because you have a difficult time living in reality outside of aspen.

[Anonymous]

ive lived outside of aspen alot longer than i was there i have no problem living outside of aspen.
so if anyone know the qualifications to work there or if anyone has or does work there or has gone there post somthing

[twistdwile]

hey i live here and curently work there.  can't wait to go to work.  what would you like to know and i will get back with you next week.

[Anonymous]

i just want to know like how old u have to be to work there and if u have to have a degree in anything. how long have u worked there??? maybe u were one of my staff people i went there last summer on may 25 my name is laura.