My son is currently at Aspen Ranch

[Anonymous]

Aspen is actually running a brain-washing facility for the Religous Right. True story. Seriously though, has anyone noticed if they(Aspen) pay someone to make comments on this site on the weekend or is it strictly 9-5 M-F? You can notice that they are now using Guest profiles more frequently, mixing it up a bit. This site has obviously got their attention. "The Who" is most likely working in Cerritos California puling down 60 g's a year just to respond to crap said on this site. I applaud the rebels who post here for their small victory over a corporate giant.

Money flows for, against gay-marriage measure
By Josh Richman
Friday, July 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pm in Elections, General, same-sex marriage.

Big money kept changing hands this week for and against Proposition 8, the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Piedmont philanthropist and Obama fundraiser M. Quinn Delaney on Tuesday gave $50,000 to the campaign opposing the measure — she runs the Oakland-based, anti-racism Akonadi Foundation; is vice-chairwoman of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California; is on the Tides Foundation’s board of directors; and is married to real estate investor/developer Wayne Jordan.

Focus on the Family — the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based evangelical Christian organization led by James Dobson — on Tuesday gave $20,000 to the campaign for Prop. 8.

Garden Grove-based Container Supply Co. on Tuesday contributed $25,000 to the campaign for Prop. 8; the company’s president is former state Senate Republican Leader Rob Hurtt.

FamilyIQ.com founder Mark Hobbins — formerly, a cofounder of the Aspen Education Group, which operates boarding schools and boot camps for troubled teens — of Trabuco Canyone on Wednesday gave $25,000 to the campaign for Prop. 8.

Those opposing the amendment on Tuesday moved $1.25 million from the Equality California campaign fund into the “No on 8 — Equality for All” campaign fund.

And on Monday, as previously noted here, the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association gave $500,000 to the campaign for Prop. 8, the biggest single contribution to the campaign to date.

[Anonymous]

Friday, July 25, 2008
Past: Aspen Ranch
 
So I have [obviously] been thinking about AR a lot recently. Not sure why... just one of those "phases" all of us "alumni" go through. The good times. And the stupid shit. Speaking of stupid shit, what was the thing called when we were "locked down" in our cottage because of something or someone? I remember my first stay at the ranch, team 5 cottage, there was one of these. I think it was right after I got finished with round-up. Which, by the way, was TOTALLY different then my 2nd stay. Round-up used to be... totally secluded! They used to have us sleep in the basement & have absolutely no contact with our team, or anyone for that matter. Also, I remember not having the privilege of using real shampoo & conditioner. The was received once you got out of round-up. Until then, you had to use one of those commercial soap dispensers filled with a multi-tasking body cleanser. Ha ha ha!! Good old Sysco provided us with everything. Including some really disgusting looking food; you would only know this if you worked in the kitchen via Greenhorn privileges.

OKAY-- so for those of you who have never been to AR, or who have never heard of it, let me explain a little bit about the program.

First & for-most, AR is for the bad little kids (under 18) who their parents don't know what to do with them. Drugs, depression, violence, etc etc. Aspen Ranch is a "lock-down" boarding school in the middle of NOWHERE Utah. Loa, Utah, to be exact. Loa is about, a three or four hour drive (if I remember correctly) from Salt Lake City. Down many twisted roads, through & up & down mountains, passed mining & drilling... around NOTHING. Seriously. I suppose this was a good decision on their part considering it makes it very difficult to run away from this program. During my second stay, though, there were two boys in round-up who ran away & ended up riding w/a truck drive to Cali where they were eventually arrested & locked-up in Juvy [so we heard].
Aspen Ranch is in fact a Ranch... a wana-be campus type layout. You turn off of the "main highway" onto a long dusty "driveway." The driveway splits, at a point, and you can either go towards the horses & barn or to the rest of the "campus." Continuing up towards the main part, you pass the school on your left [which is a TOTAL joke... nothing actually gets accomplished here other than the girls sneaking off to have sex in the bathroom with the guys]. Next is the admin building where the president, therapists, etc have their offices. Then one of the guys cottages is next. A little bit further up are the three girls' cottages, on the right... teams 4, 5 & 6. On the left, up quite the dirt "mountain," I may add, is the main house. Continuing up the driveway to get to the main house, there is the boys "dorms" which houses the other three boys' teams in a dorm-style housing. There are typically no more than 12 guys/girls to a team at one time.
To break it down for you, here is the program description per [http://www.secretprisonsforteens.dk/US/AspenRanch.htm]:


Aspen Ranch is a behavior modification facility located near Loa, Utah.

It was established in 1995 and is a part of Aspen Education Group.

The detainees are a mix of children placed and paid for by their parents and detainees court-ordered to serve their time at the facility.

An average stay takes 11 months, but parents are advised not to talk about the length of the stay to prevent the child from knowing his or her release date.

Program description
Most of the detainees arrive by use of a Youth transport firm, but some arrive with their parents.

Level system
The ranch use a system, which consist of six levels. New detainees arrive at the lowest level known as round-up or orientation phase. The detainees has to remain silent in a basement or do manual labor during the demanded stay (2 weeks) on that phase.

They can apply for the next level at the end of the 2 weeks. If they are allowed to go on the next level, they leave the basement and goes on to live with group at the dormitory.

Higher levels has names like: Mustang, Maverick, Greenhorn, Rider and wrangler.

Communication between child and parents are letters-only at the lower levels. However, as the child moves up through the levels monitored phone-calls will be allowed. In the contract between parents and the facility, the parents give permission to open all mails going from and to the child, cut off phone calls and strip-search the child.

Detainees has to stay at given level for at unknown length of time. The reason given for that is that the detainee has to demonstrate that the student is really ready for the challenges of that level.



So going back to the "locked down" procedure/event when something happened... I feel like there was one during my second stay also, but I do not remember what that one was regarding. The first stay was because during our Sunday morning deep-clean, the part where we had to lay out EVERYTHING we had & kept in our possession [clothes, underwear, letters, notebooks, etc], I do not remember what this part was called, so the staff could go through them & make sure they were A)ours and B)withing the compliance of AR's regulations. Well some stuff was confiscated from this dumb girl [who looked like Michael Jackson seriously]; she got this stuff during the infamous Parent Week. One of the things she had was gum. Which god forbid, we were not allowed to have. The staff put it somewhere off to the side in "their possession" and apparently she stole it back. But of course didn't say anything. So the staff goes to trash the configated stuff & sees that the gum is missing. Of course she flipped out yelling at everyone & no one would come forward & say they did anything. This resulted in us all having to push the furniture to the middle of the room and sit, facing the wall [like some little toddlers] until someone would confess. Hours passed. We could not eat with everyone at the main house for lunch; instead we were delivered a PB&J sandwich and a little milk carton. I think we had to be silent for like 15-20 minute intervals & after that we had a chance to confess; during the confession time we had to write answers to some "deep-thought" questions about like honesty & shit. If I remember correctly.
Ha ha ha. It's kind of funny and pathetic to look back on, but this is the shit we went through and the shit that was oh-so-serious at the time.

Speaking of food, the meals there were so bizarre; and it's funny how excited we got about the "good" food. I think probably the most popular meal there with everyone was cereal mornings. Good old knock-off name brand cereals. The brand was Western Family, which is apparently the non-name-brand in Utah. I wish I could remember the cereals' names. They were pretty damn funny.

Posted by Ms. Ambitious at 10:28 AM
http://illusionofsuccess.blogspot.com/2 ... ranch.html

[joethebadass]

Yeah Mount Bachelor Academy only uses Western Family, too. One western family soda is allowed per week. "Saturday sodas" are currency there. Seriously, I could.'get pretty much anything that I needed done done for a 25 cent "Dr. West"

[Anonymous]

hmm. a lot of "parents" claiming to have kids at aspen ranch writing with suspiciously similar styles. And participants popping up in the middle of the thread apropo of nothing to announce their satisfaction with the same style hmm. its almost as if aspen education group is trying to combat the sworn testimony offered here, and is directly below their add for their abusive gulag.

http://www.heal-online.org/aspenranch.htm



SURVIVOR REPORT #1 BY ANONYMOUS
I wish I knew where to begin I will try to focus on the most disturbing experiences i can remember but, like many other survivors of such programs i find myself having a hard time remembering everything that went on.

 For the first two weeks you arrive at Aspen Ranch you are placed on a level known as round-up.  During this period of time you are either silent in a basement, or outside doing manual labor (changing watering pipes, building fences etc).  
You can not have any contact with your parents and get to talk to a therapist maybe once or twice.  One July morning when I refused to go outside, the sheets were ripped out from under me and I was carried and thrown onto a staircase where two men put my shoes on picked me up and dragged me to the field where I was to work.  Afraid of any other forms of punishment,I did.  Being physically threatened is a major way they get you to follow the rules.  

Every week you got to speak with your parents,  on speakerphone, with your therapist present for 20 minutes.  If you ever tried to tell your parents about the torture you were suffering through the conversation would be immediately terminated.  All letters were read before sent, all incoming mail opened read and inspected before given to you.  The only contact allowed was to your parents and had to be positive.  

On top of whatever work project your team was assigned to each day you also had to participate in an hour long physical, no matter how physically drained you were.  People would sometimes pass out or break down begging to stop but, for the most part the physical went on for as long as the supervisor saw fit.  The psychological abuse was never ending, if you were suspected of doing something wrong you would be forced to go into the basement and sit at a desk until you admitted what you were accused of.  We were often threatened to be sent to an out of country program where we were told there was no child labor laws, I still don't know if this program exists but, the mere threat was enough to keep most of us "in line".

 I could go on forever with stories of this sort.  My main point though, please do not put your child through
this, two years later I am still suffering from the lies I was fed.
 
Please protect my identity.  I know this is not a complete story but I think it gets the point across.  
 
SURVIVOR REPORT #2 BY ANON
These are all factual events that take place at aspen ranch everyday, these are events that have taken place and will continue to unless someone takes action soon. Everything in my statement is true and I give HEAL permission to use my
statement.  I am a survivor of the aspen ranch school, located in Loa, UT.  A Therapeutic Boarding school/ rehabilitation center.....my ass.  Aspen Ranch uses a physical restraint system called PCS (positive control system) which is actually FAR from positive. PCS includes a barrage or various pressure points and bent wrists, locked joints, and strained tendons. Once put into PCS submission you are held here by a minimum of 3 staff, you're pulse regularly checked to indicate your level of anger.  You are normally on the ground (also known as "Carpet Time" for a norm of 45 minutes to an hour)  They use any method of getting you down, whether it be calmly asking you to cooperate with them or tackling you through a crowd of people onto concrete (which seems to be a staff favorite). I have seen many of my friends at Aspen Ranch end up with broken
wrists from PCS. I have myself lost the feeling in the tips of my fingers for days  as a result of being held in PCS submission for over 3 hours. Once you are PCSed (on top of everything) you have to go to R&R (redirection and recovery)
more commonly known as the room where you where red sweat pants and sweat shirts even in the dead of the summer (in the Desert) to no avail.  The "on campus" psychiatrist's prescribe you medications based on staff behavioral reports, without even consulting you to see how you feel about putting a new foreign substance into your body or checking past medical
records (could be detrimental to your well being).   For example I myself was a bit ADHD according to staff, and the staff apparently thought that they were doing me a favor recommending that i be prescribed to ritalin (methylphindate), which
actually led to a number of seizures...to bad they didn't bother to  check to see if my family had a history of amphetamine
related seizures.  thanks aspen ranch!!
-Anon

[Whooter]

This post was edited to add a link back to the original poster, KJ

I just recently left Aspen Ranch (during the July parent week), graduating as a Rider. I was there for over 16 months! The substance abuse counselor was my primary therapist! I had a lot of problems going there, personal as well as a fucked up family. I've now ben home for 3 months and am doing great. I haven't relapsed or really even considered it.

Aspen was a great place! We didn't get pizza from the local place once a week, but we did get it on parent week and for special occasions. The food wasn't great but it was certainly bearable (and I'm picky!). The staff was AWESOME (most anyways), they were very caring and devoted. There have been MANY changes in staff and rules in the past 6 months there as well, so check it out! Sure I had my rough times, everyone does! I would defenitely recommend it if you're kids having a rough time, but be sure to check it out before to see if you think your kid would be a good fit.

And to whoever posted about seeing kids doing pull-ups with a man with a radio....he was the personal trainer! I was in Personal Training for over a year there and it helped a lot! I've never heard a complaint about PT, kids can sign up for an extra fee through a past navy seal who really pushes you hard! And there's a LONG waiting list.

Thanks, and please no one tell me I'm lying....when I left I was 2nd in seniority out of everyone there at the time! And to those parents who have kids there now...I wouldn't doubt if I knew them!

Link



...

[Troll Control]

On 2005-12-05 11:17:00, kk wrote:

"Hi, My son is currently at Aspen Ranch.  Ask me whatever you want.  Ijust was there.  I think the Therapists are great and the Teachers are great too.

Yes, it is corporate run and the bottom line is money and I don't like that aspect of it, but the people there do care.  The things I don't like is that the babysitters, that's what I call them, mean well, but they are just not smart enough to understand the rules and make decsions that affect are children and these are the people who are deciding what level and what punishments should be handed out.  Thank goodness most of our kids are very smart and most of the parents are very concerned and at any given time there is a parent on the property.  I also don't like the fact that for all the money that we are paying the place is pretty broken done.  there great selling point the ropes course has been inoperable for 7 months.  The selling point that the kids can excellorate their schooling is void because they do not have access to computers or the library on the weekend.

I personally spoke to Matt Alexander about this situation and he pormised me this would change.  I also feel that they slap every kid with the lable of ODD.  My kid I feel did not have ODD and after I insisted on further testing which of course I had to pay 1300 extra for they now say that he may have an Autistic spectrum disorder and they may not be able to help him, only after 5 months of him being there.  All these things are aggravating but I do believe that the people there are trying to help.  The food is pretty crappy too, but I guess if you are selling drugs and go to jail it would be worse.  By the way my son was never doing drugs or in any trouble with the law he was very depressed and his grades took a nose dive and we thought he was suicidal.  He is doing better and he actually wants to remain in a boarding school just in one that is not as strict with levels.  After reading all of this I'm not comfportable with any boarding school and am hoping to convince him to come home, or just finish his Junior year at the Ranch and as soon as he is done we will pull him.  any questions? Feel free!"

Wow.  I read this, and by the end I was thinking "There must be some mistake.  The story didn't end with 'and because of all of the red flags of abuse/neglect/fraud I listed before, I've taken my son home and am suing Aspen for fraud and breech of contract.'"  Are you nuts or what?

 :jawdrop:   Program parent admits to false diagnosis by Aspen (no surprise there) and fights back for her kid by...accepting a promise from Aspen employee to change that in the future ()  You people are fucking suckers.

Aspen is a fraud, as this parent readily admits.

[Anonymous]

:jawdrop:   Program parent admits to false diagnosis by Aspen (no surprise there) and fights back for her kid by...accepting a promise from Aspen employee to change that in the future ()  You people are fucking suckers.

QFT QFT QFT

[Whooter]

"AR has saved our daughter's life, and is doing great work for many others. There's no brainwashing, no religious indoctrination at all (in fact, periodically our daughter's therapist offers to take her "team" to church...but only if they WANT to go, and to a fairly casual non-Mormon church.

They have patients/students that range from "troubled teens" with arrest records, kids with drug problems, girls who have become "cutters", kids who have suffered mental breakdowns due to trauma - I have not met one parent (and we go to "parent week" activities quarterly and make other, sometimes unnanounced, visits at other times) who just wanted to lock-up their child - and in most cases the parent/child relationship improves dramatically after the child has been there a few months.

Yes, there are rules; yes, there is security (a kid can't just run off); yes, there can be "level drops", but only for serious rulebreaking.

We also know a couple program "graduates" who we keep in contact with, and the parents have had nothing but praise for AR. There ARE things we think could be improved - in school, science labs are not available except through specialized mail-order kits, or through the local college (40-some miles away). It's worked out OK, but it would be better if they had something set up on-site. The food is pretty "institutional", but it's healthy stuff and they are bringing in more variety. And periodically the team therapist or another staff member will take a group of upper-level kids out to a restaurant as a treat.

You also all completely miss one of the key things about AR - the use of equine assisted psychotherapy. EAP has a well-established background and it is truly amazing how some of these "asphalt and sidewalk" kids develop wonderful relationships with the horses, which parallels well with human relationships. It's fascinating to see how the kids generally pick a horse as "theirs" (they all seem to gravitate to one primary horse) that has the same personality as themselves, and they quickly learn how it is to deal with themselves. The equine staff are our favorite people on the ranch, and a couple I'm sure will be lifelong friends.

The kids who really "get into" the horsemanship aspect are provided with weekend seminars in Salt Lake City or St. George in horse training, specialized care, etc...all at no fee to the parents. Our daughter has a certification now in training, which has already gotten her a 2-week job locally for her summer visit home, and may result in a permanent position while she goes to college.

Yeah, it's a load of brainwashing and mistreatment.

You naysayers are simply fools who have NO idea what you're talking about. A bunch of lemmings, just following the group.

FWIW we also know many local therapists who think highly of AR and also laugh at the negative notions. Several have visited the place as well.

But it's always entertaining discussing these things with people who have no clue. However, if ONE person wakes up and realizes the negative crap is a load of...well, crap...maybe another child can be helped."

[Anonymous]

hmm. a lot of "parents" claiming to have kids at aspen ranch writing with suspiciously similar styles. And participants popping up in the middle of the thread apropo of nothing to announce their satisfaction with the exact same style hmm. its almost as if aspen education group is trying to combat the sworn testimony offered here, and is directly below their add for their abusive gulag.

http://www.heal-online.org/aspenranch.htm


SWORN TESTIMONY:
SURVIVOR REPORT #1 BY ANONYMOUS
I wish I knew where to begin I will try to focus on the most disturbing experiences i can remember but, like many other survivors of such programs i find myself having a hard time remembering everything that went on.

For the first two weeks you arrive at Aspen Ranch you are placed on a level known as round-up. During this period of time you are either silent in a basement, or outside doing manual labor (changing watering pipes, building fences etc).
You can not have any contact with your parents and get to talk to a therapist maybe once or twice. One July morning when I refused to go outside, the sheets were ripped out from under me and I was carried and thrown onto a staircase where two men put my shoes on picked me up and dragged me to the field where I was to work. Afraid of any other forms of punishment,I did. Being physically threatened is a major way they get you to follow the rules.

Every week you got to speak with your parents, on speakerphone, with your therapist present for 20 minutes. If you ever tried to tell your parents about the torture you were suffering through the conversation would be immediately terminated. All letters were read before sent, all incoming mail opened read and inspected before given to you. The only contact allowed was to your parents and had to be positive.

On top of whatever work project your team was assigned to each day you also had to participate in an hour long physical, no matter how physically drained you were. People would sometimes pass out or break down begging to stop but, for the most part the physical went on for as long as the supervisor saw fit. The psychological abuse was never ending, if you were suspected of doing something wrong you would be forced to go into the basement and sit at a desk until you admitted what you were accused of. We were often threatened to be sent to an out of country program where we were told there was no child labor laws, I still don't know if this program exists but, the mere threat was enough to keep most of us "in line".

I could go on forever with stories of this sort. My main point though, please do not put your child through
this, two years later I am still suffering from the lies I was fed.

Please protect my identity. I know this is not a complete story but I think it gets the point across.

SURVIVOR REPORT #2 BY ANON
These are all factual events that take place at aspen ranch everyday, these are events that have taken place and will continue to unless someone takes action soon. Everything in my statement is true and I give HEAL permission to use my
statement. I am a survivor of the aspen ranch school, located in Loa, UT. A Therapeutic Boarding school/ rehabilitation center.....my ass. Aspen Ranch uses a physical restraint system called PCS (positive control system) which is actually FAR from positive. PCS includes a barrage or various pressure points and bent wrists, locked joints, and strained tendons. Once put into PCS submission you are held here by a minimum of 3 staff, you're pulse regularly checked to indicate your level of anger. You are normally on the ground (also known as "Carpet Time" for a norm of 45 minutes to an hour) They use any method of getting you down, whether it be calmly asking you to cooperate with them or tackling you through a crowd of people onto concrete (which seems to be a staff favorite). I have seen many of my friends at Aspen Ranch end up with broken
wrists from PCS. I have myself lost the feeling in the tips of my fingers for days as a result of being held in PCS submission for over 3 hours. Once you are PCSed (on top of everything) you have to go to R&R (redirection and recovery)
more commonly known as the room where you where red sweat pants and sweat shirts even in the dead of the summer (in the Desert) to no avail. The "on campus" psychiatrist's prescribe you medications based on staff behavioral reports, without even consulting you to see how you feel about putting a new foreign substance into your body or checking past medical
records (could be detrimental to your well being). For example I myself was a bit ADHD according to staff, and the staff apparently thought that they were doing me a favor recommending that i be prescribed to ritalin (methylphindate), which
actually led to a number of seizures...to bad they didn't bother to check to see if my family had a history of amphetamine
related seizures. thanks aspen ranch!!
-Anon

[Anonymous]

hmm. a lot of "parents" claiming to have kids at aspen ranch writing with suspiciously similar styles. And participants popping up in the middle of the thread apropo of nothing to announce their satisfaction with the exact same style hmm. its almost as if aspen education group is trying to combat the sworn testimony offered here, and is directly below their add for their abusive gulag.

http://www.heal-online.org/aspenranch.htm


SWORN TESTIMONY:
SURVIVOR REPORT #1 BY ANONYMOUS
I wish I knew where to begin I will try to focus on the most disturbing experiences i can remember but, like many other survivors of such programs i find myself having a hard time remembering everything that went on.

For the first two weeks you arrive at Aspen Ranch you are placed on a level known as round-up. During this period of time you are either silent in a basement, or outside doing manual labor (changing watering pipes, building fences etc).
You can not have any contact with your parents and get to talk to a therapist maybe once or twice. One July morning when I refused to go outside, the sheets were ripped out from under me and I was carried and thrown onto a staircase where two men put my shoes on picked me up and dragged me to the field where I was to work. Afraid of any other forms of punishment,I did. Being physically threatened is a major way they get you to follow the rules.

Every week you got to speak with your parents, on speakerphone, with your therapist present for 20 minutes. If you ever tried to tell your parents about the torture you were suffering through the conversation would be immediately terminated. All letters were read before sent, all incoming mail opened read and inspected before given to you. The only contact allowed was to your parents and had to be positive.

On top of whatever work project your team was assigned to each day you also had to participate in an hour long physical, no matter how physically drained you were. People would sometimes pass out or break down begging to stop but, for the most part the physical went on for as long as the supervisor saw fit. The psychological abuse was never ending, if you were suspected of doing something wrong you would be forced to go into the basement and sit at a desk until you admitted what you were accused of. We were often threatened to be sent to an out of country program where we were told there was no child labor laws, I still don't know if this program exists but, the mere threat was enough to keep most of us "in line".

I could go on forever with stories of this sort. My main point though, please do not put your child through
this, two years later I am still suffering from the lies I was fed.

Please protect my identity. I know this is not a complete story but I think it gets the point across.

SURVIVOR REPORT #2 BY ANON
These are all factual events that take place at aspen ranch everyday, these are events that have taken place and will continue to unless someone takes action soon. Everything in my statement is true and I give HEAL permission to use my
statement. I am a survivor of the aspen ranch school, located in Loa, UT. A Therapeutic Boarding school/ rehabilitation center.....my ass. Aspen Ranch uses a physical restraint system called PCS (positive control system) which is actually FAR from positive. PCS includes a barrage or various pressure points and bent wrists, locked joints, and strained tendons. Once put into PCS submission you are held here by a minimum of 3 staff, you're pulse regularly checked to indicate your level of anger. You are normally on the ground (also known as "Carpet Time" for a norm of 45 minutes to an hour) They use any method of getting you down, whether it be calmly asking you to cooperate with them or tackling you through a crowd of people onto concrete (which seems to be a staff favorite). I have seen many of my friends at Aspen Ranch end up with broken
wrists from PCS. I have myself lost the feeling in the tips of my fingers for days as a result of being held in PCS submission for over 3 hours. Once you are PCSed (on top of everything) you have to go to R&R (redirection and recovery)
more commonly known as the room where you where red sweat pants and sweat shirts even in the dead of the summer (in the Desert) to no avail. The "on campus" psychiatrist's prescribe you medications based on staff behavioral reports, without even consulting you to see how you feel about putting a new foreign substance into your body or checking past medical
records (could be detrimental to your well being). For example I myself was a bit ADHD according to staff, and the staff apparently thought that they were doing me a favor recommending that i be prescribed to ritalin (methylphindate), which
actually led to a number of seizures...to bad they didn't bother to check to see if my family had a history of amphetamine
related seizures. thanks aspen ranch!!
-Anon

[Whooter]

the important thing is the place has...without a single doubt...saved our daughter's life. TO sum up some of the other things: She's graduating from high school a year EARLY, and home-district had her do testing (plus she had a great SAT score) so it's no fluke, and she gets a DUAL diploma from Utah and our home state. She's happy, healthy - recently had another home visit that was totally without issues. She has direction in her life, and although she will have on going therapy for some time due to the trauma that triggered her particular problems, she understands it and is dealing with it from a healthy perspective.

A side benefit is she already has a part-time job (while she goes to college) working for a horse trainer...which is good, because the downside (if you can call it that) is she/we are in the process of buying a horse! But, since she's no looking into equine-related veterinary medicine, that's really a benefit.

I'm truly sorry a lot of you just do not understand the program, but it seems you're just going off the slanted "Brat Camp" stories, and piling on based on crap posted by people with NO facts, who've never been there, and have never spoken to a student or parent who has.

[Anonymous]

the important thing is the place has...without a single doubt...saved our daughter's life. TO sum up some of the other things: She's graduating from high school a year EARLY, and home-district had her do testing (plus she had a great SAT score) so it's no fluke, and she gets a DUAL diploma from Utah and our home state. She's happy, healthy - recently had another home visit that was totally without issues. She has direction in her life, and although she will have on going therapy for some time due to the trauma that triggered her particular problems, she understands it and is dealing with it from a healthy perspective.

A side benefit is she already has a part-time job (while she goes to college) working for a horse trainer...which is good, because the downside (if you can call it that) is she/we are in the process of buying a horse! But, since she's no looking into equine-related veterinary medicine, that's really a benefit.

I'm truly sorry a lot of you just do not understand the program, but it seems you're just going off the slanted "Brat Camp" stories, and piling on based on crap posted by people with NO facts, who've never been there, and have never spoken to a student or parent who has.

John Reuben keep your fictitious "accounts" coming. Maybe Michael, the son you murdered can get more company 6 feet under, where you put him. Aspens Education Group is sending him company at a pretty steady rate

http://www.caica.org/SAGEWALK_DEATH_SER ... _CAICA.htm

Aspen Education Program has the highest amount of on site deaths of any "program"










At about 2:30pm on Friday, August 28th, 2009, members of the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office, and Law Enforcement of the Bureau of Land Management responded to a report of the death of a juvenile male at a wilderness camp in northern Lake County.  According to the initial information given to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, the juvenile was attending the Sage Walk Wilderness Camp.  The juvenile had been received at the Sage Walk camp facility the day before, after having passed a sports physical.  At the time of the incident, the youth had been participating in a hike which is a part of the behavioral program of the wilderness camp.

 

The initial report received by the Sheriff's Office was of a sick male, followed by information that CPR was in progress.  Air Link air ambulance was requested by Deschutes County Sheriff out of Bend.  CPR continued for approximately 45 minutes until the air ambulance arrived.  Subsequently, the 16 year old male from Portland was declared dead at the scene.

 

Due to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the northern part of Lake County, Deschutes County Sheriff responded and secured the scene until Lake County law enforcement arrived.

 

Deputies interviewed camp counselors and other juveniles that had been on the hike.  An autopsy was performed on the youth on Sunday, August 30th.

 

Pending the results of the Sheriff's investigation, the Bureau of Land Management has suspended the permit for the wilderness camp to operate on BLM Land.

[Anonymous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_m ... n_facility

""Often the practice of behavior modification in facilities comes into question (see recent interest in Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, Aspen Education Group and the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools). Often these types of restrictive issues are discussed as part of ethical and legal standards (see Professional practice of behavior analysis).""


Aspen has a better PR firm, but is the same ball of abuse, torture, imprisonment, brainwashing.

[Whooter]

the important thing is the place has...without a single doubt...saved our daughter's life. TO sum up some of the other things: She's graduating from high school a year EARLY, and home-district had her do testing (plus she had a great SAT score) so it's no fluke, and she gets a DUAL diploma from Utah and our home state. She's happy, healthy - recently had another home visit that was totally without issues. She has direction in her life, and although she will have on going therapy for some time due to the trauma that triggered her particular problems, she understands it and is dealing with it from a healthy perspective.

A side benefit is she already has a part-time job (while she goes to college) working for a horse trainer...which is good, because the downside (if you can call it that) is she/we are in the process of buying a horse! But, since she's no looking into equine-related veterinary medicine, that's really a benefit.

I'm truly sorry a lot of you just do not understand the program, but it seems you're just going off the slanted "Brat Camp" stories, and piling on based on crap posted by people with NO facts, who've never been there, and have never spoken to a student or parent who has.

John Reuben keep your fictitious "accounts" coming.

 So fornits has finally reached the point where parents and survivors stories which are not negative are just tossed aside as fictitious.   "Lets tighten things up and only allow the battered few thru the door!!!"  Ha,Ha,Ha  Finally got you to admit it...... its a good first step.

[Anonymous]

So fornits has finally reached the point where parents and survivors stories which are not negative are just tossed aside as fictitious.   "Lets tighten things up and only allow the battered few thru the door!!!"  Ha,Ha,Ha  Finally got you to admit it...... its a good first step.

It is a good first step that you're finally able to acknowledge those who were battered. The next would be for you to comprehend that that number is far more than a few.
Helpful to that end would be you’re considering the various kinds of injuries caused to children in programs.

Not all are as physical violence. Assaults like rape and battery do happen in programs, as well as imposed stress positions, prolonged physically exhausting exertions (death marches for some) and inadequate or even no proper medical care.
In addition to these injurious violations of children the damages accrued from dehumanizing humiliations and infliction of emotional abuse and destructive thought reform tactics are very real, very pervasive in the TTI, and completely unnecessary to extending guidance to children.