Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Aspen Education Group
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Anonymous:
Anti-Derailment Post:
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... c&start=60
There were more kids who were dangers to themselves. I honestly think ASR is very lucky in that no one has succeeded in committing suicide. I can tell you first hand that for someone with major depression ASR could drive you past breaking point easily. It seemed like they pick and chose who they took seriously about being suicidal. I was not taken seriously, and had my roommate not been in the room one day, I may well have taken my life. I do not say that to evoke pity or anything else like that, and I was not using it to "manipulate" ( a favorite ASR term)
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... c&start=60
Three Springs Waygookin wrote:
1) What is self-study?
2) Describe this Escorting more please?
3) Why was a student doing the escorting of a self-harming/suicidal resident and not a staff member?
A self study was the worst of the three major consequences. (reflection, challenge, self study). You had work projects, all free time was spent at your table, facing the wall. Lots of writing assignments. Loss of all privileges. Standing during all meetings. You most likely had strict bans
Basically I had to take her back to the dorm and be with her while she gathered up her things and changed, etc. I don't remember if she showered or not. I was basically there to make sure she didn't attempt again.
I don't know why they had me do it. I was "trusted" at that point, and honestly... probably a better choice than some of the staff.
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yes, they did. to a large degree. Dean Kent (the staff mentioned in the article) was gone by the time i had arrived. (he was there in 1997, and i got to ASR in Cummington, MA on January 5th of 1998) i had heard from other students about Dean, that he was a really nice guy but fired b/c he'd called DSS on them. Brett Carey was still the Dean of Student Life when i arrived, and his wife Lisa also helped in the fitness department & was pregnant when i first arrived. They had 2 other daughters, Madison & Carly. The whole thought was a bit frightening, because when we had the 2 hour group "therapy" sessions 2 times a week, they were harsh and abusive to say the least. All of us students would be split into 2 groups, and we'd be rounded up in a circle to get screamed at, belittled and dehumanized. They called it "confrontational", although it was more like verbal abuse and intentional slaughtering.
i was very afraid while i was there, as a student with an extensive sexual abuse history involving rape & incest, i was constantly the target of this slaughtering, esp. b/c i was overweight at the time. needless to say, i left ASR with anorexia some 19 months later.
Brett & other students were all allowed to scream vulgarities at you, called you a "fat bitch, slut," and all. at the age of 15 i learned the word "dildo" while playing scrabble with Brett. One of my roomates claimed that Brett had forced her into sexual operations.
Most of all, it was excusable for students to haze each other.
It was almost looked at as funny. One Staff named Kristen Merhoff gave me funny looks and made sarcastic and patronizing comments when i'd opened up to her about my eating disorder.
Later on, a staff named Amy Robichaud would scream at me for ruining my life, pushing everyone away, talking about how i was a disasterous person, unworthy of being loved. To say the least, she was an abusive person, much alike a person in the throws of an addiction like alchoholism & drug addictions, both of which she admittedly had. There was a great deal of favoritism there, even staff who seemed to want to gain the approval of certain students.
The labor & sleep deprivation that was mentioned in the article is most likely in reference to the "Lifesteps". These were so called "workshops" it was mandatory for all students to attend. Staff and students would be expected to open up there deepest and most unknown
secrets for the sake of "growing". It's true, there was little sleeping allowed & often i myself left feeling shamed & ridiculed.
i was one of the main targets in that school the entire time i was there, a target of hazing & was even blamed for a student breaking into the med office and comsuming large quantities of my prescriptions. For the first 5 months i was there, you could litterally leave, go smoke 1/2 a pack of cigarettes, drop a couple tabs of acid, take like 5 hits off a joint come back & they wouldn't even realize it.
ASR is, to say the least, a very very fucked up place. i have several more things to say, but this whole thing would take eons.
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... r&start=30
I am a former student at ASR. I was in the first peer group, 97-98. My experience there haunts me to this day. I have read many articles that refer to the "old staff" and "new staff". I cannot speak for the way ASR is run now, being 2004, but I can speak for how it was run in 97 and 98. Let me start by saying that I am not an angry, defiant kid who is trying to start trouble for ASR. I have graduated high school and am about to graduate college and enter law school. I don't get into trouble, I am a productive member of society, and want people to know the truth. We were badgered, belittled, sworn at, made to stay up all night during "life steps" and given only small rations of food, had all calls to our parents monitored by staff and had the phone hung up on us if we tried to complain to our parents about these things, scrutinized and humiliated on a daily basis. Our mail was read, staff lost their voices by yelling so loudly at us, I personally was called a "slut", a rich little Daddysgirl, a doormat, told my dad tried to buy my love with money, made to discuss personal sexual and private experiences in group sessions with other peers, made to write a ten page paper by hand about what my "issues" were, and if the staff didn't like it, I started over ( this was because I was too close to my friend there, and they put us on bans so we couldn't talk to each other). People, whomever wants to hear specific stories about all of these things, I would be more than happy to share with you!!! email me at gilligansisland636@hotmail.com i bet i can help you get her out of there
I also graduated from ASR very recently on August the 6th. And I can tell you right now that any kid who complained, their parents were manipulated right out of believing them. There was extreme emotional abuse there, and the only reason anyone's behavior was modified was because they were scared shitless of staying there longer or going to a worse program. We were so scared, your own friends turned against you and you couldnt trust them. The group sessions were awful. One of my friends who had issues with sleeping around was in group and the counselor in the room told her that she might as well keep a mattress tied to her back. Daily, I heard awful things about myself and everyday I was just so sad. Places like this are awful and they need to be stopped. ASR isnt even the worst of them but they all need to go.
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http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?t= ... r&start=60
I am a an ASR graduate. I graduated in October of 03. At the end of the program I believed that ASR had done a lot for me. Looking back I am shocked that I ever thought that. I was made to turn against my friends and turn them in for the slightest rule breaking (for example listening to music). In group we were often degraded and yelled at, supposedly to make us better. Several times I was suicidal and instead of worrying they told me I was lying and being manipulative. In one group eveyone was allowed to go around and say their judgements against everyone else things like "youre a fat slut". That group was horrible. You were scared into being good and behaving. I'm not sure why I thought this place was so great, I feel as if I was brainwashed in a way.
The wilderness experience was horrible. I spent over 40 days in the outdoors being punished for any little thing we did wrong. My first day I had to run 20 minutes and when I stopped the counselers screamed at me and when i vomited they didnt care. just told me i shouldt have drank so muich water.
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TheWho:
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--- Quote ---But you do admit it was a "RESTRICTIVE" enviornment for your daughter.
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Yes, it was, restrictive and very structured. It is very difficult to have one without the other.
Any activities involving young people are typically very structured and restrictive in order to be successful....summer camps.....school system......almost all sports activities.....boarding schools.
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But these schools are known to not allow kids to be kids. They restrict their growth and restrict them from talking to each other, force them to sleep outside if they are bad, refuse to feed them. I have seen it written here.
It goes beyond just phones calls.
TheWho:
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--- Quote from: ""TheWho"" ---
--- Quote ---But you do admit it was a "RESTRICTIVE" enviornment for your daughter.
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Yes, it was, restrictive and very structured. It is very difficult to have one without the other.
Any activities involving young people are typically very structured and restrictive in order to be successful....summer camps.....school system......almost all sports activities.....boarding schools.
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But these schools are known to not allow kids to be kids. They restrict their growth and restrict them from talking to each other, force them to sleep outside if they are bad, refuse to feed them. I have seen it written here.
It goes beyond just phones calls.
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You cant believe everything you read here. ASR doesn’t withhold food or force the kids to sleep outside for punishment..... I am sure some of the stories you read here are true and some are not, but how are we to know which ones to believe.
The same kids that claim to have been abused at these schools and calling foul are also saying that I am a serial killer, rapist even child molester Ha,Ha,Ha,. I think they mean well (in their own way) but their stories are just that (Stories) in many cases and need to be taken with a grain of salt, they are a little frustrated that I don’t agree with their point of view.
As I suggest to many parents is to not take my word or those here on fornits as gospel. Call the schools and ask them if you could speak with parents who had kids go thru the program or take a ride over and walk thru the campus, talk to a few of the kids at random, that is what I did, and you will get a better feel if it is a good fit for your son or daughter.
Anonymous:
--- Quote from: ""TheWho"" ---You cant believe everything I say. ASR does withhold food and force the kids to sleep outside for punishment..... although I'd love to pretend otherwise by making snide remarks about how most of the posters here are liars, it's obviously not working and, frankly, if even a third of this shit is true this hellhole is a place to avoid.
The same kids that have been abused at these schools and calling foul are also correct in saying that I am a serial killer, rapist even child molester Ha,Ha,Ha, *wank wank wank*. God I love torturing kids. I think they mean well (in their own way) but their stories are quite true in pretty much cases and need to be taken as fact, they are a little frustrated that I intend to derail Fornits as much as possible.
As I suggest to many parents is to take my word as gospel. Instead of finding unbiased information, call the shitpits and ask them if you could speak with parents who had kids go thru the program (of course they won't give you the phone numbers of the ones who wised up and pulled their kids!) or take a ride over and take an EXTREMELY guided tour, talk to a few of the kids at random (no, not the kids they hid away for the visit, don't try to find THEM!), that is what I did, and you just might end up like me. And isn't that what you want in life as a parent? To end up having to defend an incredibly poor decision for three thousand posts against an unyielding Fornits while your daughter remains estranged?
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Anonymous:
The who himself admitted to being a child molester after somebody posted his listing on the sexual offenders registry. His exact words were "i have paid my debt to society" He then deleted it. I am hoping somebody will repost this.
Dont debate this piece of shit. Dont even acknowledge his existence. He is nothing. He has no merit or right to be heard.
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