Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Aspen Education Group
How many deaths have occured at Aspen Ed programs so far?
Troll Control:
Wow. Thanks for posting that. Can you enlighten us on why the kids aren't helped when they need it? Does the admin direct staff not to help children in distress? Please tell us the thinking behind this cruel behavior. Thanks in advance...
9403390:
well I admit I dont work with kids now or even as some kind of dr or social worker so dont want to come off as an expert in what kids need. Also it was a long time ago now. But it is like i said before if a kid said they were not well they would usually have you tell them to just drink more water. It was usually only if they went really red or white in the face or maybe threw up or something that they would be beleived. I dont remember being explicitly told not to believe kids, it was less overt stuff like being reminded that kids were keen to go home and likely to try manipulative things. We were told to use our judgement with this in mind. The guy who owned the place said he was troubled as a teenager and knew how they thought.
Also some staff did shit that was just bad like being too heavy handed with kids. Like a kid would maybe be obnoxious but not a physical threat but they would restrain them, or if a kid was say having a tantrum one guy I worked with wouldn't actually try and talk them down he'd more say stuff that would make them more keyed up and then get physical. I understood when we learnt restraint technique it was supposed to be for emergencies only not as regular discipline.
On hikes kids werent allowed to know when the next rest stop was or anything. This was totally demotivational and made some kids worse, If you ever coached a sport you'd know the best way to get kids to push themselves is to remind them how close the finish line is not keep them in the dark. Also some kids would have to talk about deeply private stuff that they just didn't want to. Im sure this might be some technique that works with private Drs but it just freaked the kids out to have their friends listening. The kids kept diaries that we were supposed to read for progress. I never kept a diary so dont know what they are all about but anyone who has a sister knows how batshit crazy girls get if you read their diary so I think they should have just given kids privacy here if they really thought the damn thing was such good therapy.
Also some kids were pushed way too hard like one little guy was scared of heights and frankly i think borderline retarded. So we had to go across this bridge and I promised him I would be behind him the whole way and if he did it he wouldn't have to do anything high again (except maybe cross it on the way back). So he did it and we all clapped him and then the next day there is a trust exerciese where you climb up and fall into the other people and I tell him he just has to be a team player and catch the other guys and he is happy enough with that but my co worker later makes him go through with the high climb exercise and he is sheet fucking white and trembling and he eventually literally pisses his pants and is totally humiliated in front of the others. I just dont get how that builds a kid up.
Anne Bonney:
--- Quote from: "9403390" --- I dont remember being explicitly told not to believe kids, it was less overt stuff like being reminded that kids were keen to go home and likely to try manipulative things. We were told to use our judgement with this in mind.
--- End quote ---
That's so they can maintain plausible deniability.
--- Quote ---Also some staff did shit that was just bad like being too heavy handed with kids. Like a kid would maybe be obnoxious but not a physical threat but they would restrain them, or if a kid was say having a tantrum one guy I worked with wouldn't actually try and talk them down he'd more say stuff that would make them more keyed up and then get physical. I understood when we learnt restraint technique it was supposed to be for emergencies only not as regular discipline.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, again so they can maintain that deniability. It was standard operating procedure in Straight and, from what I've read and seen, in most other programs as well.
--- Quote ---On hikes kids werent allowed to know when the next rest stop was or anything. This was totally demotivational and made some kids worse, If you ever coached a sport you'd know the best way to get kids to push themselves is to remind them how close the finish line is not keep them in the dark.
--- End quote ---
Because it's not about building kids up.....it's about tearing them down.
--- Quote --- Also some kids would have to talk about deeply private stuff that they just didn't want to. Im sure this might be some technique that works with private Drs but it just freaked the kids out to have their friends listening. The kids kept diaries that we were supposed to read for progress. I never kept a diary so dont know what they are all about but anyone who has a sister knows how batshit crazy girls get if you read their diary so I think they should have just given kids privacy here if they really thought the damn thing was such good therapy.
--- End quote ---
But then that would deny them their ability to humiliate the kid. Another aspect of 'breaking their will'.
--- Quote ---Also some kids were pushed way too hard like one little guy was scared of heights and frankly i think borderline retarded. So we had to go across this bridge and I promised him I would be behind him the whole way and if he did it he wouldn't have to do anything high again (except maybe cross it on the way back). So he did it and we all clapped him and then the next day there is a trust exerciese where you climb up and fall into the other people and I tell him he just has to be a team player and catch the other guys and he is happy enough with that but my co worker later makes him go through with the high climb exercise and he is sheet fucking white and trembling and he eventually literally pisses his pants and is totally humiliated in front of the others. I just dont get how that builds a kid up.
--- End quote ---
It doesn't but then again, it's not designed to. That's what they tell parents in the glossy, prettied up brochures but it's far from reality.
When you forcibly change someone against their will, you first have to break that will. That's never pretty and can do some serious and lasting damage.
Inculcated:
I’ve just read through this and recent related threads; and I caught the overall theme of how the programs often ignore signs of distress ( all too often due to traumas inflicted and neglect incurred by those very programs) and how deadly the assumption of malingering can be.
The dismissal of physical symptoms as being a display of manipulation is pervasive throughout these programs and ultimately serves to undermine the individuals placed in their care.
In fact another example of such undermining can be seen in the mentality of program that insists on imposing a presumption of manipulation on the part of its charges into the parent or guardian’s minds. This serves to preemptively discredit what the child has to report about the program.
Island View (The facility where Brendan Blum died before that location was purchased by Aspen Education Group…who are known for the deaths of Sergey Blashchishen and Matthew Meyer )offers the following on the topic of commitment under FAQs:
--- Quote ---• The parent is pressured by the child into coming home for a visit without the treatment team's approval and recommendation.
• A parent is persuaded by Mr. Manipulation to come home for good as soon as he achieves the ‘Impact’ status without consultation with the treatment team.
You can readily see the pattern. A parent, feeling guilty for the ‘pain’ the child has to go through as part of the treatment process, feels compelled to “throw the child a bone.’
--- End quote ---
It’s an Aspen program that they announce as “high impact”.In case you’re wondering…Yes, it is Lon Woodbury approved…and he says that (after a year or so) “most teens transfer from Island View to another facility…”
And … They call it Island View …and it’s in Utah? Remote viewing?
Whooter:
Even the deputy conducting the investigation indicated that there is difficulty differentiating between a behavior issue and real symptoms. I believe when they get down to the root cause that this is what they will find.
When you are dealing with kids who are on a hike voluntarily and a child is complaining of feeling ill and wanting to stop then I believe it would be reacted to more quickly than if a child in a program exhibited the same symptoms and asked to stop. This is because the staff needs to weigh the behavior issue and try to determine if the child is trying to manipulate the staff or is really sick. This ends up playing against the child’s chances of getting help more quickly.
Hiking groups outside of programs do not have to weigh these options.
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