Recent Aspen cutback and re-structure

[Oscar]

Aspen Education Group Announces Program Conversion, Will Open Talisman School in August 2010, press-release

* One of the New Leaf Academies will be a new school for another targetgroup.

* Bromley Brook and the remaining New Leaf Academy will merge their very different programs to a new program.

[Ursus]

SOURCE: Aspen Education Group
May 17, 2010 08:00 ET

Aspen Education Group Announces Program Conversion, Will Open Talisman School in August 2010

HENDERSONVILLE, NC--(Marketwire - May 17, 2010) -  Aspen Education Group, the leading provider of therapeutic education programs for struggling youth, today announced the conversion of its New Leaf Academy in Hendersonville, North Carolina, to become The Talisman School. The new school will serve the growing number of youth with Asperger's and other autism spectrum disorders, and will open its doors on August 23 of this year.

"There is a growing need in this country for schools dedicated to young people dealing with Asperger's Disorder and high-functioning autism," said Linda Tatsapaugh, current Executive Director of Talisman Programs, and now the Executive Director of the new Talisman School.

Tatsapaugh has worked with adolescents for nearly 20 years. Her Talisman Program conducts summer camps and semester-long programs for youth struggling with Asperger's Disorder, high-functioning autism, learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

High-functioning autism and Asperger's Disorder are both autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that an average of 1 in 110 children in the U.S. has an ASD.

"Adolescence may be the most difficult time for an individual with Asperger's or high-functioning autism," explains Tatsapaugh. "In adolescence, social demands become more complex, subtle social cues become more important, and kids with these disorders may have difficulty understanding their peers and the inherent social status structure of high school. Because they are socially naive, the child may not realize when someone is trying to take advantage of them and they can be especially vulnerable to manipulation and peer pressure."

She adds, "This school will be a comfortable place for them to feel safe and be who they are without peer ridicule."

The new, co-ed Talisman School will have a 61 student capacity, and will serve students through experiential learning opportunities, specialized instruction and small learning groups. The focus will be on improving social awareness and interaction, independence, and academic self-motivation.

"We have been looking for a place to locate this type of school for a long time," said Tatsapaugh, adding that their current Talisman Program campsite was just that, "too camp-like" of an environment, and not appropriate for a full-time school. "The new site will allow us to have a traditional school setting that will enable our students to succeed."

Talisman School will be set within a southern-style mansion that rests among 68 acres of hardwood forest in the world-famous Blue Ridge mountain range.

The site's current school, New Leaf Academy, a private boarding school for girls ages 10-14, will be consolidated with its sister campus, New Leaf of Oregon, as well as Bromley Brook School in Manchester, Vermont, two of Aspen's other all-girl boarding schools. The process of transitioning students will begin immediately, with a close date of June 25. Nine of the school's 36 students will be graduating.

"We are very aware of the complexities involved with transitioning students and hope to make this as seamless as possible for parents and the affiliated referring professionals," said Susan Cambria, Eastern Region Vice President for Aspen Education Group. "Aspen has two other very appropriate, high-quality schools -- Bromley Brook and New Leaf Academy of Oregon -- or the girls may be ready to transition home. We will do whatever is right for the individual child."

The new Talisman School will incorporate many of the certified teachers from the former New Leaf Academy, as well as Talisman Programs' Clinical Director.

"We are very appreciative for the great staff of New Leaf Academy," said Phil Herschman, President of Aspen Education Group. "They have done an outstanding job with these young girls and we are fortunate that many have chosen to stay on with the new Talisman School."

The Talisman School is a program of Aspen Education Group, the nation's leading provider of therapeutic education programs for struggling or underachieving young people. Aspen's services range from short-term intervention programs to residential treatment, and include a variety of therapeutic settings such as boarding schools, outdoor behavioral health programs and special needs summer camps, allowing professionals and families the opportunity to choose the best setting to meet a student's unique academic and emotional needs. Aspen Education Group is a proud member of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP). Aspen also is a member of CRC Health Group, the nation's largest chemical dependency and related behavioral health organization. For over two decades, CRC Health has been achieving successful outcomes for individuals and families. For more information, visit http://www.crchealth.com.

CONTACT:
Susan Cambria
Eastern Region Vice President
Aspen Education Group


© 2010 Marketwire, Incorporated.

[Troll Control]

Keep downsizing, Aspen Education.  The smaller you get, the more children survive their teen years...

Aspen Education kills children.   :poison:  :suicide:

[Ursus]

I wonder whether Bromley Brook School's latest scandal may have had anything to do with them getting the axe? Having a resident pedophile on staff can't have been too good for business.

[Whooter]

I wonder whether Bromley Brook School's latest scandal may have had anything to do with them getting the axe? Having a resident pedophile on staff can't have been too good for business.

I would strongly suspect that the restructuring is due to the economy.  All businesses expand and contract in reaction to customer demand.  I am sure the Pedo has been fired or put in jail and letters sent out to all the parents like the local school systems do and long forgot about.  



...

[Anne Bonney]

Yes, yes....nothing to see here.  Move along, move along.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

[alcoholics anonymous]

[Whooter]

Yes, yes....nothing to see here.  Move along, move along.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

Lol Exactly, Anne, (good analogy!) that’s another way to put it ….”there is nothing there to see”.  My thoughts are this… imagine that the rape occurs at a local school then that memory goes on for years and generations because it was your local school and everyone knows everyone else and passes down the story.  But if it happens at a boarding school there is no local community to keep the story alive so to speak.  The story goes home with all the parents and children who were there at the time and it dies.  The Pedo gets the boot because the locals town would insure the guy was prosecuted,  New parents seeking to place children there would have no idea that this problem occurred (nor should they) so there is really no reason to worry if the employee would hurt future business.

But it is possible they consolidated because of the pedo incidence but it is more  likely to be the economy in light of the direction it has gone over the past few years.



...

[Anne Bonney]

 I am sure the Pedo has been fired or put in jail and letters sent out to all the parents like the local school systems do and long forgot about.  

You're sure of that?  How are you so sure?  The "school" won't even admit that he worked there at all.

[Ursus]

Yes, yes....nothing to see here.  Move along, move along.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

 

Lol Exactly, Anne, (good analogy!) that’s another way to put it ….”there is nothing there to see”.  My thoughts are this… imagine that the rape occurs at a local school then that memory goes on for years and generations because it was your local school and everyone knows everyone else and passes down the story.  But if it happens at a boarding school there is no local community to keep the story alive so to speak.  The story goes home with all the parents and children who were there at the time and it dies.  The Pedo gets the boot because the locals town would insure the guy was prosecuted,  New parents seeking to place children there would have no idea that this problem occurred (nor should they) so there is really no reason to worry if the employee would hurt future business.

But it is possible they consolidated because of the pedo incidence but it is more  likely to be the economy in light of the direction it has gone over the past few years.

Yup, and that's part of the reason behind why these programs get away with the crap that they do, year after year.

And that's precisely why parents should investigate and should be informed as to whether these kinds of problems have occurred. Unless these abuses get publicized, and remembered, too few will be able to put together the pattern... that these abuses are NOT isolated incidents, but are part of the systemic malaise of how these places effect their behavior modification.

They break kids down in order to "build them back up" but ... this puts kids in a very vulnerable position, psychologically speaking, and also gives perps an inflated sense of entitlement, not to mention opportunity.

[alcoholics anonymous]

Whooter chemotherapy countdown initialized.

[Whooter]

Yup, and that's part of the reason behind why these programs get away with the crap that they do, year after year.

And that's precisely why parents should investigate and should be informed as to whether these kinds of problems have occurred. Unless these abuses get publicized, and remembered, too few will be able to put together the pattern... that these abuses are NOT isolated incidents, but are part of the systemic malaise of how these places effect their behavior modification.

First off where could the program post this information centrally so that everyone could access it?  There is no place for them to do it.  As far as Bromely Brook goes in their own eyes they have solved the issue and there is no more risk to children.  Why should they go further on the issue?  Why tell the new parents that are bringing in the children?  What would it solve from their perspective?

There is no place for the parents to get information that is balanced.  They go to Edcons and they have a business to protect and forums like fornits have posters purging their personal anger and are so anti-program that a parents doesn’t have a chance of getting any honest info… every program is the same, they starve and abuse kids, brainwash them, restrain them, lock them in isolation rooms, rape them etc.etc.  how would any parent believe this stuff.  So that leaves speaking to other parents who have experienced the programs themselves.

Also, I have not seen it established anywhere that these are not isolated incidents.  There is no pattern that programs have that doesn’t also occur in public schools.  Perps get in wherever kids are.



...

[Ursus]

"Adolescence may be the most difficult time for an individual with Asperger's or high-functioning autism," explains Tatsapaugh. "In adolescence, social demands become more complex, subtle social cues become more important, and kids with these disorders may have difficulty understanding their peers and the inherent social status structure of high school. Because they are socially naive, the child may not realize when someone is trying to take advantage of them and they can be especially vulnerable to manipulation and peer pressure."

She adds, "This school will be a comfortable place for them to feel safe and be who they are without peer ridicule."

I can't believe how these places actually think that a program environment, one that specifically relies on manipulation and peer pressure to effect behavior modification, and hence, perhaps unavoidably, also peer ridicule, will be of benefit to kids with Asperger's or high-functioning autism.

See also:

• Autistics at Hyde School . viewtopic.php?f=43&t=27220
• aspergers? . viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29859

[AuntieEm2]

Also removing these kids from a familiar home environment. Thoroughly incompetent and wholly self serving.

Auntie Em

[Whooter]

"Adolescence may be the most difficult time for an individual with Asperger's or high-functioning autism," explains Tatsapaugh. "In adolescence, social demands become more complex, subtle social cues become more important, and kids with these disorders may have difficulty understanding their peers and the inherent social status structure of high school. Because they are socially naive, the child may not realize when someone is trying to take advantage of them and they can be especially vulnerable to manipulation and peer pressure."

She adds, "This school will be a comfortable place for them to feel safe and be who they are without peer ridicule."

I can't believe how these places actually think that a program environment, one that specifically relies on manipulation and peer pressure to effect behavior modification, and hence, perhaps unavoidably, also peer ridicule, will be of benefit to kids with Asperger's or high-functioning autism.

See also:

• Autistics at Hyde School . viewtopic.php?f=43&t=27220
• aspergers? . viewtopic.php?f=7&t=29859

This place provides an environment which will not have peer ridicule.



...