Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Aspen Education Group
Recent Aspen cutback and re-structure
Ursus:
--- Quote from: "Whooter" ---
--- Quote from: "Che Gookin" ---hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahah OMG.. I don't know how many fights I had to split up because kids were ripping on each other.
--- End quote ---
I know it is awful. I have seen it myself,too. Now take that ridicule and magnify it by 100 because kids with Aspergers don’t pick up social cues very well. Kids with Apsergers are at a severe disadvantage in regular schools and typically do not do very well and are a magnet for teasing. Home schooling is probably the best route for them and, although, I don’t recommend kids with Aspergers be placed into programs it is good to see they are starting to develop programs which are sensitive to their specific needs and provide a safe environment free from ridicule.
--- End quote ---
I'd respectfully beg to differ with you, Whooter, as far as putting kids with Aspergers into any kind of program, even one which, in the best case scenario, is geared towards their particular needs. Most Aspies that I know or whose blogs I have read would prefer to be mainstreamed, albeit with some additional support services in place when it comes to learning social skills for negotiating existence in a predatory world.
Most programs, which utilize group pressure to conform as a means of effecting their behavior modification, are a real anathema to kids with Aspergers. While these kids may be a bit of a magnet for some teasing in the public school system, it's nothing compared to being singled out and psychologically eviscerated like they might be in program. Hyde School calls such a concept Brother's Keeper, lol. About the only Biblical allusion that comes to mind re. Aspies and "brothers keeper" is that of leading lambs to slaughter.
Personal opinions aside, I also find it highly unbelievable that Aspen Education could possibly come up with something like an Aspergers / high-functioning autistics program, especially considering how abysmally they've already failed with their recently closed Cedars Academy. I certainly hope they don't plan to replicate what went on there.
Whooter:
--- Quote from: "Ursus" ---Personal opinions aside, I also find it highly unbelievable that Aspen Education could possibly come up with something like an Aspergers / high-functioning autistics program, especially considering how abysmally they've already failed with their recently closed Cedars Academy. I certainly hope they don't plan to replicate what went on there.
--- End quote ---
Where does that statement come from, Ursus? Why deceive the readers? Why say that they abysmally failed with their recently closing…… etc. Why not: “Hewlett Packard bought 400 acres adjacent to Cedars Academy for a research facility which drove up abutting property values to the point that Cedars Academy could not compete therefore forcing them to close.”
Why not explain how they failed so badly? (you know how we all love a juicy story of "doom and gloom") Do you know why you left that out? Did you forget to add it or just didnt know? or maybe felt the readers were not interested?
But aside from that…..If you had to chose a program which helped kids with Aspergers would you choose a company which has past experience with running a program with these children and can demonstrate successes or one who was just starting out? I think Aspens’ past record with working with Aspergers children gives them an advantage in the industry.
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Pile of Dead Kids:
Wait, that's seriously your excuse? An increase in property taxes from an industry moving in next door? Really?
Now if you had said something like "a building full of computer geeks isn't likely to approve of the torture of Asperger's kids right next door, so Aspen had to get the fuck out", that might be more believable.
Ursus:
--- Quote from: "Whooter" ---Why deceive the readers?
--- End quote ---
Lol. Coming from YOU, of all people, I'd wager that was a Freudian slip. :D
Of course, the main reason for Cedars Academy's demise probably had a lot more to do with economics than anything else, due to, for the most part, Aspen Education itself being a lot more concerned with economics than it is with anything else. Maybe not. Their official press release about the matter was noticeably silent as to official cause. Perhaps you know something the rest of us don't?
Aspen acquired Cedars in November of 2003, if I recall correctly, and by that time Cedars had already gone through some "changes in focus" as to the clientele it served (not to mention some flagrant licensing violations, but that wasn't specifically Aspen's fault). Aspen continued that trend of adjusting the focus, probably hoping to exploit niche marketing to their advantage, but ... I guess it didn't work out for them.
Not surprisingly, Talisman would appear to be the same kind of "focus adjustment" in response to market pressures. There's no sin in that, to be sure, but it does belie your description of Aspen's "past experience with running a program with these children" and their "demonstrate[d] successes."
--- Quote from: "Whooter" ---I think Aspens' past record with working with Aspergers children gives them an advantage in the industry.
--- End quote ---
Uh... link to some proof or substantiation for that claim?
Quite frankly, I just don't see Aspen's alleged expertise nor commitment to Aspies or high-function autistics. I just see their commitment to creating programs which appear to exploit an expected market based on current cultural diagnosing trends.
If I were a parent struggling with some difficult decisions regarding my kid, and I knew some of Aspen's history with regard to exaggerating their alleged "expertise," not to mention their contribution to adolescent mortality rates, I'd be hard pressed to believe some of their hard sell.
Oz girl:
While not wanting to smile on the misfortune of the many Americans who are doing it tough in the current economic climate, it seems that this is the upside of the recession. My hope is that when things pick up enough people will realize that their kids can survive the tough years and hopefully eventually thrive without a program, just as they are forced to all over the world in places that do not have this industry, and the damage will be permanent.
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