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Facility Question and Answers / Vantage Point, Utah (Aspiro)
« on: August 28, 2010, 04:56:38 PM »
Their web site (remove the spaces):
http: //www. vantagept. org/home
What do you think of this program? Does anyone have experience with it?
The web site is very "positive"-oriented, with lots of talk about how kids will learn "self-efficacy" and stating outright that they don't try to "break" kids.
On the other hand, some really troubling signs...
--Average cost seems to be around $30k, a huge amount of money
--Parent communication is limited; one letter a week, and the kid has to be approved to make phone calls--censoring is very possible
--Some of the activities described include things like hiking... high altitude, long distance; enjoyable for me but I walk a few miles every day for fun; these kids may not be
--They include "primitive living skills" as an activity... red flag for me.
--They accept a wide variety of problems... this inevitably means that the gullible, socially clumsy autistic kid will be in with the charismatic class bully...
--There's no mention of accredited school being available. This is a long-term program; there really should be, or the kids would fall behind academically. The only useful education they seem to get is half a credit of English.
--There are some grammatical and spelling errors on the web page.
--The program seems highly physically demanding; a 10 mile hike mightn't be bad, but three days in a row, with a heavy backpack?... With teens who may very well be unused to walking even one mile, and constantly outdoors? There seems to be potential for abuse here, but whether it's exploited is the question...
I'm asking about this because I want to know whether I should be worried about being associated with this program... I have friends who have been victims of institutional abuse, and have experienced some myself, and do not want to do anything that could possibly make the problem worse.
Thoughts?
http: //www. vantagept. org/home
What do you think of this program? Does anyone have experience with it?
The web site is very "positive"-oriented, with lots of talk about how kids will learn "self-efficacy" and stating outright that they don't try to "break" kids.
On the other hand, some really troubling signs...
--Average cost seems to be around $30k, a huge amount of money
--Parent communication is limited; one letter a week, and the kid has to be approved to make phone calls--censoring is very possible
--Some of the activities described include things like hiking... high altitude, long distance; enjoyable for me but I walk a few miles every day for fun; these kids may not be
--They include "primitive living skills" as an activity... red flag for me.
--They accept a wide variety of problems... this inevitably means that the gullible, socially clumsy autistic kid will be in with the charismatic class bully...
--There's no mention of accredited school being available. This is a long-term program; there really should be, or the kids would fall behind academically. The only useful education they seem to get is half a credit of English.
--There are some grammatical and spelling errors on the web page.
--The program seems highly physically demanding; a 10 mile hike mightn't be bad, but three days in a row, with a heavy backpack?... With teens who may very well be unused to walking even one mile, and constantly outdoors? There seems to be potential for abuse here, but whether it's exploited is the question...
I'm asking about this because I want to know whether I should be worried about being associated with this program... I have friends who have been victims of institutional abuse, and have experienced some myself, and do not want to do anything that could possibly make the problem worse.
Thoughts?