Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: justamomintx on December 22, 2005, 11:14:00 AM
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My son attended Star Ranch last summer. He had a really positive experience, following a year of extreme emotional outbursts and police intervention at school (he's 12 now). He has Asperger's Syndrome.
The staff at Star Ranch never physically restrained him, and took great care to help him learn to deal with his emotions. We were looking forward to sending him back for two weeks next year, BUT....so many factors; like, how do you really know, in a camp designed for children with behavioural difficulties, what the staff is trained to do (beyond what they tell and show you)? What SHOULD they have done with an aggressive boy who was harming himself? What about all the kids who have been helped at that camp? Not to mention the 10 years they've served kids in the residential center and school.
I don't know about anyone else, but not that many camps offer help to kids that aren't "the norm". My son had about -0- options for camp; but he went to Star Ranch, learned self-control and responsibility and independence, and was never punished. He had some restrictions on his time when he wouldn't cooperate.
He got to fish, swim, care for animals and learned new skills every day.
He came back a different, more mature and happier boy. So, now what?
Now we look for a new camp, I guess. It is really a tragedy for so many people, beginning with poor Christening.
Thanks for hearing my side.
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On 2005-12-22 08:14:00, justamomintx wrote:
"My son attended Star Ranch last summer. He had a really positive experience, following a year of extreme emotional outbursts and police intervention at school (he's 12 now). He has Asperger's Syndrome.
The staff at Star Ranch never physically restrained him, and took great care to help him learn to deal with his emotions. We were looking forward to sending him back for two weeks next year, BUT....so many factors; like, how do you really know, in a camp designed for children with behavioural difficulties, what the staff is trained to do (beyond what they tell and show you)? What SHOULD they have done with an aggressive boy who was harming himself? What about all the kids who have been helped at that camp? Not to mention the 10 years they've served kids in the residential center and school.
I don't know about anyone else, but not that many camps offer help to kids that aren't "the norm". My son had about -0- options for camp; but he went to Star Ranch, learned self-control and responsibility and independence, and was never punished. He had some restrictions on his time when he wouldn't cooperate.
He got to fish, swim, care for animals and learned new skills every day.
He came back a different, more mature and happier boy. So, now what?
Now we look for a new camp, I guess. It is really a tragedy for so many people, beginning with poor Christening.
Thanks for hearing my side."
My God, you couldn't find a place near home to help your son? That's terrible to send him away so he won't harm himself. Why can't parents help their own kids? And WHY in God's name would you even be thinking about looking for a new camp? Why don't you just be A PARENT? What's wrong with doing your job? PROGRAMS are for parents who can not (or will not) be a parent to their children. No kid should be sent away as the answer to poor parenting. Get help for yourself! Your child will thank you for it.
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What's wrong with sending a kid to summer camp? Camp is about teaching kids new skills and self control. Sounds like that is what this parent did. Not send her kid to a program! And how do you know the camp was far from home? it says in her screen name that she is from tx.
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On 2005-12-23 05:04:00, Anonymous wrote:
"What's wrong with sending a kid to summer camp? Camp is about teaching kids new skills and self control. Sounds like that is what this parent did. Not send her kid to a program! And how do you know the camp was far from home? it says in her screen name that she is from tx."
"Summer Camp"?! Did you recently get severely struck in the head by a blunt object? What summer camp suffocates children to DEATH for not following rules?
I could see making a camp kid get out of the pool or stop playing some game as correction for bad behavior, but KILLING him? Nah, I don't think so.
What the fuck planet are you from where summer camps use deadly force on "campers"?
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I did a search for Star Ranch, Texas. It looks like there are more than one. From the mom's post, she sent her son to the summer camp, not the RTC. I think the death was at the RTC. Also, there is a hunting camp called star ranch and a nudist camp called star ranch.
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More discussion on Star Ranch:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... forum=9&52 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=12953&forum=9&52)
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On 2005-12-22 08:14:00, justamomintx wrote:
"My son attended Star Ranch last summer. He had a really positive experience, following a year of extreme emotional outbursts and police intervention at school (he's 12 now). He has Asperger's Syndrome.
The staff at Star Ranch never physically restrained him, and took great care to help him learn to deal with his emotions. We were looking forward to sending him back for two weeks next year, BUT....so many factors; like, how do you really know, in a camp designed for children with behavioural difficulties, what the staff is trained to do (beyond what they tell and show you)? What SHOULD they have done with an aggressive boy who was harming himself? What about all the kids who have been helped at that camp? Not to mention the 10 years they've served kids in the residential center and school.
I don't know about anyone else, but not that many camps offer help to kids that aren't "the norm". My son had about -0- options for camp; but he went to Star Ranch, learned self-control and responsibility and independence, and was never punished. He had some restrictions on his time when he wouldn't cooperate.
He got to fish, swim, care for animals and learned new skills every day.
He came back a different, more mature and happier boy. So, now what?
Now we look for a new camp, I guess. It is really a tragedy for so many people, beginning with poor Christening.
Thanks for hearing my side."
Ever considered... not dumping your problems on some stupid camp? :flame: I spent a long time as a zombie on Prozac and I have friends who are either ADDICITED to Paxil or permanantly fucked up by it.
So, naturally my opinion would be to leave him the hell alone and let him find some friends and rolemodels. I came out of my rut when I actually got to *gasp* SOCIALIZE and interact with people my age and older, and suddenly Im not considered "autistic" anymore.
Regardless, "dump the AS kid in a camp" mentality is going to get nothing but a lot of piss and vinegar from me, unless youd prefer something a little heavier like a knuckle sandwich. I went through that bullshit as a child and a teenager and I dont like seeing it happen to other children or adolescents as an adult.
So, now what? BE A PARENT! Do things with him or let him grow up and guide him, dont throw him to facility A or B where hes like a rat in a maze. He's 12 - why not take him out and do things with him, or let him get some friends?The government is much more interested in preserving the purity of its ideology than it is in allowing patients to get effective medicine.
-- Ethan B. Russo, neurologist at Western Montana Clinic
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On 2005-12-23 18:39:00, Three Springs Waygookin wrote:
"Yes I can certainly imagine every counselor there wakes up with the expressed desire to kill a kid for not getting out of the swimming pool fast enough.
When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.
--Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, author, and inventor
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Can you imagine each one is educated, professional and actually does a good job just like how Star Ranch presents itself?Any Irishman who doubts the reality of selective enforcement ought to take just a moment to comtemplate the etymology of the term "paddy waggon".
--Antigen
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The options short of long term, live-in Programs include:
Therapy
Combinations of therapy with medication
Short term hospital stays for stabilization when needed
Day hospitalization programs---which are not at all the same as "Programs"
Day hospitalization, if you can possibly get it, is one of the better options for a kid where you're afraid of what he may do if he's out of your sight.
It's usually provided by a real hospital, not people trying to wring the last dime out. Because the kids come home at night--to their real home, with their real parents, there is a built-in protection against abuse and neglect that the "Programs" do not provide.
At the same time, it provides trained personnel who can care for your child in a safe, positive environment when your kid is unstable and can't be living the normal lifestyle of kids who either don't have a disability or are stable.
Unfortunately, day hospitalization is not available everywhere.
If my child ever needs it, we may consider moving somewhere where we can get it if we can't find it here. It's that much better an option than the "Programs." I'm glad you had a good experience, but just because I ride a bike without my helmet and get by with it today isn't going to protect me if tomorrow I hit a rock and go over the handlebars.
I haven't talked to anyone who lives somewhere that day hospitalization is available who hasn't been very happy with the care. What I've heard is that it's professional, the kid is happier, it costs a lot less, and there's much less risk of abuse or inadvertent medical neglect.
Julie
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I must say that could be the most ridiculous, harsh posting I have ever read. When parents are not able to help their child, they ask for help from people who can. That is being a parent. It is sometimes a powerless position.
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Harsh? Where?
If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race?
--Frederic Bastiat -- 1801-1850
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Parents should be weary of who they ask for 'help', as helpers tend to promote 'powerlessness'. Job security.
Parents are really quiet capable, and should be reminded on a regular basis.
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On 2005-12-28 07:45:00, exsafecounselor wrote:
"I must say that could be the most ridiculous, harsh posting I have ever read. When parents are not able to help their child, they ask for help from people who can. That is being a parent. It is sometimes a powerless position.
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you worked for one of the most abusive facilities out there. SAFE is a shithole and has been confirmed abusive.
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Isn't SAFE also an offspring of Straight?
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On 2005-12-28 14:48:00, sorry... try another castle wrote:
"Isn't SAFE also an offspring of Straight?
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Yes. Straight closed down one day and then opened the very same day as SAFE with the very same staff.
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What, the blue chairs, 'motivating' like seagulls on crack, the bitch who looks like kyles mom, the strip/cavity searches and sucking in family members who dont have anything wrong with them didnt give it away?
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http://fornits.com/anonanon/video/wami.ram (http://fornits.com/anonanon/video/wami.ram)
:roll: For the most part we inherit our opinions. We are the heirs of habits and mental customs. Our beliefs, like the fashion of our garments, depend on where we were born. We are molded and fashioned by our surroundings.
--Environment is a sculptor -- a painter.
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On 2005-12-23 19:24:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
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On 2005-12-23 18:39:00, Three Springs Waygookin wrote:
"Yes I can certainly imagine every counselor there wakes up with the expressed desire to kill a kid for not getting out of the swimming pool fast enough.
When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obliged to call for help of the civil power, 'tis a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.
--Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, author, and inventor
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Can you imagine each one is educated, professional and actually does a good job just like how Star Ranch presents itself?Any Irishman who doubts the reality of selective enforcement ought to take just a moment to comtemplate the etymology of the term "paddy waggon".
--Antigen
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I firmly believe the vast majority of people wake up and go to work intending to do a good job and if a mistake is made it is usually do to:
1. Inadequate training.
2. Not having the proper tools to do the job.
This goes for doctors or pumping gas or being a shrink or baging groceries.
Very few people want to screw up, especially in front of their peers, its human nature.
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What you just said is total bullshit.
Thats not proven, or proveable, nor is it a defence against abuse.
When untrained, low paid hacks are giving 'therapy' thats broadly (or simply un-) defined and in reality narrows down to breaking down the child, and/or simply enforcing rules and inflicting punishments to mantain conformity and submission, you end up having physically and psychologically brutal jerks running everything, just like a bootcamp.
Not gonna shit on TSW here and say EVERYONE is like that, but that environment breeds that kind of behavior, and he himself left where he once worked because people are like that.The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs.
-- E. Grebenik
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On 2005-12-28 18:10:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
"What you just said is total bullshit.
Thats not proven, or proveable, nor is it a defence against abuse.
When untrained, low paid hacks are giving 'therapy' thats broadly (or simply un-) defined and in reality narrows down to breaking down the child, and/or simply enforcing rules and inflicting punishments to mantain conformity and submission, you end up having physically and psychologically brutal jerks running everything, just like a bootcamp.
Not gonna shit on TSW here and say EVERYONE is like that, but that environment breeds that kind of behavior, and he himself left where he once worked because people are like that.The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs.
-- E. Grebenik
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okay so they sat up all night figuring out how to kill the kid and followed thru the next day? I find that less easy to swallow, I lean towards not trained properly.
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Can you imagine each one is educated, professional and actually does a good job just like how Star Ranch presents itself?
How would you represent yourself if you were running a business?
Every member of our staff is Uneducated, Unprofessional and we do a awlful job but we try hard?