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Why do Families / Parents Seek Out an Educational Consultant?
Best Fit and Right Fit Environment
Every child deserves the most ideal academic, emotional and social environment in which to develop, learn and grow into adulthood.
We Help to Navigate Opportunities and Options
Families need help in navigating the many clinical and educational opportunities and options that are now available.
Picking from the enormous selections of programs and schools is quite overwhelming.
Matching your child to the best fit program and /or right school is one of life's most important and life changing decisions emotionally and financially.
Parents seek an educational / therapeutic consultant for a number of reasons:
- Consultants are dedicated to the highest ethical standards of practice. Families find that our consultants have the student’s best interest as their sole focus
- Consultants have not only visited the programs and schools they recommend, they undoubtedly have placed other students there as well with results supporting continued placement recommendations for the right student
- For accurate risk analysis
- For an unbiased and objective analysis of educational, personal and social goals and choices
- For assistance with a child, adolescent or young adult in immediate crisis
- For personal assistance and attention with the process
- To be guided to high quality and pre-evaluated program and schools
- To bring clarity and precision to a confusing selection of clinical and educational options
- To eliminate continual academic underachievement
- To assist in finding the best fit school for the completion of graduation requirements
- While an incredible amount of information is available on the Internet, an independent educational consultant can provide quality over quantity when making such a financial investment in your child's care and education
Wise Choice and Wise Investment
Internet marketing websites and program and school marketing materials can be confusing, and at times, unfortunately, even deceitful.
Even a breathtakingly beautiful and outwardly ideal program or school, can be an erroneous and inappropriate fit for your child and not meet their individualized and specific needs.
An incorrect choice is a misuse of your valuable resources as well as wasted time for your child. Parents are always seeking ways to invest wisely, and that needs to include the high cost of clinical assistance and/or education for their child. We agree that investing wisely in this situation is critical; otherwise goals and outcomes may not be achieved and critical windows of opportunity / time can be lost. Families need a safe and secure way to assess these many options and to make intelligent and wise choices without being pressured into an instant decision.
Adoption and Attachment Challenges
While it is difficult to make a general statement about such a diverse group as adopted youth, it can be said that adopted persons generally lead normal healthy lives that are no different from the lives of non- adopted persons.
They may; however have experiences that are unique to being adopted, and these issues may have an impact on their lives at varying times. The teen years can be stressful for anyone, and they may be particularly stressful for an adopted teen because of the issues that must be faced during this period of development.
The two most common are loss and unresolved grief and identity and self-esteem.
Dealing with the loss of the birth family, coupled with a search for self, are two processes that can contribute to shaping the psychological development of adopted persons.
Attachments are formed in the very earliest months and years of life.
These have a significant influence on emotional development as well as providing a template for the child as he or she grows into adulthood and into parenthood.
A significant challenge in any child’s life is when the time comes to go out into the world on their own.
As an adoptee herself, and also working in the area of grief, Dore Frances is honored to have the opportunity to assist you and your family in this area of need.
Asperger's Syndrome and Kids on the Autism Spectrum
These are very special kids and it is an honor to assist them!
For youth with Asperger's, school becomes more demanding in a period when they have to compete for college placements. Issues of sexuality and a desire for independence from parents create even more problems In the teenage world where everyone feels insecure, teens that appear different are voted off the island.
Aspies often have odd mannerisms. One teen talks in a loud unmodulated voice, avoids eye contact, interrupts others, violates their physical space, and steers the conversation to their favorite odd topic. Another appears willful, selfish and aloof, mostly because they are unable to share their thoughts and feelings with others.
Isolated and alone, many Aspies are too anxious to initiate social contact.
Many Aspie teens are stiff and rule-oriented and act like little adults, which is a deadly trait in any teenage popularity contest.
An Aspie typically does not care about teen fads and clothing styles -- concerns that obsess everyone else in their peer group.
Aspies may neglect their hygiene and wear the same haircut for years. Aspie teens are not privy to street knowledge of sex and dating behaviors that other teens pick up naturally. This leaves them naive and clueless about sex.
Boys can become obsessed with Internet pornography.
They can be overly forward with a girl who is merely being kind, and then later face charges of stalking her.
An Aspie teen may have a fully developed female body and no understanding of flirtation and non-verbal sexual cues, making her susceptible to harassment.
Pain, loneliness and despair can lead to problems with drugs, sex and alcohol. In their overwhelming need to fit in and make friends, some Aspies fall into the wrong high school crowds. Many Aspies with their average to above average IQs can sail through grammar school, and yet hit academic problems in middle and high school. They now have to deal with four to six teachers, instead of just one.
The likelihood that at least one teacher will be indifferent toward making special accommodations is certain.
The Aspie student now has to face a series of classroom environments with different classmates, distractions and noise levels, and sets of expectations.
Aspies with their distractibility and difficulty organizing materials face similar academic problems as students with Attention Deficit Disorder. A high school term paper or a science fair project becomes impossible to manage because no one has taught the Aspie how to break it up into a series of small steps. Even though the academic stress on an Aspie teen can be overwhelming, school administrators may be reluctant to enroll them in special education at this late point in their educational career. The teenage years are more emotional for everyone. Yet the hormonal changes of adolescence coupled with the problems of Asperger's might mean that an Aspie teen becomes emotionally overwhelmed. Childish tantrums reappear.
Boys often act up physically.They may experience "melt down" at home after another day filled with harassment, bullying, pressure to conform, and rejection.
Suicide and drug addiction become real concerns, as the teen now has access to cars, drugs and alcohol.
The "saddest and most difficult time" can overwhelm not only the Aspie teen, but also their family.
Autistic adults are artists, educators, scientists, musicians and even public speakers.
However, making the transition from grade school to college or career is especially complex for young adults on the spectrum.
School is a tough place for teens with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In junior and senior high school, conformity is valued.
For people with autism, social conformity is extraordinarily difficult to achieve.
Junior and senior high school also require tremendous flexibility, as students move from space to space, subject to subject, teacher to teacher.
Since people with autism tend to prefer consistency to change, this, too, can be difficult to manage. Parents raising a teen with Asperger syndrome may have a tough time helping their child find that "them-shaped" path.
The Special Needs Student
Special needs therapeutic consultants Dore Frances, M.A. and David Heckenlively, MS, MFT meet high professional standards and also possess wide-ranging knowledge of therapeutic placement and treatment options.
Some students have complex needs and require intervention, specialty learning or controlled school environments.
Expert knowledge of these specialty programs and schools and expert resources is essential as parents embark upon critical educational decision-making, and begin timely planning for appropriate intervention, assessment, specialty learning support, and stabilization. As special needs therapeutic consultants we assess both a student's academic, emotional and social needs. We then evaluate and match your child's clinical, educational, emotional, recreational and social needs to the program or school philosophy and strengths. We merge this assessment other enjoyable elements - like art, culture, music, recreation activities, and sports. Also included are special preference items, such as DBT and equine therapies, as well as gifted and talent development needs like advanced art lessons, dance, drama, foreign language, music, and singing.
These elements are also evaluated to assess the cost-to-benefit ratio of the program or school decision. We further factor in the important elements of culture, family and parent preferences. The program and/or school match is carefully completed for each family's individual needs.
Twins and Triplets
Interestingly, we have assisted quite a few families with twin and triplet siblings.
It is certainly an honor for us to have this amazing opportunity. These special children have unique needs.
Some might think that having twins is just like having two children that are close in age. Actually it is a bit more complicated than that. It seems a lot simpler before they become teenagers. Once they enter their teenage years the challenge begins.
When assisting families with twins we allow them to be separate entities. We never refer to them as the "twins." Unless they are identical, expect them to be just as different as two non twin siblings. Having twins or multiples in the family makes for some interesting challenges that other parents don't necessarily face.
You're raising same-age children simultaneously, instead of dealing with different ages of childhood. From the logistics of managing more than one to resolving rivalry, parents need lots of compassionate advice.
