tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20716358937664430642024-02-22T08:37:14.253-08:00...................... The Elan School....................The Elan School, Elan School, ElanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071635893766443064.post-46759839720165855812010-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:002010-01-17T20:37:56.933-08:00The Elan School, theelanschool, elan school, elan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O-XZXe2XVfg/S1PloK8DmdI/AAAAAAAAABw/TYmVT0RMBtk/s1600-h/Elan.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O-XZXe2XVfg/S1PloK8DmdI/AAAAAAAAABw/TYmVT0RMBtk/s400/Elan.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5427934454205356498" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071635893766443064.post-30293522835846865542009-11-04T18:12:00.000-08:002009-11-04T18:26:24.789-08:00Testimony #2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -webkit-sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Élan. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">“The last resort”</span>.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In 1981 that is exactly where my Father wanted to put me. We went in front of the School board for some type of meeting. The School would not pay for my placement there and furthermore stated that I that I did not need to be in Élan. I could go to Public school. My Father said “fine then I will pay for it myself” My first day at Élan I was escorted to a bathroom, made to strip in front of two strangers and take a Quell shower. I was told I would be a resident of House #3. There were many Houses in Poland Spring, Maine. #3, #5, #7, #8 and Administration #1. There was also a house in Waterford, Maine #6 and two houses in Parsonsfield, Maine #2 and #4. Élan #3 was “the big House.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The first thing I noticed was all the costumes</span></span>. These were called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Learning Experiences or L.E.</span></span></span>; they were made from mostly cardboard and came from the communications Dept. Dunce caps Cigarette hats. Nuclear Reactor Boxes, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Whore</span></span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Pimp</span></span> costumes the list goes on. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Whatever the “issue” was there was a L.E. to go with it.</span></span> With every L.E. there was a sign <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">sometimes you only got a sign</span></span></span>. These would always start out “Please confront me as to why........” It was not unusual to see someone with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">15 signs</span></span>.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">One night at school a kid walked into class from another house wearing a huge penis on his head with a sign in it that said “ Please confront me as to why I think with one head and not the other”</span> </span></span></span>I had to hide behind my book to not laugh. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If you laughed at someone’s L.E. you got the same one.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">There were boxing rings to beat you into submission</span></span></span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Haircuts where 3 people yelled at you over trivial stuff</span></span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">General Meetings where <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">hundreds of your peers were whipped into frenzy</span> in the dining room before you arrived and when you did then </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">would all rush at you to yell and spit in your face</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span> Then <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">the Director would emotionally lambaste you for hours</span></span>. At the end you were given an <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">L.E. and “Shotdown” </span></span>made to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">scrub floors and toilets all day</span></span>. Then there was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">the Corner</span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">for those who would not “get with the program”</span></span>. It was meant to be used for a couple of hours, because it was unbearable. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">You could not talk or read or listen to music or anything and some other poor kid had to supervise you the whole time.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I stayed in the corner for 5 months.</span></span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I refused to abuse my peers.</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">I was not going to humiliate others.</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">For this I was severely abused</span></span>, but I did not care. I gave it right back. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I was not going to join a cult.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In a last effort to get me to conform, my Father flew up and told me that I was going to be there until the bulldozers came. Three weeks later he returned to pick me up; <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I had done the impossible I had been kicked out of Élan</span></span> in eight months.My Father and Step monster tried to drop me off in Mass. It was a school for mostly mentally handicapped Teens. I told them I would raise hell and they would not take me. Unwillingly me Father had no choice but to take me home. I took the G.E.D. and tried to go to Columbia Collage. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There was something wrong with me at this point, socially although I could not put my finger on it.</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">To cope while in the corner I would use different techniques that I had read about.</span></span></span> I was not allowed to close my eyes so I would stare at the vertex until everything went black. Each time it was easier. I would at first astral travel. After the meeting with my Father I decided to try “Creative Visualization”. I had read a small book by the same name before entering Élan and it was the perfect time to try it out. I imagined the same scenario over and over again. When it actually happened I was sure I was still in the corner visualizing it. Only after the visualization went past the point of my creation did I know that it had worked. I think I was in shock.</p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. -Abraham Lincoln</span></span></span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071635893766443064.post-39483202800820654142009-11-04T14:08:00.000-08:002009-11-04T14:18:56.679-08:00Testimony #1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: -webkit-sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; "><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The first day I arrived at Elan I walked into a room where a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">t</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">hree house ring</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"</span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">"general meeting"</span></span> was being held. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">A boy's nose was the receiving end of a boxing glove and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">blood</span> streaming down his face was the result from being in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">"Ring"</span>. </span></span>Then about one hundred and fifty students in rows of about five all <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"got their feelings off"</span></span>, which involves <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">screaming and swearing in a persons face</span></span> who is deemed to have done something "wrong" in the eyes of the so called "Directors" of the school that is a "General Meeting". The "Directors" keep the momentum of these<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> unbelievable </span></span>events going. I always wished my parents would make a surprise visit and stumble in on a "General Meeting". What would they think? ("General Meetings" could happen as often as two or more times a day. "Rings" happened occasionally, which consist of a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> circle of students</span></span></span> surrounding the "offender" and the other student who are both wearing boxing gloves. The outside circle is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">taunting</span></span> the offender while the two box. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">When the student gets tired another takes his or her place to be in the ring with the "offender")</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The "Directors" are the ones who tightly control each of the students lives. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Reading students mail, having phone calls listened to.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">At night a student stays awake</span></span> to guard the dorms of his or her gender. Every ten minutes for eight hours a night a "bed check" is conducted. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Each student has their sheets lifted up</span></span></span> and a flashlight is shone on the student's body to make sure they don't have any hidden clothing to take with them in the event that they try to run away. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Could you imagine having your sheets pulled up every ten minutes for eight hours every night for years? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Can you imagine that students are expected, who are in positions of responsibility, to stay up all night and be a "night guard"?</span></span> And if you fall asleep you will be punished and be made to scrub the floors for a couple of days and have your shoe laces taken away.</p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"The Corner",</span></span></span> which is really a term dubbed for being put into isolation, is used to take a child who is not conforming with Elan out of the population. Another student is then placed with them as a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"support person"</span></span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This support person could be subject to the other student acting out, which could</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"> involve attempts at <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">self mutilation</span></span>, being <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">spat</span> on, sworn at, screamed at, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">exposed to the students genitals</span>, exposed to them <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">masturbating</span> for shock effect but Elan has a no kick out policy.</span></span> The "support person" may be <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">expected to physically restrain </span></span>the acting out student. Sometimes <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">the support person had to hold them down on the floor and have plastic restraints put on the student so his or her hands are behind his or her back</span></span>. Sometimes this student who is acting out could be <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">in the corner for over a month</span>. Spending his or her days facing the corner of a wall and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">sleeping on a dingy mattress on the floor</span></span></span>. This student could spend a month acting crazy like this and then stop and come out of "the corner" only to be put right back in because he or she starts acting out again. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Usually there was at least one student in "the corner" for the two year period I was there.</span></span></span> Also if the "support person" may take their eyes off this other student in "the corner" and he or she decides to self mutilate and succeeds then the "support person" will be stripped of his or her position of responsibility and made to scrub floors for a time of maybe two to three days. Can you believe that this is allowed to go on? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A fifteen year old child being forced into this responsibility if he or she wants to succeed in Elan? </span></span>Also that child who is"acting out" does so because he or she is standing up for themselves albeit it is in a damaging fashion but<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> that is how a person may cope when being forced to stay in a place like Elan.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">school curriculum</span></span>, is fabulous for an unmotivated child, with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">no tests, exams, or projects</span></span></span> it couldn't be better. When parents receive news that their child, who was once possibly failing in school, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">is now getting great marks they could only think that Elan is doing something right</span></span>. That is one of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">tactics Elan uses to decept parents </span></span></span>and school boards but <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">ultimately rob that child of a real education</span>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Could you imagine not being allowed to go outside when you want? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">When I was in Elan you pretty much got outside </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">once a week</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> for a gym class</span></span>. If you were lucky you got to go out for special outings maybe once every month or two but that only happens after about six months, which I would say is about the average length of time it takes for the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> "brainwashing effect"</span></span></span> to be fully active in a student. After that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">constant fear</span></span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">guilt</span></span> consumes a student and everything from brushing up against the opposite sex to taking a minute longer in the shower than is allowed is written down on a piece of paper(referred to in Elan as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">"copping to your guilt"</span></span></span>) and given to the powers at be so they know your every move. So basically <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">everything that Elan deems as "wrong" is instilled through feeling immense guilt and usually eventually you fess up</span></span>. When I was in Elan for about a month I spat in a staff member's coffee but nobody knew except me. A year later I told on myself. By the way Elan is co-ed but no physical or flirty behaviour is allowed. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Can you imagine a house full of hormonal teens being watched over so severely that you're scared to look someone of the opposite sex in the eye for too long?</span></span></span> I received a " general meeting" for being flirty. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I had people scream and swear in my face for ten minutes because I am human. This is where the ultimate control happens and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">the "Directors" or staff were ruthless</span></span></span>. </span>They would scream and swear in your face and make you feel absolutely hopeless. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">They controlled the level of fear among the students.</span></span></p></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2071635893766443064.post-65205272572429764312009-11-02T06:34:00.000-08:002010-03-21T16:23:42.268-07:00Exclusive: NEW YORK STATE ACTS TO END ABUSES AT THE ELAN SCHOOL<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">The Elan School</span></span></a></span></span> in Poland, Maine is notorious for allegedly forcibly extracting a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">murder</span></span> confession from Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel. According to witnesses, it happened in the late 70's, during a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/440294422/he-told-the-associated-press-that-the"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">therapy session</span></a></span>" in which he was </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/391376003/the-ring"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">forced to box</span></span></a></span></span></span> fresh opponents while being <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">verbally humiliated until he admitted the crime</span></span>. But such abuse <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">didn't stop in the 70's</span>: incredibly, the school used <span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/399415258/get-in-the-fucking-ring-we-are-gonna-play"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">"the ring"</span></span></a></span></span></span> procedure until at least 2000 with impunity.<br /><br /><div>During its three-decades-plus history, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Elan has repeatedly been accused of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/412413185/in-short-our-illinois-team-members-found-the-elan"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">human rights violations</span></a></span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/418918988/the-real-elan-school-questionnaire"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">severe child abuse</span></a></span></span></span></span></span>. All that time, state regulators somehow <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">failed</span></span></span> to corroborate dozens of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">horrifying <a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/455443736/in-1987-a-woman-named-bethany-berry-claimed-that"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">accounts of maltreatment</span></span></a></span>, which sometimes came in the form of <a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/440725342/in-testimony-she-described-the-schools"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">sworn courtroom testimony</span></span></a>.<br /><br />But following an investigation spurred by my reporting for a recent New York Times op-ed, the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has written to Elan, stating that it has "compliance issues" with the state's regulations. New York is involved because <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">it uses taxpayer money</span></span> to send <a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/458102324/the-kids-we-send-to-elan-are-those-we-would-have"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">emotionally disturbed</span></span></a> and learning disabled children to the school, having approved it as an "emergency placement" for such teens.<br /><br /></div><div>According to a letter from New York to Elan released to me today by NYSED, the "compliance issues" include "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/412338088/put-the-fucker-in-restraints"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">students restraining other students</span></span></a>,</span></span></span>" <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">excessive</span> use of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/tagged/The%20Corner"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">isolation as punishment</span></a></span></span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/tagged/Pulling"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">sleep deprivation</span></a></span></span></span>" and "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/425459132/sp-support-person"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">students 'counseling' other students</span></a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/425459132/sp-support-person"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"> </span></a></span>and using <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/440285597/elan-functioned-as-a-separate-society-with-its-own"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">coercive and confrontational language</span></a></span>, which includes yelling and swearing." The letter also notes that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Elan isn't providing the required number of hours of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/tagged/School"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">classroom instruction</span></a></span></span></span> for NY students and that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/438391838/since-the-elan-school-contains-many-crazies-the"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">students are not qualified as counselors</span></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/438391838/since-the-elan-school-contains-many-crazies-the"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">.</span></a></span><br /><br /></div><div>In other words, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">just as former students have claimed for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">decades</span></span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Elan uses <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><a href="http://theelanschool.tumblr.com/post/440725342/in-testimony-she-described-the-schools"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">abusive, degrading and violent tactics</span></a></span></span></span> that have long been discredited as therapy even for the hardcore heroin addicts to which they were originally applied</span></span> and which have no place in the education of the learning disabled or mentally ill or anyone else for that matter.<br /><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">If Elan doesn't begin using qualified counselors to run therapy groups</span>, bar students from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">disciplining each other,</span></span> stop making them <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">stay up all night to guard each other</span></span>, stop using <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">lengthy periods of isolation as punishment</span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;">stop making students restrain each other</span></span>-- as well as adjust its entire education program to meet state requirements--- within a week, New York will no longer allow students to attend. A copy of the letter has also been sent to Maine education officials.<br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Let's hope this is the beginning of the end for this senseless relic</span></span></span></span>. I also want to thank the brave students who were willing to talk with me and with state officials in order to help put an end to the abuse of their peers. We now know what works to help kids with addictions, with learning disabilities, with psychiatric problems and behavior issues. It's not abuse, but empathy and respect.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;"><p style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "><br /></p><div style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; "><br /><br />Read more at: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szalavitz/exclusive-new-york-state-_b_38895.html" target="_blank_" style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-width: initial; border-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 136, 195); ">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maia-szalavitz/exclusive-new-york-state-_b_38895.html</a></div></span><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9