Preface

Let me start by prefacing the following information is solely based on my own professional experience and my own opinions. I chose to write this based on what I have come to find as topics of importance in the lives of adolescence, problems they face, and ways adults, teachers, social workers, and concerned caregivers may be able to help. And, all the examples and stories that I tell are true. Of course, the names and places have been changed, but I have all personally been involved with all these young souls. I made some, ok, a lot, of mistakes, but I have some great success stories too. 

I have worked with the most ‘troubled’ teens, middle school and high school alike, boys and girls, all levels of wealth and income over the past 14 years. I began as a special education teacher in public schools and now I am the Director of Special Education for a company that provides therapeutic day schools and alternative education for students ‘at-risk’. This term is broad, however 100% of all 11,554 students we education have been unsuccessful in their home schools for a multitude of reasons. For this blog, I’m going to focus on the most severe of those ‘at-risk’.