This is where we give information on new developments related to this website.

FamilyLight has been busy the last few months although we have not had much reaching completion until now.  We have completed the initial portion of what we believe will become an online symposium on slow processing speed.  We have been frustrated at the lack of published information on slow processing, matching the verbal input we have gotten from a variety of people who are well credentialed experts on that.  We are convinced that young people with slow processing speed are at extreme risk for complete turn-off to school and various behavioral and emotional problems. 

You will find our online symposium on slow processing speed in the section labeled Topics of Interest.  Our introductory page to the discussion now leads to two articles:  One is a description of slow processing and suggested accommodations by Merridee Michelsen, Ph. D., of Brandon Hall  School.  The other is by our own Tom Croke, explaining why this topic is important to understanding young people with behavioral and emotional problems.  We hope to receive additional contributions to this discussion from well credentialed experts, students who have lived with the issue, parents, other consultants, and others with an interest in the topic. We hope this discussion will grow. 

We very close to completion of a thorough revision of our Guidelines on Addiction and Substance Abuse.  This revision involves significant changes in what we ask of schools and programs.   You can currently see the direction this is headed.

We are also close to completion of the revision of our review of Carlbrook School.  You can see our work as it progresses.   We had published an earlier version of that. Carlbrook School has sent us their response and we have posted that exactly as written.  We are also near completion of comments on their response.   Final completion of the revision will wait for completion of the revision of our Guidelines on Addiction and Substance Abuse, as that will affect some of our comments.  You can see the direction this is going. 

Our review of Carlbrook is the most viewed single program review we have posted (our corporate review of Aspen Education draws more viewers).  We expect to complete our work with Carlbrook soon. 

We were pleased to have a  preliminary online for Lake House Academy, the new school that Cat Jennings has  partnered with Greenwich Education and Prep to create.  However, we have just received notice that Ms. Jennings has completed the purchase of Lake House Academy from Greenwich Education and Prep. This school will continue the excellence of New Leaf of North Carolina before Aspen closed that school.

We had a blog entry for May.  With the closing of New Leaf of North Carolina, we believe that Aspen Education, its parent compay CRC Health Group, and their parent company Bain Capital have demonstrated a value system we cannot endorse.   Earlier, we hahad completed our revised reviews on Aspen Education, Aspen Marketing, and CRC Health Group, where we expressed strong reservations but not a specific "do not place childrent with these people" warning.  Now we feel that we have given them the benefit of the doubt too long.  

We have an intern in our office who is thinking about an update to our Excel Spreadsheet Directory online that is about two years from its last revision.  That is found on our Directory page.  That may or may not happen, but we definitely plan to list programs by category (resources offered; populations served)  in the foreseeable future. 

Our next project is to get at least abbreviated reviews in place on as many schools and programs as possible and to begin a rating system. 

We are excited by a book that has been around since 2003 but we discovered only recently: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.    This give outstanding insight into the mind of an autistic child.  More recently we have been impressed with House Rules by Jodi Picoult.  This is written for an adult audience, again with very accurate insight into how an autistic child thinks. 

We have been sending out promotional emails about our website.  You can access the back emails at http://www.familylight.com/link3/3.12/emails.htm . 

In response to the economic turndown, we are looking for true bargains in quality programming.  Please watch Pleasant Surprises for listings of these bargains as we become aware of them, as well as an explanation as to why.  However, at the moment the economy is picking up and census numbers are firming, so bargains like this are likely to become less common. But we will still look for Pleasant Surprises.

Guidelines are now complete!! This section will show you what we think are the characteristics of a quality school or program.  We will be asking schools and programs to send us responses to a detailed questionnaire based upon these guidelines. This is a huge step forward for us. 

We believe the Guidelines  section of the website may be the most important contribution we will be making.

The next project will be to use those guidelines as the basis for a very detailed questionnaire to be completed by schools and programs.  We will be posting the responses to that questionnaire on line, program by program.

Our Questionnaire is available for schools and programs.    Go to the page linked at questionnaire.   While we will always give attention to the schools and programs we believe will best serve our clients, our primary attention updating our resources  and  exploring new opportunities will go to schools and programs that complete the questionnaire.

If you are seeking the latest news about schools and programs, get that news where we get it, at Seen'n'Heard.

This website is being developed very slowly but thoroughly.  Please be patient.

Feedback is invited. We will publish feedback in good taste, consistent with our standards.  Email FamilyLightResponse@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

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Last update September 12, 2010