This is Tess' story:

My daughter, Tess, had been going to a preschool prior to moving to Behave 'n Day Center. When Tess was at preschool, there was a lot of aggression and she refused to listen to the teachers or the other students. I had taken her to a nurse practitioner who diagnosed her with ADD and put her on a medication called Adderral, but she did not get any better. Tess later had a reaction to the medicine and we took her off of it. The practitioner then started her on Zoloft, but it didn't her any better either. She was very lethargic, not like a normal 4-year old should be, so the practitioner took her off Zoloft, too. When I was at hospital, I found a Behave'n Day Center flier and made an appointment to talk to the director. By this time, the preschool warned me that Tess would be kicked out if she had any more outbursts.

I met with Janie, the director of Behave'n Day Center, and discussed the major problems I was having with Tess. We made an Individualized Treatment Plan (ITP) for Tess that we revised every month. We sat down and make new goals for Tess based on the problems that were going on at that time. Some of the major ones that were listed when first started were aggression to others and animals, not listening to authority figures, not falling asleep on her own, interrupting, not holding hands, talking back, constantly moving and acting up in public places. Janie and I decided which consequences Tess would get if she did these behaviors at Behave'n Day Center or at home, which included an immediate time out for aggression and a mini time out for other behaviors. Tess experienced the same consequences both at home and at Behave'n Day Center, and I began to notice a difference in Tess within a week of starting her in the program. She had a new outlook on things. I didn't have to yell and demand orders on her; I would just simply say "Tess", and she stopped the behavior immediately. It was too easy! Each time I came for a new ITP, we would discuss if Tess had met the goal that we had previously set up. If she had, we'd move on to other problems. This was the greatest thing I had ever done with Tess. It was like I was shopping for new, better behaviors and Behave'n Day Center would deliver.

After three to four months at Behave'n, Tess had a real turn around. I can now take her to public places and she will hold my hand, ask permission to do everything and is very good in restaurants. I even had a mom compliment Tess on being so good at dinner one night. I felt like my child was getting a load of attention from all the staff since there is 2:1 student/teacher ratio. The entire staff is so pleasant and helpful, they felt like family. It was very hard to hear that my daughter was ready to graduate from Behave'n to make room for another child with behavioral problems. I cannot say enough good things about this center; it has changed my daughter's life and mine forever. I just keep looking back and thinking that my daughter was on all of these unnecessary medications and wonder how many other children out there are on meds they do not need. I know if Tess has any future problems, Behave'n will be there to help me.

 

Back to Testimonials