Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School
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Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School is a residential treatment center and therapeutic school for children and adolescents typically classified as emotionally disturbed or as having a socio-emotional disorder. The O'School specializes in the treatment of youth who have failed in other treatment settings. Located on the campus of the University of Chicago.
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[edit] Life at the School
Students live either in communal dorms of up to 7 students per room, in transition rooms, or in a transitional living center. During the school week students attend academic classes during the day and have the option of attending a variety of extra curricular activities in the early evening. Many high school and older middle school students attend departmentalised classes for most of the day. Younger students and students who cannot transition between classes receive individualised and small group instruction in self-contained classrooms. During their stay at the school students gradually attain to higher levels of privileges, freedoms, and responsibilities, however a formal level system is not used. Behavioral plans, goals, and treatment modalities are utilised on an individualised basis. Students attend approximately two 45-minute individual therapy sessions per week and one 90 minute group therapy session per week. A variety of group therapy modalities are utalised such as social skills, process, anger management, transition planning, and depression and anxiety groups. A student work program, student government, arts programs, and other various curricular activities allow many students to find their own niches. Typical length of stay varies between a year and a half to several years, although the length of stay has decreased dramatically over the last several years.
[edit] Highlights of the school
The school is able to adequately educate students of above average intelligence and assist students in pursuing advanced courses on an individual or group basis. Students may also attend local universities or private and public schools on a part-time basis. Currently the school is able to treat students in an unlocked setting without utalising seclusion or mechanical restraint. A dorm counselors, teachers, and teaching assistants typically has bachelor's degree and experience in working with young people. Typically the staff to student ratio is very high, with an average of two staff members supervising 5 to 8 students at a time, with support of masters level staff, educational staff, and crisis intervention staff. While at school the students have contact with a staff of therapists, program managers, special education teachers, art teachers, teaching assistants, and other professionals. Students with appropriate privileges have the opportunity of going out into the community several days a week, with some students able to leave the school on independent outings into the community. The school is developing a comprehensive transition program for adolescent students leaving for home, college, or independent living. Student in the Transitional Living Center have the support of the school staff, their old dorm staff, and the transitional living staff. They are typically able to go into the community and pursue employment, educational options, and other community activities. Students stay in the transitional program for several months to a maximum of two years.
[edit] Parental Contact
Students attend periodic family sessions with their program manager or individual therapist. The dorm counselors regularly contact parents and update them on their child's progress, and students are able to call home at least once a week and can write as often as they wish. When students gain the appropriate privileges and have demonstrated safe behaviors they can have home visits, typically starting every other weekend and progressing to every weekend during transition phases. Student who are not able to go home may visit their parents at the school or in the local community. Contact with friends may be restricted, although appropriate letter writing is usually encouraged.
[edit] History
Formerly run by Bruno Bettelheim, a well-known and controversial psychoanalyst. The school is approximately 85 years old and has resided at its current location since the 1940s. The building is very old and renovations to modernize the building have been begun and are still under way.
http://orthogenicschool.uchicago.edu/ http://www.oschool.org
